The estate consisted of eight thousand acres, the nominal rental being about £7000 a year, but everything about Sandringham was at that time in very bad order. The house was small and dilapidated, and the shooting and outlying portions of the estate had been utterly neglected. It is said that the whole rental has been expended on the property during the last thirty-five or forty years, and a very considerable sum has also been spent on the new house, the new gardens, the park, and the home farms. Every kind of improvement has been carried out, gradually but steadily, and now it may be considered a model estate from every point of view. One of the first institutions set up by the King was an admirable village club, entirely built at His Majesty’s own expense. The regulations enforced are based on what is called Dr. Arnold’s system, and give the _maximum_ of freedom to the members. The old mansion, which was small and inconvenient, was pulled down, and the present house was erected on a more suitable site, from the designs of Mr. Humbert. The work was not completed till 1871. The new mansion is a very pretty gabled building, and though commodious enough, it will not compare in point of size with many of the “stately homes of England.” On the inner wall of the vestibule, above the hall door, is set a tablet bearing, in Old English characters, the inscription: “This house was built by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and Alexandra, his wife, in the year of Our Lord, 1870.” The Royal host and hostess, as well as their family and their guests, are wont to spend much of their time in the great hall, a really beautiful apartment, with a lofty ceiling of open oak work. Many family souvenirs are gathered here, including a fine painting of Queen Alexandra’s birthplace, portraits of the King and Queen of Denmark, two miniature cannon, which were given by Napoleon III. to the King and to his sister, the Empress Frederick, and a number of family portraits and photographs. Facing the main entrance is the head of a wild bull, belonging to the famous Chillingham herd, which was shot by the King in 1872. Underneath are Sir Walter Scott’s lines:-- Fierce on the hunter’s quiver’d band He rolls his eyes of swarthy glow, Spurns with black hoof and horn the sand, And tosses high his mane of snow.