Itinerarium curiosum (centuria I) : $b or, an account of the antiquities, and remarkable curiosities in nature or art, observed in travels through Great BritainStukeley, William
History
Itinerarium curiosum (centuria I) : $b or, an account of the antiquities, and remarkable curiosities in nature or art, observed in travels through Great Britain
Stukeley, William
Great Britain -- Antiquities -- Early works to 1800; Great Britain -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800
On the north side of the church are the remains of the college, and the
meadow under it retains its name: the steeple has an octagonal tower
at the top, somewhat like that of Boston; at the bases of which are
the images of bears and ragged staffs, cognisances (I suppose) of the
founders; as the falcon and fetterlock often painted in the glass. They
have a very ancient MS. book here, of the affairs of the parish. There
is a school in the town, erected by Hen. VII. worth about 30l. per ann.
over the door is wrote, _Disce aut discede_. A stone bridge over the
river was built by queen Elizabeth anno 1555. shown by an inscription
on the wall, a monument of the spite of the soldiers, who cut out with
their swords, as they passed by, one line of it, _God save the queen_.
[Sidenote: +Oundale.+]
Oundale, or Avondale, is remarkable for a drumming well, much talked
of by the superstitious vulgar: no doubt it is owing to the passage of
the water, and air upon certain conditions, through the subterraneous
chinks; for, as Virgil says, in his fine poem called _Ætna_,
_Secta est omnis humus penitusque cavata latebris, &c._
and that it is done by intervals or pulses as it were, is but
consentaneous to many of Nature’s operations. Here are two long
bridges of stone. Louick church, on the side of a hill, is very fine,
founded by John de Drayton, anno 1125: the windows are full of coats
of arms. There is a picture of the founder in armour, on his knees,
presenting his church to God: here is his monument, of the Veres too,
and Staffords earls of Wiltshire, and others who intermarried with his
family: there is a modern one of the late Dutchess of Norfolk, who was
married, after her divorcement, to the present owner of the family
seat, called Drayton house, Sir John Germayn, who has for the most part
new-built it.
[Sidenote: +Boughton.+]
From hence we went to Boughton, the seat of the duke of Montagu,
magnificent for building, painting and gardens: the stables are large
and stately, well calculated for the designed grandeur of the house;
for it is not yet finished: the hall is a very noble room: on the
cieling is a convocation of the gods admirably painted, as are many
suites of rooms and apartments, stair-cases, galleries, &c. beside
the great numbers of portraits and other curious pictures, part of
the furniture: the gardens contain fourscore and ten acres of ground,
adorned with statues, flower-pots, urns of marble and metal, many very
large basons, with variety of fountains playing, aviaries, reservoirs,
fish-ponds, canals, admirable greens, wildernesses, terraces, &c. the
cascade is very fine: a whole river, running through the length of the
gardens, is diversified very agreeably to complete its beauty.
[Sidenote: +Geddington.+]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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