The earliest, and perhaps the favourite residence of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, was Holywell, the spot where she first saw the light, and the scene with which her youthful associations were connected. The site of the house in which Richard Jennings of Holywell, as he is designated, resided, when his daughter Sarah was born, has already been described. The dwelling was, in modern days, inhabited by Dr. Predy, rector of St. Alban’s Abbey, but now, like some other traces of its celebrated inmate, it is levelled to the ground.[360] Near the tenement, comparatively humble, in which the Duchess was born, the Duke of Marlborough built a mansion of many rooms, and of handsome external appearance. Its extensive gardens, laid out in the old-fashioned style, are well remembered by the inhabitants of St. Albans; and Holywell was endeared to them, not only by revered associations with the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, but by more recent recollections connected with a respected descendant by marriage of the Spencer family, who long dwelt at Holywell. Travellers who passed near the pile which John Duke of Marlborough erected, regarded that early abode with interest. Of infinitely less elegance than Wimbledon is reputed to have been, of far less splendour than Blenheim, it presented the true features of a respectable and substantial English mansion; it bore the aspect of comfort; it appeared like an emblem of the Duke’s early prosperity—a sort of stepping-stone to Wimbledon and Blenheim. Perhaps, had he rested there, his lot in life might have been more peaceful, though less distinguished.[361] At all events, Holywell was a spot replete with interest, and the boast of St. Albans, for there the Duke of Marlborough lived as a private gentleman; sufficiently near to the town for its inhabitants to claim his grace as a neighbour, yet distant enough for dignity, and, if desirable, even for seclusion. That the Duke and Duchess felt no small pride and pleasure in St. Albans is evident; and probably at one period of their lives, the height of their ambition, as far as residence was concerned, was to build a house at the place where their humble fortunes could be progressively traced. A spacious and costly pew in the Abbey, adorned with beautiful carving, still attracts admiration on entering that venerable edifice.