Although Hampton Court (Nash’s delightful drawing of which is reproduced in colours as a frontispiece to this volume) is the private property of the Crown, it is usually open for inspection, and its splendid past is always an inspiration. It was due to Queen Victoria that the Palace and grounds, long neglected, were made available for the public. A politician with a gift for phrase-making has described it aptly as a place of “pleasure, leisure, and treasure,” which is true, though its educational value need not have been overlooked. A reference to its association with Wolsey occurs on p. 18, and much more could be written in connection with its early history, the period which provided Joseph Nash with the subject of the drawing reproduced here. Since Hampton Court was first built its appearance has been changed considerably, notably by Wren’s addition of the beautiful Fountain Court and other portions. The building provides many chapters of romance, sometimes connected with the restoration of hidden features. Especial interest, for instance, is attached to the stone bridge over the moat, built in the time of Henry VIII, buried in after years, and not reinstated until a few years ago. The glory of Kenilworth has departed, but its history lives. It is a long record, and if little remains of the structure which saw so many pageants in Tudor and earlier times, the ruins, including the Gatehouse (Plate LIII), are of exceptional interest. For all its poetic licence, Scott’s novel is one of the books to which we turn for vivid descriptions of the scenes which took place within its walls and in the neighbourhood. It was a glorious pile, and, in the words of the late Mr. C. E. Mallows, “in its perfect state, it must have been a complete museum of English architecture from Norman times to Leicester’s additions in the reign of Elizabeth.” Crewe Hall, which suffered by fire in 1866, was rebuilt by Edward Barry after the old model, and the present building might be mistaken for the original structure, erected between the years 1615 and 1636 for Sir Randal Crewe (Plates LIV, LV, and LVI). The story is told that at the time of the fire Lord Crewe sent a telegram to his architect, saying, “Crewe is burning, come and build it up again,” an example of sangfroid suggested perhaps by the reply of Sheridan to a friend who asked the dramatist how he could sit complacently with a bottle of wine before him looking at the burning Drury Lane Theatre, which Sheridan practically owned at the time. “Surely,” was the reply, “a man may be allowed to take a glass of wine before his own fireside.” The noble old mansion known as Kirby Hall (Plate XIV) is the work of John Thorpe, who has recorded that he laid the first stone in 1570. Additions were made about 1638 by Inigo Jones. It was built for Sir [Illustration: HENRY SHAW CHIMNEY-PIECE IN DINING ROOM AT BUCKLING HALL, NORFOLK]