Surrey: Painted by Sutton Palmer; Described by A.R. Hope MoncrieffMoncrieff, A. R. Hope (Ascott Robert Hope)
History
Surrey: Painted by Sutton Palmer; Described by A.R. Hope Moncrieff
Moncrieff, A. R. Hope (Ascott Robert Hope)
Surrey (England) -- Description and travel
It is no wonder, then, that many Londoners--too many, says the last
comer--have built themselves villas on the dry upper slopes of Wey
bridge, while the older part of the town on the river bank is better
known to transient visitors of aquatic tastes. A link between the two
quarters is the spire rising near the bridge over the Wey to mark the
oldest part of all. The rebuilt church contains a tomb by Chantrey for
the Duchess of York, whose residence at Oatlands is also commemorated by
a pillar on the Green, a second-hand monument that once ornamented the
Seven Dials of St. Giles. Another royalty, Louis Philippe, for a time
found sepulchre in the Roman Catholic chapel here, till the bones of
this exiled family might be removed to their native land.
Oatlands Park borders Wey bridge on the east. If the general reader be
surprised that Drayton, in his account of what Milton styles
"Royal-towered Thames" couples Oatlands with Hampton Court and Richmond,
that is because readers with so much to read forget how this, too, has
been a palace, which made one stage of King Charles's long journey to
the scaffold; and his youngest son, as born here, was Henry of Oatlands.
In the park stood two yew trees, some hundreds of yards apart, between
which legend draws its long bow in measuring by them a feat of Queen
Bess's archery. The mansion is now an hotel; and the grounds have been
encroached on for building plots. A century ago it belonged to George
IV.'s military brother, that Duke of York whom Charles Greville, in his
critical way, calls the only one of the royal princes bearing the
character of an English gentleman; and he touches on the Duchess's
extraordinary love of dogs, parrots, and monkeys. The graves of her
hundred pets still ornament the park, which has also to show such a
costly grotto as was dear to Georgian "improvers." Another feature of
these grounds is the Broadwater Lake, representing a former course of
the Thames. The tongue of land beyond was once Middlesex, but by
alteration of the channel has been thrown into Surrey.
To this side the tow-path crosses at Weybridge, and one can double the
distance to Walton by following the bends of the river opposite
Shepperton and Halliford. Near Walton Bridge is reached a scene of
historic note, for Cowey Stakes here has been taken to be the ford by
which Cæsar crossed the Thames on his pursuit of Cassivelaunus. What
will be more obvious to the wayfarer is a very modern encampment of
tents, with other shelters and conveniences, including a floating bath,
which has sprung up of late years near the Middlesex end of Walton
Bridge. The town of Walton-on-Thames stands mainly back from the river,
its station being a mile behind. It has no such wild background as St.
George's Hill, but lies pleasantly mixed up with groves and parks, and
seems a snug place of retreat for quiet-minded Londoners. Walton Church
was the scene of Elizabeth's cautiously Anglican view of the
Sacrament:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Surrey: Painted by Sutton Palmer; Described by A.R. Hope Moncrieff — John Shaqi
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