[Illustration: S]PEC, SPEAKE,--or SPEKE HALL, according to the more modern reading,--is situate about seven miles from Liverpool, and nearly the same distance from Prescot. The house and the estates adjacent--after passing through “several hands”--are now the property of Richard Watt, Esq., of Bishop-Burton, whose uncle, Richard Watt, Esq., merchant of Liverpool, purchased the manor from the Beauclerk family. The house is, however, “let,” and is now in the occupation of Joseph Brereton, Esq. The history of the mansion--preserved as it is from a very early period--is curious and interesting. Speke, according to Domesday Book, was “held by Uctred,” with “two caracutes of land,” and was “worth sixty-four pence.” With Uctred, however, it did not long remain; for, soon afterwards, we find it given by Benedict de Gerneth or Garnet, with Annota his daughter and heiress, to Adam de Molineux, of the Sefton branch of that very noble and chivalric family. From them it passed--by marriage with Joan Molineux, daughter of Sir John Molineux, Knt., of Sefton--to William Norris, Esq., of Sutton. From this union sprung the Lord Norris, of Rycot, and the founders of several other noble families of Lancashire and Berkshire.[65] It was held by the Norrises, in direct descent, until the middle of the last century, when it was inherited by Topham Beauclerk, Esq., by whose son it was transferred to Mr. Watt. Speke Hall is among the best specimens of its class that yet endure in England. It is built of wood and plaster--the material employed in all the Lancashire houses of the sixteenth century. It was formerly surrounded by a moat, the remains of which are easily traced, although long ago filled up by gravelled walks and flowering shrubs in rich abundance. A stone bridge, with high piers, leads to the principal front; and the house is entered through a picturesque stone porch, immediately over which is the following inscription, in black letter of antique shape:-- This worke twenty yards long was wholly built by E. N., 1598. The annexed woodcut shows the Stone Bridge leading to the entrance arch, from [Illustration]