The Baronial Halls, and Ancient Picturesque Edifices of England; Vol. 2 of 2Hall, S. C. (Samuel Carter)
History
The Baronial Halls, and Ancient Picturesque Edifices of England; Vol. 2 of 2
Hall, S. C. (Samuel Carter)
Historic buildings -- England
One of the entrances from the court, on the right, leads into a small
chapel, which, by the lapse of time and disuse, has lost much of its
sacred character. Almost the only indication of its former purpose is a
series of tablets suspended on the walls and bearing inscribed on them,
in old English characters, numerous texts of Scripture.
The principal entrance leading into the house is closed by an antique
oaken door, having a small wicket in it fastened with a ponderous bolt.
This door is rendered still more impregnable by many a coat of
whitewash. On passing through it we are ushered into a large wainscotted
apartment, having seats attached to the wainscot all round,--the ancient
Banquetting Hall. In it we observed a fine old long table of oak. This
apartment is lighted by the large windows already described, which
contain, like some other windows of the house, small portions of stained
glass, consisting of the Moreton and other arms. An inner door in the
wainscot leads from the Banquetting Hall into the family apartment,
which likewise looks into the court. This room has an ornamented
chimney-piece, which is surmounted by arms in stucco, bearing the motto
“Honi soit qui mal y pense,” and a large A on each side.
Many of the rooms have floors made of plaster. The fastenings of some of
the doors of the upper rooms are curious; they consist of a large iron
ring standing out from the middle of the door, through which is passed a
bar of wood. This reaches across, and rests on the jambs on either side;
a very secure mode of fastening to those who happen to be on the right
side.
In the fine old parish church of Astbury, within two miles of Moreton
Hall, there is a side chapel, at the east end of the north aisle, of
great antiquity, divided between the two manorial proprietors of Little
Moreton-cum-Rode. In the east window, which formerly contained some
splendid stained glass, there now only remains the arms of one of the
Blundevilles, the famous Earls of Chester. The three wide steps which
led to the altar, a piscina, on one side, and a closet for relics, on
the other, are almost the only remnants of its ancient purposes. At the
Moreton end of this side chapel there are three large plain marble slabs
over altar tombs, bearing the following inscriptions:--
DAME MARY JONES,
died the 19th of April, 1743,
aged 85.
SIR WILLIAM MORETON, KNT.,
Recorder of the City of London,
died the 14th of March, 1763,
aged 67.
DAME JANE MORETON,
died the 10th of Feb., 1758,
aged 61.
There is a fine oaken cabinet in Moreton Hall, which, from the labels in
old law-hand, has most likely belonged to the above-named Sir William
Moreton.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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