ページの画像
PDF
ePub

that the Castle was now considerably enlarged, and that a household was established here, suitable to the dignity of its proprietor, and to the customs of the times. But the precise events of the place, and of the Duke's domestic history, are not publicly recorded. It is evident, however, that he procured for the town the exclusive right of holding the sessions of Pleas for the whole county, as is exemplified in the charter below *.

It will appear from the above particulars, that the prosperity of Lancaster materially depended upon its connection with the lords or proprietors of the Castle, and that circumstance will account for the steady loyalty evinced by the inhabitants, even in the reign of King John, who granted them a charter as ample as those he had before conferred on Northampton and Bristol: but what the inhabitants of this town gained by their adherence to the monarch,

was

ing, as freely and fully as the Earl of Chester claims to enjoy within the same county of Chester, &c."

*The following is a translation of Edward the Third's Charter to this town, relating to the County Sessions:

Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland and Aquitaine; To all Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Earls, Barons, Justices, Sheriffs and their officers, and all Bailiffs and their followers, Greeting. Know ye, That We of our special favor, and at the prayer of our beloved son, John Duke of Lancaster, have granted, and by this our charter confirmed, for Us and our Heirs, to our beloved the Mayor, Bailiffs, and the whole commu nity of Lancaster, their Heirs and Successors, that all Pleas and Sessions of all Justices whatever assigned for the county of Lancaster, shall, in the said town of Lancaster, as the capital town of the said county, and not elsewhere within the said county, be for ever held. Wherefore We will and declare for Us and our Heirs, that the Pleas and Sessions of all Justices whatsoever assigned for the said county, shall be held in the said town, and not elsewhere. It is decreed; Witness the Reverend venerable Fathers, Simon Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, William Bishop of Winchester, our Chancellor, and Simon Bishop of Ely, our Treasurer; Richard Earl of Arundel, Robert Earl of Suffolk, Thomas de Veer Earl of Oxford, our Chamberlain, Edward le Despenser, Ralph de Nevill, John de Nevill, John Atte Lee, the Seneschall of our Household, and others. Given under our hand at Westminster, the thirteenth day of November, in the thirty-sixth year of our reign.

By Writ of Privy Seal.

was counterbalanced by their losses through their devotion to the Lancastrian line, during the unhappy civil war between the houses of York and Lancaster, which deluged the country with blood*. It appears that this town was half depopulated; and even in Camden's time the residents consisted principally of husbandmen. On the confirmation of the charter, with additional privileges, by King Charles the Second, the town again revived, and from that period it appears to have progressively augmented its commerce, local trade, and buildings. The magnificent CASTLE, which has been alternately the terror, glory, and safeguard to the town, is spacious in plan, and commanding in situation. Occupying the summit of a high hill, built of strong materials, with massive walls, and several guard towers, bastions, &c. it must formerly have assumed a grand, and apparently safe residence. Though much of its ancient character and dignity have been sacrificed, yet it still occupies a spacious area, and its architectural features and appropriation are entitled to general admiration. The encircling walls embrace an area of 380 feet from east to west, by 350 feet from north to south. In which space is a large court-yard, with smaller yards, and several differently shaped towers. At present the whole is appropriated to the county-gaol, with its necessary appendages of Gaoler's-house, Prisoners'-rooms, Cells, Work-shops, Courts of Justice, &c. Nearly facing the east, and communicating with the town, is the strongly fortified tower-gateway, or chief entrance. This consists of two semi-octangular projections, which are perforated near the bottom, with narrow apertures in each face for the discharge of arrows; and the whole of the summit has bold machicolations, with embrasures, &c. The gateway was additionally guarded by port-cullisses. Within this entrance is a large open area, or court-yard, surrounded with towers and fortified walls; and nearly facing the entrance, at the opposite side of the court, is the large square keep, already referred to. The walls of this are of amazing thickness, and its apartments are of grand dimensions.

For a copious account of these wars, and of John of Gaunt, see Nichols's
History of Leicestershire.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

dimensions. One of these rooms appropriated to the use of prisoners, who for slight offences are sentenced to a temporary confinement, is about sixty-three feet long, having only four plain walls, and making nearly the proportion of a double cube*.' This room is referred to by Mr. Duppa, as calculated to produce a great effect, by simplicity of form and grandeur of dimensions. The floors of these rooms are stone and composition. The summit commands several extensive, diversified, and sublime views, in which the winding river Lune, with its bridges and aqueduct, the expanded bay of Morecambe, the mountains of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Yorkshire, and the beautiful vale of Lonsdale, constitute the prominent features.

Mr. Gilpin, with his usual felicity of language, has given an inpressive description of a thunder-storm scene, as viewed from this Castle+. A little north of the keep are the Shire-Hall, and County-Courts, also several offices and apartments connected with them. These are mostly modern, and have been erected and fitted up at an inimense expense, by the contributions of the gentlemen of the county. Mr. Harrison, the architect of Chester gaol, &c. gave the principal designs for these alterations, which in general have been grand and judicious; but the recent finishings are from the designs of Mr. Joseph Gandy, who has displayed much taste and science in the parts that have been effected after his drawings. In the decorative finishing of the windows, &c. of the Grand Jury room, which is circular, with a coved roof, ornamented with groins, springing from brackets, and in the Shire-Hall, he bas introduced some elegant and correct architectural decorations. This latter apartment is singularly beautiful, and consists of a semicircular area, with an aile going round it, and has a groined roof, with the interstices between the groins open. This roof is supported by six quadruple clustered columns. Against the flattened side of the room are the Judges' Seats, beneath elegant pinnacled

* Duppa's Life of Michael Angelo.

canopies,

+ See "Observations relative chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, &c. on the Highlands of Scotland," 2d Edit. Vol. II. p. 173.

canopies, and the windows, doors, pannels, seats, &c. are all finished in a style corresponding to the enriched ecclesiastical buildings of the fifteenth century. Over the Judges' Seats are two fulllength portraits of Colonel Stanley and Mr. Blackburne, members for the county. These are by Mr. J. Allen, and are executed with that fidelity and truth which distinguishes this artist's pictures. Between them is a pannel intended to contain a full length portrait of his present Majesty, seated on a charger, with a view of Lancaster Castle and Church in the back ground. This grand picture is by Mr. Northcote, R. A. and the horse is drawn and painted in a style of expressive energy, and peculiarity of foreshortening, which manifest the eminent abilities of this artist. On it is the following inscription: "Presented to the County Palatine of Lancaster, by the High Sheriff James Ackers, Esq. of LarkHall, Ann. Dom. 1800."

In a circular tower, commonly called John of Gaunt's Oven, is a collection of rolls, records, &c. relating to the official business of the county. In another part of the new buildings, are the CrownHall, a spacious and appropriate room, also a library, &c. all finished and fitted up in a grand, substantial, and elegant style. Viewed as a whole, or analysed in detail, it may be safely asserted, that no county in England can boast of a Gaol, with all its concomitant parts, so complete, grand, and admirable, as Lancaster. And whilst the directors are thus laudably employed in giving grandeur, elegance, and comfortable convenience, to that building, which was formerly the palace of the county, but now its public prison, they will be justly entitled to the praise of the local historian, and the approbation of future ages. On the north and south sides of the Castle are raised terraces, which constitute very pleasant and interesting promenades. The following account, from the benevolent Mr. Howard, will serve to explain the regulations and economy of the Gaol; though it is but justice to say, that many judicious regulations, and improved arrangements, have been made here by the present worthy gaoler, Mr. Higgin, since the publication of Mr. Howard's Observations, 1777. "The gaoler has no salary; debtors' fees, Ss.; felons, 13s. 4d.;

and transports 51. each. The debtors' and felons' allowance, one shilling each on Saturday morning. Debtors' garnish 7s. 2d, and that of felons 2s. 6d. The chaplain does duty twice on a Sunday; and once every Wednesday and Friday; and has a salary of 501. yearly *. The master's side debtors have many apartments; men and women felons have their day-rooms apart, at the upper end of the yard; women sleep in their day-room; men have for their night-rooms two vaulted cells. One of the rooms for debtors is called the Quakers-room, because it is said, when those people were so cruelly persecuted in the last century, vast numbers of them were confined in it." Some charitable legacies are bequeathed to the debtor prisoners of this gaol. It is supposed that this prison will now contain 5000 men within its walls.

Contiguous to the Castle, and on the same eminence, is the PARISH CHURCH, which is a large spacious building, and consists of a nave, two side ailes, and a handsome tower at the west end. The ailes are divided from the nave by eight pointed arches on each side, the mouldings of which spring from clustered columns, and at the east end is a wood-screen of elegant carving. This is enriched with foliage, pinnacles, crockets, &c. and was formerly placed across the church, to separate it from the chancel. Here are a few of the monkish turn-up seats still remaining, and a few monuments. Among the latter is a mural marble slab to William Stratford, LL. D. who was commissary of the archdeaconry of Richmond, and died in 1753, aged seventy-five years. The monument was executed by L. F. Roubiliac, and on it is a small groupe in basso-relievo, representing a figure of Charity re lieving an Old Woman with two Children. The figures, though slight, are marked with masterly expression, and evince the taste and skill of this justly eminent sculptor. Against the north wall is a large mural marble tablet raised to the memory of Samuel Eyre, a judge, whose body was removed to Salisbury, the 12th September,

* Thirty-six pounds from the County; 41. from the Duchy; and 101. from a

Charity.

« 前へ次へ »