Page images
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Duncombe Park, Yorkshire ;

THE SEAT OF

LORD FEVERSHAM.

THIS magnificent residence was erected by Wakefield, and not by Sir John Vanbrugh, though supposed by many to have been. It was completed in the year 1718. The principal Fronts to the east and west are fine examples of the Doric order, possessing a peculiar air of grandeur in their architectural decorations.

The accompanying View represents the Garden front, displaying the beautiful Portico, with the arms in the pediment; the Gardens are here preserved in their original state, which accords well with the characteristic style of the Mansion.

The Hall, 60 feet by 40, is adorned by sixteen fluted Corinthian columns. Here is that noble piece of sculpture, called the Dog of Alcibiades, said to be the work of Myron. It was discovered at Monte Cagnuola, and was purchased of the late Constantine Jennings, Esq. The Discobolus, another of the finest statues in England, was formerly in the collection of Mr. Locke, at Norbury Park in Surrey. Here are also twelve busts of celebrated Greek and Latin poets, large medallions of the twelve Cæsars, and several very fine antique statues.

The Library, formerly called the Saloon, is 88 feet long by 24 broad, but is formed into three divisions by Ionic columns, and is also adorned with four celebrated antiques, the statues of Apollo, Bacchus, Mars, and Mercury; also two fine busts of Cicero and Horace. The Paintings in the collection are all by the first Masters; amongst the most remarkable are, The Scourging of Christ, by Old Palma; Charity, by Guido; Venus and Adonis, by Titian; a Landscape, by Pietro da Cortona; St. Paul, a fine Head, by Leonardo da Vinci; a Land Storm, by Nicholas Poussin; a Candlelight Scene, by Rubens; and the celebrated portrait of Garrick, in Richard III., by Hogarth; with numerous others, and a series of Family Portraits. The Grounds possess uncommon beauty, being disposed in the most advantageous manner. Adjoining the House, is a noble Terrace, at one end of which stands an Ionic Temple, and at the other, a Temple adorned with a Tuscan colonnade. The River Rye glides through a rich valley below, and forms a cascade nearly in its centre. In various points of view are exhibited, from this Terrace, between foregrounds of hanging woods, part of the Keep of Helmsley Castle, the Church, and Town; beyond these interesting objects is a large extent of champaign country, terminated by hills at various distances. Within the demesne, about a mile from the Mansion, is another Terrace, distinct in the characteristic features of the prospect which it affords, and called The Rievaulx Terrace, having at one end an elegant Temple, with an Ionic portico, the interior ornamented with paintings by Burnice on the ceilings and cornice; from this spot a varied and beautiful Landscape is beheld. The extensive and highly interesting ruins of the Monastery of Rievaulx, so named from the valley, form one of its principal beauties. To the right of the Terrace the eye is carried to two bold picturesque Hills in front, and beyond the woody slopes, on the opposite side of the river, is presented an elevated country, interspersed with the towns of Scawton, Cold Kirby, and Old Byland, where the Abbey of that name was at first begun to be erected. At the other end of the Terrace is a circular Tuscan Temple, terminating in a dome, which contains four statues placed in niches. This stands at the point of an elevated promontory, ornamented with fine plantations, commanding a beautiful prospect.

This noble Mansion stands in the parish of Helmsley, about half a mile from that town, on the southwest of which are the remains of its ancient castle. The source of the river Rye, which forms so delightful an object in the prospect, is at the upper end of Bilsdale, from whence it passes by the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey, and winds through the grounds at this seat, skirts the town of Helmsley, and after a meandering course of about sixteen miles, falls into the Derwent a little above Malton.

At the Dissolution, the Abbey of Rievaulx was granted in exchange to Thomas Lord Roos, a descendant of Walter de Espec, its founder, and first Earl of Rutland, who also possessed the Castle and Manor of Helmsley, and other considerable estates in this neighbourhood. In the reign of James I., these united estates became vested in Catherine, only surviving child and heiress of Francis, the sixth Earl of Rutland, who married George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham, of that name, and descended to their eldest surviving son, George, the second Duke of Buckingham, of whose trustees they were

Newby Park, Yorkshire;

THE RESIDENCE OF

JOHN CHARLES RAMSDEN, ESQ. M.P.

THIS Mansion is situated at the distance of five miles north-east of the town of Rippon, near Topcliffe, upon an estate which has been the property of the family of Robinson for nearly two centuries. The House was built by Sir William Robinson, Bart. in the year 1721, from the designs of Colin Campbell; the elevation is extremely elegant. In the centre division, which projects boldly from the wings, is a handsome pediment, in the tympan of which is a guideron shield bearing the arms of Robinson and other sculptured ornaments; this is supported by four Ionic columns in fine proportion and raised by three steps. The windows to the first story are pedimented; a bold frieze and blocked cornice, surmounted by a balustrade, surrounds the whole centre; the wings are connected by corridors of the Ionic order. Its plan comprises a Hall, with rooms to the left and right, the principal Staircase, other small rooms, and a handsome Saloon.

The Park, which is bounded on the east by the river Swale, is well stocked with deer, and its varied surface is adorned with fine old timber, an obelisk, &c.

Sir Metcalfe Robinson, who was created a baronet by King Charles II., was the first of this family that settled at Newby upon Swale, in Hallekeld wapentake. He died at this seat February 6th, 1689, without surviving issue, and was succeeded in his estate by his nephew and heir Sir William Robinson, the founder of the present Mansion, who had a new patent of baronetage the year of his uncle's death. He represented the city of York in Parliament from 1697 to 1722, and died in 1736, æt. 81, leaving five sons, of whom Thomas, the fourth son, was created Baron Grantham in the county of Lincoln, April 7th, 1761, in the first year of George III.

Upon the death of William Weddell, Esq. April 29th, 1792, Newby Hall, near Boroughbridge, devolved to Lord Grantham, since which time, his Lordship has made that seat his residence, and Newby Park, which is still the property of Lord Grantham, has been rented from the year 1814 by the present occupier, who is the eldest son of Sir John Ramsden, Bart. of Byrom, in this county. He married in 1814, Isabella, youngest daughter of Thomas Lord Dundas, and is now representative of the borough of Malton in Parliament.

[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed]
« PreviousContinue »