Tong Hall, Yorkshire;

THE SEAT OF

COLONEL PLUMBE.

TONG HALL is situated in the West Riding, at the distance of three miles and a half from Bradford, in the Parish of Birstal, Morley Wapentake. The present building was erected in the year 1702, by the late Sir George Tempest, Bart., and originally consisted of a Centre three stories in height, terminating in a Pediment, and two Wings of two stories each; the latter were raised one story by the late Major Tempest.

The entrance is by a Hall, 28 feet by 24 in its dimensions, containing four three-quarter Portraits of King Charles's Generals. The Hall leads to the principal Staircase, which is of elm, very curiously inlaid.

The Library contains several Family Portraits: together with those of Sir John Maynard, Serjeant-at-Law, and Miss Tempest, (Pope's Daphne,) niece to Sir George Tempest.

Tong, the Tuine of Domesday, has preserved its aristocratical character from the earliest times to the present. It is generally called the Lordship of Tong, and has been successively transmitted through the families of Tonge, Mirfield, and Tempest. The situation is pleasing, in a Park, and amidst a succession of swelling grounds and sloping woods of native growth, with which the country abounds. The Hall is one of the earliest specimens of the square-sashed Italian House introduced into this part of Yorkshire: upon the south front is an inscription

HANC ANTIQUAM FAMILIE SEDEM

BIENNIUM INTRA

DE NOVO EREXIT, PERFECITQUE

GEORGIUS TEMPEST BARONETTUS

AUSPICANS AB ANNO SALUTIS

MDCCII,

DOMINI THEOPHILI SHELTONI DE HEATH

INGENIO PRUDENTIAQUE VERE ARCHITECTONICA.

A regiment of the King's Horse was quartered here during the Siege of Bradford, in 1643; and near to this place, on Adwalton Moor, a severe engagement was fought the same year between the Marquess of Newcastle and Lord Fairfax, in which the latter was defeated. Vide Ducatus Leodiensis.

The ancient House and its offices, built of wood and plaster, were burnt down about the year 1700; but it is quite uncertain at what period the first Mansion was erected here.

Tuine, or Tong, was held by Stainulf at the time of the Conquest, and was given by King William to Ilbert de Laci.

Hugo de Nevell, Lord of Brerelay by Deed, sans date, granted to Richard de Tange, and the heirs of his body, the Manor of Tange. Test: Hugo de Hinton, Johe de Thorp, et aliis.

The first document relating to Tong, that refers us to a date, is the recital of a Trial which took place in the King's Court at Westminster, on Wednesday, the Conversion of St. Paul, in the sixth year of King Richard the First, A. D. 1194, before Henry, Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert, Bishop of London, Roger le Aygood, and other Barons, between Richard de Tonge, Jordan Fitz Esolf, and Richard his son, concerning the Manors of Thornhill, Huddesworth, and Birle, with the appurtenances; which Manors had been granted to Jordan Fitz Esolf by Richard de Tonge, and were held of him by military service and the rent of 10s. per annum, which is still received by Colonel Plumbe as Lord of the Manor of Tong.

In the year 1441, 19th Henry VI., the Estate passed to the Family of Mirfield by the marriage of Robert Mirfield, son and heir of William Mirfield of Howley Hall, in the same Wapentake, with Margaret, daughter and heiress of Hugh Tonge, of Tonge.

In 1526, 18th Henry VIII. the Estate passed to the family of Tempest, by the marriage of Henry Tempest, the eighth son of Sir Richard Tempest, Knt. of Bracewell and Bolling, with Ellen, daughter and heir of Christopher Mirfield of Tonge.

In the year 1786, the Estate came into the possession of the late Thomas Plumbe Esq. of Wavertee Hall and Aughton, in the county of Lancaster, the father of the present owner, who married Elizabeth Tempest, sister and co-heir of the late Major Tempest of Tonge, a grand-daughter of the late Sir George Tempest, Bart., who by the death of her cousin, the late Sir Henry Tempest, Bart., of Thorpe, in Surrey, and of Hope End in Herefordshire, the chief of the ancient family of Tempest, of Bracewell and Bowling, and last male heir of the Tempests of Tong, without issue, in January, 1819, is now the representative of the Families of Tong, Mirfield, and Tempest of Tong.

N

Heslington Hall, Yorkshire:

THE SEAT OF

HENRY YARBURGH, ESQ.

THIS ancient Seat is situated about two miles south-west from the city of York, and above ten miles from the town of Pocklington. As a building, the Mansion is a remarkably fine specimen of the age of Elizabeth, having remained with little alteration: the ornamented Porch, ascended by steps, leads to the Hall, in length forty-one feet; width twenty-one feet; height twenty-eight feet; which has the appearance of much antiquity, and greatly resembles the hall of a college. At the lower end is a screen of oak, handsomely carved. On each side are placed two large oak tables, one of which is eighteen feet long, the other smaller, each formed of a single plank, of very great thickness. The roof is particularly admired for its elegant and elaborate workmanship. There are upwards of sixty different shields arranged on wainscot pannels round the Hall, with the Family Arms, and intermarriages up to the present time. The family is of great antiquity, dating its origin in this country, from the period of the Norinan Conquest, commencing with Eustachius, Lord of Yarburgh, in the county of Lincoln, in the year 1066. In the Hall are the following Portraits: Queen Elizabeth; Charles I., by Vandyck; James II., an admirable picture by Wissing; Charles II.; Henry, Prince of Wales, son to James I.; Prince Charles Edward, a good picture; the Duchess of Orleans, by Sir P. Lely; the Duchess of Grafton, by Sir G. Kneller; Lord Leicester, Archbishop Juxton, &c. &c., besides a great many Family Portraits, many of them possessing much merit, and some of great antiquity, but in good preservation. Beyond the Hall, with which it communicates by folding-doors, is the Drawing-room, thirty feet in length, corresponding in style with the Hall. Adjoining to this are several other Apartments; and there was formerly a Gallery, in length one hundred and eight feet. All these were arranged as a suite of State Apartments for the reception of Queen Elizabeth, had her Majesty visited the North, for whom this ancient Mansion was constructed, under the direction of her Chancellor. The Gardens are extensive, and correspond with the antiquity of the House, the hollies and yew-trees still retaining all the variety of form, which, in earlier times, was the prevalent style of gardening.

Heslington is in the Ouse and Derwent Wapentake, and the Township is partly in the liberty of St. Peter, at York.