THE SEAT OF

GEORGE DURANT, ESQ.

TONG CASTLE, about three miles from Shiffnal, is a modern castellated Mansion, built on the site of an ancient fabric, by General Durant, father of the present possessor, who was his own architect, and had purchased the estate of William, second Duke of Kingston, about the year 1762. The four fronts of the Castle nearly correspond with the cardinal points; that to the east, which is the Carriage Front, is very noble, one hundred and eighty feet in length, and ninety-two in height; the principal Towers, two large and four smaller, are surmounted by cupolas, terminating in finials; the whole is of reddish-coloured stone. In front of the Castle are two brass cannon, bearing the royal arms of Spain, taken from the wreck of a vessel that formed part of the celebrated Spanish Armada. Our view is the West or Garden Front,

The Mansion is situated in a fine level country, well wooded and watered by a winding river, which flows through the Park, and passes close to the Castle on the north side, When it was rebuilt by General Durant, the Park was extended, the Lawn cleared, and several noble sheets of water added; his son, George Durant, Esq., the present proprietor, has considerably embellished the adjoining scenery, by giving effect to his father's plans, in the picturesque Lodges he has erected, and grouping the Landscape in various directions; he has also lighted the whole edifice with gas. The Castle has a very imposing appearance from the church of Tong, which is situated by the road-side, and within the palings of the Park.

Tong, in Brimstrey Hundred, was, previous to the Conquest, in the possession of the family of Morcar, Earls of Northumberland, soon after which it was alienated by William the Norman, together with their other estates. It was afterwards in the hands of the family of Zouch, of Ashby; the Badlesmeres and Veres are also stated to have held it; but the earliest existing records acquaint us that the estate passed from the descendants of Sir Fulk Pembrugge, who possessed it in the year 1280, by marriage, to the family of Vernon. Sir Henry Vernon rebuilt the old Castle about the year 1500.

From an heiress of this family it also passed by marriage to Sir John Stanley, Knt., whose son sold it to Sir Thomas Harrriess, Bart., and his daughter, Elizabeth, again conveyed the property to the Honorable William Pierrepoint, second son of Robert, first Earl of Kingston, by which marriage the Castle came into that noble family, of whom it was purchased by the late G. Durant, Esq. M. P.

The senior branch of the Durant family are still seated at the Chateau Verigni, near Caen in Normandy, from whence the ancestors of the Durants of Tong came into England with William the Conqueror; the name appears in the list of the warriors called Battle Abbey Roll; they were first seated at Barcheston near Warwick, and represented that town in parliament in the reign of Edward IV. The Reverend G. Durant suffered severe persecution for his loyalty to King Charles, by Oliver Cromwell, who sent a troop of horse to expel him from his living of Blockley in Worcestershire. Vide Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy.

The Collegiate Church of Tong, built according to Dugdale by Isabel Lady Pembrugge in the year 1411, is dedicated to Saint Bartholomew. The fine interior is replete with ancient monuments of the families of Pembrugge, Vernon, Stanley, Harriess, Pierrepoint, Middleton, and Mazareene. There is also a most elegant mural monument to the memory of the late G. Durant, Esq., by Westmacott, very superior both in design and in the colour of its marble. The Chantry, erected by Sir Henry Vernon, has a pendent stone roof like that of Henry the Seventh's Chapel adjoining Westminster Abbey.

Tong Castle possesses a fine collection of Paintings, executed by some of the first masters of the art, native as well as foreign: among these are found the splendid names of Sir J. Reynolds, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Sir Peter Lely, Titian, Michael Angelo, Rubens, A. Caracci, and many others too numerous to particularize.

Sundorne Castle, Shropshire;

THE SEAT OF

MRS. CORBET.

THIS Mansion is situated in Wellington Division of the South part of Bradford Hundred, about four miles north-east from Shrewsbury; it has undergone considerable alteration, and presents a handsome appearance on its exterior, having turrets and battlements in the ancient style. The entrance Porch leads to a Hall, fifty feet by nineteen, divided by pointed arches, and containing two fireplaces, with chimney-pieces to correspond. The Grand Staircase is of oak, handsomely carved. The Library is fifty-two feet by twenty, with a Recess, twelve feet square, in the mullioned window of which is some very fine, ancient stained glass. At the farther end is a door leading through a cloister to the domestic Chapel. In the Library stands a very handsome silver Vase, presented by the gentlemen of the Warwickshire Hunt, with an Inscription expressive of their respect and gratitude for the sport enjoyed with Mr. Corbet's foxhounds, dated 1811. The Ante-Drawing-room is twenty-two feet by twentyeight; besides the pictures in this room, which are chiefly by Mrs. Corbet, is a very curious glass, with groups of flowers, exquisitely painted by a Flemish artist, placed over a table inlaid with one hundred and twenty-eight different specimens of Foreign Marbles. This apartment opens with folding-doors into the principal Drawing-room, fifty-two feet by twenty-four. On a marble pedestal, at the end of this Room, is a statue of Venus, said to be one of the finest female statues in England. It was brought from Rome by the late Mr. Corbet, and Nollekins offered a thousand pounds for it when consigned to his care, on its being landed in England. The Dining Parlour, forty feet by twentyeight, and eighteen in height, is enriched with a very handsome Gothic ceiling, and sideboard. The late possessor of this Mansion was highly respected in this county, where he kept up the character of an independent country gentleman, attached firmly to our Constitution in Church and State, constantly using his powerful influence in the Borough of Shrewsbury, in its support. His hospitality was unconfined; a numerous tenantry experienced his liberality and kindness, while to the poor he was an unceasing benefactor. Ardently attached to the chase, he kept a pack of foxhounds for nearly thirty years at his sole expense, in Warwickshire; a short time before his death he went to Muddiford in Hampshire, for the benefit of his health, where he died at an advanced age in the year 1817: his remains were interred in the family vault at Battlefield, in which church a very handsome florid Gothic monument has been erected at the east end.

List of the Pictures at Sundorne Castle.

LIBRARY.-Venus, Titian.-Landscape, Salvator Rosa.-Joseph and Potiphar, Cæsar Arbasia.— The Flight into Egypt, Rembrandt.-Angels appearing to Shepherds, Mola.- Fish. Van Huysum.-Two small Landscapes on Copper, J. Vanhagen.-A Landscape, Van Goyen.-Baxter, Vandyck.—Love and Friendship, Batoni.-Portrait of the late Mr. Corbet, Batoni.

ANTE DRAWING ROOM.-Copies in Oil from Cuyp, Vandervelde, Barrocio, &c., by Mrs. Corbet. -A Portrait of the late Mr. Corbet in his Hunting Dress, Devis.

DRAWING ROOM.-The original design for the Altar-piece at Antwerp, Rubens.--Interior of a Dutch Cabin, Molinaer.-A Portrait, Georgioni.-Diana and Actæon, Bassan.-St. Peter, Spagnoletti. -A Party going out Hunting, Wouvermans.-Virgin and Child, Parmigiano.-Madona, Sasso Ferato.— Boy Sleeping, Simon di Pesaro.-St. Agatha, Guido.-A Satyr, Rubens.-Virgin and Child, Corregio. -Flower-piece, Van Huysum.-Fruit-piece, Ditto.-A Female Head, Guido.—The Holy Family, Raphael. (Supposed to be a Duplicate of his celebrated Picture.)—A Landscape, Swanfelt.-Two Landscapes, Vanderwerp.-Two Ditto, P. Fillipo Lauri.

DINING PARLOUR.-Whole length Portraits of Corbet Kynaston, Esq.-Pelham Corbet, Esq. in the Militia Dress of Charles I. 1635.-The Father of the late Mr. Corbet, of Sundorne; and other Family Portraits.