The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-09-03 00:00:00

KNOWSLEY HALL.

'Such an occurrence as that of a nobleman; of tlike
• standing
,and eminence of the Earl of Derby,. of the
ancient hodse of Stanley, throwing open his grodnds to
the population' of a Whole county, and at the same time
inv?ti a' hody of Io',oo'o' 'men, and hospitably providing
for such alarge dubber, is not an event that has Often
to be recorded in th 6 celkinins of ajourrtal ; therefore,
especially as this is the instanter): any county where
such a circumstance has arisen, We elialt lot excused if we
digress a little' from the usual conventional's-et adopted
by journalists, and not only
.give a detailed account of
the day's proceelings, touching the invitation itself, but
also, as; briefly. as possible, record some interesting bis-
; terical antecedents of the ancient family, the present
inheritor of Whose title has thus so unprecedentedly and so
unostentatiously stepped from the high position he holds,
and so fully identified himself with such a great national
movement. From some unageountablecanse, since the time
that Die "Voomtday Book" (which we have not the oppor-
tunity of referrilig to' in any particular case of emergency)
was complled,.no 100 l historian has condescended, to
our knowledge, of giving a fill and detailed description
of the length and breadth .of Lb*, extensive estate.
Certainly We . have it mentioned that gnOwsiey "is
sitnated fii the' palish of Huyton, which is about a mile
to the ncetrvtard of Piescot, and that the mansion
stands upon an deviated spot in the 'western part of the
park, which is close to a fins sh'eet of Water ;." and the
historian goes further on -to 'state that, " the sheetof
water adds much to the surrounding scenery." No
lovers of landscape. painting will disagree with that
description.. " The building, by the same historian, is
ir described as . a stately structure, and forms a.conspi-
Ctioniobject. for a considerable distance on the west,
and its eastern side is surrounded with thick plan-
tations." Thtie we are not enabled to give a full de-
. sCripti'mf of the' extent of this vast estate from the
recnrds of early historians, hut we find that, " the original
mansion -was greatly enlarged by the first Earl of
Derby, who, at a vast expense and on a scale of
'princely rnuttiecence proposed this . residence for
the reception of his ,son-in-law, the notorious Earl of
Richmond, and on such an extended plan were these
additions made to the buildings, that the first Earl 'of
Derby, is stated in some accounte, to. have. entirely
reconstructed this mansion. Thea& works were executed
in stone, and at the time, two massive round towers
were added., These embattlements were entirely com-
posed of dark freestone. 'The basement of this portion
of this part of the mansion is appropriated to a part of
the household, but the principal apartment, which is
still used as a dining room, is of splendid proportions ;
a fragment of the original mansion has, however, with
gooTfitste, introduced over the south entrance,
and upon it is sculptured two badges of the horse
of Stanley,--4*the eagle,' and the three legs con-
joined, armed and sparred—the well-known ensign of
'the Lords of Man, over Which island the family from
the time of Henry IV. to the reign of George
held absolute: jurisdiction tinder the Crown." The
principal part Of. the mansion, as it now stands, was
erected by James, 'the tenth earl, who lived in the
reign of King William and Ann, and under the two
succeeding sovereigns. The front facing the west of
this noble pile. of ildings consists of an extensive range
cif three' parts—the principal part being the centre. It
is ceMpesed of red brick,. with stone quoins, With nu-
.merous . windows,. the whole surmounted by a balustrade.
On the east hunt is a chapel. On the south side of this
chapel is:a corridor of the lonic order, over, which are
the armorial bearings of the tenth Earl, on which is the
following inscription James Earl of Derby, Lord of
Man and the Isle, grandson of James Earl of Derby
and of Charlotte, daughter of Claude Duke de la Tre-
monille, whoSe husband, James, was beheaded at Bolton,
V.' Oct., 1652, for Strenuously adherinF to Charles the
2nd, who refused a bill, past unanimously by both
houses of Parliament, for restoring to
estate lost by his loyalty to him, 1632." the family the
Having thus
described, as well as we are able from authentic records,
the exterior of this magnificent building, we will only.
say that its interior is in perfect keeping, comprising
splendid apartments, the walls of which are covered with
family portraits, and with numerous specimens of the
works of the most eminent, ancient, and modern artists,
the former of which were chiefly collected by the tenth
Earl.