The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-09 00:00:00

NBWSTEAD ABBEY.

This grand old ecclesiastical structure and the
rich appendages, around which so many historical
associations crowd, but which are most generally
known from the fact that they once formed the
noble heritage of " Childe Harold," will in a few
days, owing to the death of their gallant owner,
Colonel Wildman, fall under the hammer of the
auctioneer. The Church of Rome omits no oppor-
tunity of regaining possession of those rich estates
that once constituted the patrimonies of the various
religious fraternities scattered over England, and
she will no doubt be found among the most active
competitors at the sale. We first find mention
of " Newstede" in the year 1170, when a monas-
terrayntf 50byacXreisn,g Henry 11., and
a piece of arable
we
granted k
iftohu nad epda r tkh eo e
land called Abbey Field, lying between the Monas-
tery and the town of Papplewick, together with
certain freedoms and privileges, and large tracts
of land in Sherwood Forest, to the canons regular
of the Order of St. Austin. It was no doubt from
the brethren of this religious fraternityy-that about
30 years afterwards " Bold Robin Hood," the
patriotic free ranger of merry Sherwood, levied
that compulsory tribute which enabled him to per-
form those many acts of benevolence among the
poor of the adjacent towns of Nottingham and
Mansfield, which, combined with his intrepidity
and skill as an archer, have placed his name among
those of the national heroes of England. The
religious fraternity appear to have retained pos-
session of Newstead Abbey and its broad and
beautiful lands, until deprived of them by King
Henry VIII., who, in the year 1540, granted
them to John, afterwards Sir John Byron, whose
name has some special interest for this
district, he having at the same time granted to him
the stewardship of Manchester and Rochdale, as
well as the Lieutenancy of Sherwood Forest, New-
stead Abbey continued in the hands of the Byron
family, and was their principal residence, until it
came into the posse ssion of the late George Gordon,
Lord Byron, of poe tic memory, who sold it in 1818
to Mr. Thomas Clawton, who re-sold it and its ex-
tensive park and appendages to the late proprietor,
Colonel Wildman, for £lOO,OOO. The colonel greatly
improved the estate, and restored a large portion of
the old building; and a very considerable advance
upon the last purchase money will now no doubt
be obtained. " During the time," says Thomas
Bailey, the local historian, " the abbey was in the
possession of the religious fraternity to which it be-
longed, the monks served at several distinct altars
devoted to prayer for the health of the founder and
different benefactors. * * * A considerable
portion of the old abbey is still remaining, partly'
in ruin and partly embodied in the general archi-
tecture of the house. The church, originally a mag-
nificent structure, as may be readily perceived by
the majestic ruin in front of the edifice, in the form
of the west end of a cathedral, adorned with rich
carvings, was generally allowed to sink into a con-
dition of neglect and dilapidation, though the south
aisle was incorporated into, and still forms part of,
the building. The cloisters exactly resemble those
of Westminster Abbey, only on a smaller scale,
and have a very touching and venerable appear-
pearance, especially when associated with the
that many of the ancient occupants are still sleep-
ing beneath the pavement, waiting the summons
of the great day of account.'" This " cloistered
sanctuary of the venerable dead" is now a tho-
roughfare for the domestics; an extensive and an-
cient crypt under the cloisters has for many years
been used as the ce llarage of the house ; the choir-
room is transformed into a bath-room, and the
burial ground for the inmates of the abbey is now
an elegant garden, where stands the famous pedes-
tal of white marble, erected by Lord Byron to the
memory of his favourite Newfoundland dog. Tem-
ywa mutantur.—Balford Weekly News.

The Salut Public of Lyons says :—" A petition
addressed to the Senate is now being signed by the female
operatives in this city„ in which the petitioners pray that
all men who attain the age of 40 without marrying may be
compelled to pay a tax asunproductive members of society."

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