The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-07-23
ELIZABETHAN DAYS.
History and Romance
of an English Coun-
try Home.
A FINE old MANSION.
A FINE old MANSION.
Etwall Hall and It's Pictur-
esque Surroundings.
tFrom Country Life.)

tFTom country llIe.)
EtwalI is one of those sequestered viii !
lagos of Derbyshire, England, left high
and dry by the tide of progress, but
with its ancient church, its hospital
for the aged, its hall, and its rustic |
cottages and neighboring farms.
Like many other village churches in |
Derbyshire, that of ST. Helen at Etwall !
has important Norman features within |
and is interesting. though church war;
dens beautifed 1t long ago. says Coun-
try Life. 1t possesses the monuments
and memorial brasses of those who
once dwelt in the hall and founded the
hospital Before the suppression of the
monasteries it belonged to the priory
of Beauvale in Nottinghamshire, but in
Henry's reign Etwal came either by
royal grant or by his marriage with
the daughter of John Fitzherbert to Sir
John Porte, justice of the kings bench,
an important man of the law, much in
the royal favor, who was concerned in
the condemnation of that great Eng
lshman Sir Thomas More. Porte's sec
ond wife was Margaret Trafford of the
great Lancashire family, and, when he
died, he desired to be buried beneath
the arch in EtWall church, where l
and my wyff had used commonly to
knele' There, between the Porte chapel
at the east end of the north aisle and
the chanoel, the altar tomb to their
memory still remains, and there are
brasses to other members Of the Porte
family also in the church The JUS
tees son. another Sir John Porte, was
the founder both of Repton school and
of the hospital or almshouses at Ell
wall. These almshouses were built
originally in 1857 and stand near the
church, but the present interesting
structure, with quaint picturesque
ness in it's grouping of IL small houses
along three sides of an open square,
dates from 1881
What manner of house the Portes
dwelt in we may imagine, but do not
know. A quaint letter has been pre-
served, describing how the devil, in the
shape of a furious hurricane, visited
1t in 1545. He began his course in
Needwood, II miles from Derby. and,
coming to Mr.. Porte's house at EtWall
pulled up two great elms by the roots
and, hurrying off to the church. strip
ped Off the lead and threw it on
neighboring elm, where it "hangyd
upon the bowys like streamars A
new mansion seems to have been erect
ed IN Elizabeth's time when Etwall
had come to Sir Thomas Gerard. of
Bryn, ancestor of the present Lord
Gerard, who married one of the Porte
co-heiTesses. The Elizabethan house |
has been transformed and refronted. 1t
stands amid its fine trees and quantity
cut yew hedges, preserved from olden
days with a subtle classic charm, its
many windows and balustrades, its low
terrace and forecourt, with the sun dial
and inclosing grille of iron, being full
of quiet beauty.
To such places romance seems to be-
long, but there is nothing in the exter-
nal aspect of Etwall hall to bespeak
the sad events of it's early history.
An ingeniously contrived priests
hole, with secret communication with
the cellar and roof, has somewhat late
~ been brought to light within the
walls Of the house. Sir Thomas Gerard
mad need of such place. Like Sir
Thomas FitZherbert of Padley. Sir
Nicholas Longford and other Derby
SHIRE gentlemen, he held to his faith
and suffered terribly as a recusant in
fizaDeths reign, being many years i'm |
injured in the tower, from which he es-
capped only at the cost of impoverisf- |
ment and the mortgaging Of his estate. |
DIR. Cox, In his Churches of Derby
Shire. has preserved a curious and
amusing story Of the Gerards of Ell
wall The brother of Sir Thomas, who |
was more stanch even than himself, |
was paying visit to the hall and. |
being taken ill, had to prolong his stay
over Sunday. The knight was resolved, |
seeing that informers were about |
perhaps he had In mind an unparalleled |
villain named Topcliff who had |
wrought the ruin of the Fitzherberts-
that his brother should at least out-i
wardly conform and, despite his 1ro-
tests, had him carried in chair intoI
the family pew in Etwall church But |
the equity brother was equal to the oc- |
casion.
No sooner did the service start than
he began to chant in a loud voice, the |
Latin psalms from the Nulgate. He was
we'll into the third of them when thel
minister begged that he should be re-
moved. 1t was triumph for the |
brother, but the episode was raised in /
the Indictment of the knight. Sir Thom-
as Gerard had son who was Jesuit |
He, too, rs cast into the tower and |
tortured 2eing hung up by the !
wrists, finegar was poured down |
his throat. His agony procured him
respite and, perhaps through collision, |
he escaped by a rope over the ditch, |
and fed abroad disguised as a ser
want in the train of the Spanish am
bassador. His autobiography tells his
remarkable story
The last of the Gerards to possess |
sold the estate in 1641 to Sir Edward
Moseley. The baronet retained it only
five years and then disposed of 1t to
Sir Samuel Sleigh, gentleman who
was thrice married and there is au-
thority for saying his third wife was
buried exactly a century after the death
of his first. 1t was from Sir Samuel
Sleigh that Etwall passed to the Cot
tons, who still possess the beautiful
and interesting old place and in whose
hands it has assumed the aspect it
bears. To speak of the gardens Of TT
well at any length Is unnecessary. |
Their charm is that of the old-w orld
pleasance. That well-kept. curiously
shaped yew hedge is quaintness itself. |
How happily are standard roses en-
HANGED In effect by such background.
Then the archway Of yew is another
fine and distinctive feature, and there
is charm always in the presence of an
old mulberry tree. In such a garden
the vistas are beautiful and against
the dark yew hedges every flower, be
It lily or rose, and every bright leaved
bush or tree, becomes like a jewel in
that beautiful setting of green.