New-York tribune., 1906-05-13
NORTH1MPTON HOUSES.
Castle Ashby and AHhorp, rUith
GHmpses of the Washington Relies.
Northamnton. Anril Is.

Northampton, April 1S.
The historic castles of Northamptonshire have
rrumbed to ruin. Fotheringay where Richard
III born and Mary Stuart was put to death.
IS a moss grown heap of stones, and imagina-
ton is required for locating the room where
the first breath of the sinister King was drawn,
or the central hall, where the scaTold was erect
ii and the romantic Queens last sigh
gard: II die a good Catholic" The site of
northampton Castle is occupied by rail-
Eay station, and it has only been in Sir Henry
ErVing's splendid staging of the scene in Beck
ct" that the great hall of the Norman keep,
where the naughty Archbishop defied the power
of nobies aud court. has bc1n brought before
The eyes of the present generation. The well
t which the Primate drank before starting
1 refugee through Lincolnshire to Flanders has
survived the castle and the city walls, and two
rf Queen Eeanor's crosses are in NOrthamp-
lonshire. each more beautiful than the one at
Waltham. on the edge of Epping Forest The
one at Geddington near Kettering is perhaps
lae better proportional; but the other cross,
two miles from Northampton, is a stately yet
simple monument, with lovely screen of trees
ana vines behind it; and removed from the
hustle of the shoemallers' town. it makes the
same silent appeal to passersby to pray for the
Queens soul as wnen it was erected, six centu-
)es ago
Sid-time baronal residences remain, beautiful
AS we'll as mOdernized, and set among sumptu-
parks where landscape art has been allowed
TO have its brOadest and most reStful effects
Three of them splendid estates-Burghlev
House, Castle Ashby and Althorp Park. Burgh-
ley, the princely seat of the Marques of Exc
ter, is on the eastern edge of the shire nes>
Peterborough. and cannot be visited from North
amptOn. 1t was built by Queen Elizabeth's IA
ord Trp9 nd hos
adorned by his successors until il has become
a treasure house of art set in the centre Of a
richly wooded park. Castle Ashby, which ri
walls ii in magnihcence, is less than nine miles
from Northampton 1t is the residence of the
Marquess of Northampton and the oldest section
of it dates from the Elzabethan reign with
additions the east and the south by lingo
Jones. The castle stands high ground and
commands broad views of the Meme Valley and
villages north and south with ancient church
towers; and embOWered among trees now in
their freshest tinting of green is iVy-cIad
church filled with noble sculpture in memory of
COmptons and Alwynes There is an Angel
of the Resurrection" the supreme work and
recumbent alabaster efiigy of Lady Margaret
Levison Cover is eXquisitely carved The gar
deTs around this splendid castle are most beau
uf1 in this glorious spring weather. and even
IoVeiier is the spacious, rolling park, with its
circuit of over seven miles and its clumps and
lines Of ced2rs oaks, lines, chestnuts and elms
The Marquess of Northampton has another
country house not far away. Compton Wyn-
yates, near KinetOn, in Warwickshire but il
is at Castle Ashby that the choicest of the
art treasures, collected since the reign Of Henry
VIII by this family OF brave soldiers learned
prelates, are seen in stately halls and galleries
Althorp Park lies on the other side of North-
ampton, but not far from Castle Ashby. II is
entered from tho Rugby Road by what are
known as the Golden Gates. and the house is
approached, Ike the Marquess of Baths state
ly residence 1t Longleat by u noble avenue of
trees, while Lchind it gardens and a broad
eXpaEse of park land Lord Spencers house is
pain and unprctentious in comparison with the
Marquis of Northamptons, and what was once
its greatest attraction. one Of the finest private