Gents Mag 1848 part 1 p.371

Gents Mag 1848 part 1 p.371




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	list, 2nd qtr 19th century


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	Gentleman's Magazine 1848 part 1 p.371 [quar]ries; and the windows, six in number, are filled with painted glass of old German manufacture, seemingly of the date of Emperor Maximillian. In a quiet corner, near the screen, hangs a Crusader's sword, said to be the sword of Udard de Broham, temp/ Henry II. A.D. 1175, and of intense interest, from its having been brought with a prick spur from his tomb in the chancel of Brougham church. Through the hall and looking out upon the terrace, over the woods and up the vale of Lowther, is the dining-room, a low-roofed wainscoted room, also of napkin paneling, but much finer and more delicately executed than that of the hall, of the time of Henry VI. and with an elaborately-carved chimney-piece, representing some battle scene, carved oak doors, &c. Above this room, and approached by a staircase carved in oak, with twisted bannister rails, is the old drawing-room, exactly of the same size, perhaps thirty feet long, but somewhat loftier, and with numerous heraldic achievements emblazoned in the spaces between the heavy cross beams at their intersections. The walls are hung with tapestry of the time of Charles II. and in capital preservation; the colouring as good and brilliant as new. Over the carved fireplace are the arms of Edward VI. with his initials. Opposite to the door of the dining-room is Lord Brougham's own room, also paneled, but with plain panels painted white, crammed with books and papers, pictures, prints, and a most delightful and comfortable room, having one of the richest views imaginable of woods, water, patches of green and cultivated land, in endless variety, and backed by the range of mountains hemming in and forming the eternal barriers of the lakes. A flight of steps within the screen leads to a small drawing-room, which is fitted up in the modern fashion, but with an old oak mantlepiece, carved doors, and ribbed roof, with windows opening out into the gardens. Beyond this room is the library, - as may be supposed the most imposing and sumptuous apartment in the house, of large but unequal form, and fitted around with heavy oak carved book-presses, well filled with books, of the quality of which it is superfluous to speak. Above these presses the wall is hung with Cordovan leather, gilt and painted, and upon this costly ancient material hang a series of family portraits of various ages and costumes. The roof is highly enriched with carvings, illuminated missal-wise. Retracing our steps down the cloistered stone passage, through the screen and up the great hall, an iron clenched door opens upon the grand staircase, with stone-arched doorways and openings to galleries from the various landings on the ponderous oaken stairs. In one upper corner the walls show a gathering-up of masonry upon corbelled projections, which seems to betoken some covered-up secret chamber or private stair; or perhaps the support of some superstructure in the shape of a tower or turret above the roof, all giving evidence of Edwardian character. In recent repairs of this staircase, much old oak has been brought from Scailes Hall, another old property long in the possession of the family, and now also belonging to his lordship. Curious ancient glazing in plain glass, but much infinity of pattern in leaded forms, lights the staircase; and the roof is very rich and handsome, with a brass chandelier of flamboyant character, and perhaps Spanish or French origin. Many of the bed-rooms are hung with tapestry, wainscoted, or decorated with stamped or gilt leather, and furnished with antique oak, marquetrie, and buhl furniture. In one room, hung with dingy, faded tapestry, beside a carved oaken bedstead furnished with thick old silk, the carpet upon being displaced shows a trap-door in the wormed oaken-planked floor, and this leads down a flight of stone steps, through the centre of the house, in the thickness of an inner wall, down into a small stone vault, and eventually out amongst the brushwood under the terrace; a very significant feature of the frail tenure upon which men held their lives and lands in the "good old days." However much and deservedly we may admire this most pictureque and interesting of all styles of architecture, we most certainly ought to feel thankful we live in an age when so romantic an adjunct to a bed-room is no longer necessary. Another of these bed-rooms, the

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