vious to his decease; but his property passed, by a will made earlier in life, to his only Sister, the late Hon. Mrs. Leigh, who died unmarried, and left the estate to the Rev. Thomas Leigh, of Addlestrop, Gloucestershire. At the demise of this gentleman, it came to James Henry Leigh, Esq. his nephew, the present proprietor. The spacious residence, termed Stoneleigh Abbey, is situate in one of the most luxuriant and picturesque parts of the county of Warwick. The river Avon, here rendered wide even to a magnificence of amplitude, ornaments the grounds in the most attractive way with its classic waters; and woods, venerable and far-spread, bestow an air of dignified quiet on the neighbourhood. A considerable portion of the structure raised shortly after the expulsion of the religious from this choice spot, still remains; but the front and prime features of the edifice consist of a building of free-stone, erected about seventy years back by Edward Lord Leigh, after designs by Smith of Warwick. The present owner is making considerable alterations; and, under his direction, a handsome new bridge is constructing, over the Avon. One of the most interesting appendages to this capacious residence is a gatehouse, the lingering relic of the ancient monastic pile. This gate was erected by Robert de Hockele, the sixteenth abbot, who died in 1349, and who placed on the outer front a large escutcheon of stone, in memory of King Henry II. the founder of the abbey. The antiquary will hear with regret that, among the alterations effecting at present, it is proposed to take down this venerable fragment! The church of Stoneleigh is a large but irregular Gothic building, containing monuments to several of the Leigh family, among which is that sacred to Alice, Duchess Dudley, and her daughter. The effigies of the deceased are represented in a recumbent posture, beneath a canopy with arms on the facing. The titular Duchess Dudley was wife of Sir Robert Dudley, to the unusual circumstances of whose life we alluded in our notice of Kenilworth. Sir Robert was the son of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, by the Lady Douglas Sheffield. If any marriage took place between the parties, it was kept secret for a considerable term, and could not afterwards be sufficiently proved. The Earl married another lady, during the life of Sir Robert's mother; and it was not till some time after his decease that the son endeavoured to establish his legitimacy. Legal measures of enquiry took place; but an abrupt termination was put to the proceedings by a special order of the Lords, who directed that all the depositions should be sealed up, and no copies taken without the King's special license. It was now that Sir Robert obtained permission to travel; and we have stated that he never returned. He was a man of rare attainments, and was received into the warm friendship of the Duke of Tuscany, who afforded him a competent pension. He was likewise highly favoured by the Emperor Ferdinand II. who conferred on him the title of a Duke. The lady Alice, who was daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh, remained in England, and died (at her house near St. Giles's church) at the age of ninety, respected and beloved for the active benevolence of her disposition. In this parish is a range of almshouses, founded by the lady of Sir Thomas Leigh, in the 19th of Queen Elizabeth, for five unmarried men, and the same number of unmarried women; alt of whom were, in the first instance, nominated by herself. BAGINTON HALL is about three miles from Coventry, on the south east. In the reign of Richard II. the manor of Baginton, (written Babechitone in Domesday) was possessed by Sir William Bagot, who had here a castellated residence. This Sir William was a firm adherent to his misguided King; but when it was intended, in the year 1397, that a trial at arms should take place between the Dukes of Hereford and Norfolk, the former Nobleman lodged in this building; and hence he issued, on the morning of projected contest, armed at all points, and mounted upon his white courser, "barded with blue and green velvet, gorgeously embroidered with swans and antelopes of Goldsmith's work." Of the castle thus connected with scenes of important chivalry chivalry there is now no remaining part, except a small and solitary piece of masonry that merely guides the inquirer to the site. of the edifice. In the 16th of James I. the estate was purchased by William Bromley, Esq. and by this family, which long flourished on the spot, it is likely that the mansion was constructed in which they afterwards resided. Among those who took arms for King Charles, we find the name of William Bromley, son of the original purchaser of Baginton; and the grandson of that gentleman was the Secretary Bromley, one of the most honest and able servants of Queen Anne. He was several times representative in Parliament for the county of Warwick and the University of Oxford. In the 9th of Queen Anne he was Speaker of the House of Commons; and on the dissolution of the Parliament, over whose meetings in the lower house he presided, he was named one of her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State. A memorable circumstance, appertaining to the residence under notice, proves the high esteem in which he was held by those best able to judge of his talents and integrity. In the year 1706, the family seat at Baginton was reduced to the ground by fire. Intelligence of this calamity was conveyed to the owner while attending his duty in the House of Commons, and a considerable sum was immediately voted by Parliament towards a restoration of the structure. The mansion erected subsequent to this catastrophe by Secretary Bromley, is of a description suited to a country gentleman of the best order; capacious but devoid of ostentation, and adapted to all the purposes of hospitality, except the parade. In different parts of the house are some interesting family pictures, among which is a full length portrait of the Secretary; and in the library are some curious original letters, several of which are by royal hands. The estate is now possessed, and the mansion occupied, by Mrs. Price, a descendant of this respectable family. OFFCHURCH, now a small village, is traditionally said to have been a place of note in the Saxon eras. The manor was long vested in the priors of Coventry, and was granted at the Disso lution to the family of Knightley. The present proprietor is J. Wightwick Knightley, Esq. who has here a spacious residence, termed Offchurch Bury. A part of this building has marks of considerable antiquity, and it is probable that the priors of Coventry used their messuage ou this manor as a place of occasional retirement. To the more antient divisions of the structure large additions have been made, but not without some attention to the original character of the building. A profound, though agreeable, air of retirement, marks the neighbourhood of this seat. LEAMINGTON PRIORS is indebted to a circumstance of natural produce, and to the partiality of the gay, for recent flattering attentions which now cause it to disdain the name of village. This place, the spa of Warwickshire, is distant from the town of Warwick two miles; from Coventry eight; and from Birmingham twenty-two miles. It is observed by Camden and by Dugdale that Leamington possesses a salt spring; and Dr. Thomas, in his additions to the latter writer, says that the inhabitants use it in making their bread. Other springs have been since discovered, and in the year 1797, Dr. Lambe chemically analysed the waters, and found that they contain medicinal properties of the most valuable description. An account of his discovery was inserted in the Manchester memoirs, and the notice of the public was immediately attracted. Several medical persons of high respectability, corroborated the statement of Dr. Lambe; and the diseased on one hand, and the fashionable on the other, hastened to the spot of promise. But these ingenious writers met with a coadjutor in humble life, whose industry and merits should not be forgotten. This was Benjamin Satchwell, a laborious tradesman of the then obscure village, who successfully exerted himself in the instituting of a charity, for the gratuitous relief of distressed invalids, to whom a use of the waters might be recommended. The success of these united endeavours has been truly great. Buildings of a costly and commodious kind, for the reception of the WARWICKSHIRE. the affluent classes, have rapidly accumulated; and the charita- The waters are used both internally and for the purpose of bathing. In the Manchester Memoirs† Dr. Lambe gives the fol- Hepatic Gas. 3.5 |