Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970. Vol. 1. Essays, notes and documents

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Hinchingbrooke 1200 - 1970

Essays, notes and documents Edited by Roger Mitchell Volume 1 1

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Cover image: Hinchingbrooke East Front (J.P. Neale c1820)

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 Published in two volumes: Volume 1 Essays, notes and documents Volume 2 Plans, drawings and photographs

Edited by Roger Mitchell

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

First published in 2019.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without express permission of the Editor or individual authors of essays reproduced.

Enquiries to the Editor via The Friends of Hinchingbrooke House Hinchingbrooke House Huntingdon PE29 3BN. UK.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Preface: IT is almost 50 years since I first walked through this gateway to see first the Tudor brickwork of the service wing and then, as the eye swivelled left, the much grander north front of the house, with its two bay windows enriched with heraldic carving. I still have a sense of expectation and a feeling that there is much still to be discovered about this great house and those who owned or used it – the mediaeval nuns, the Cromwell and Montagu families and the governors, staff and students of Hinchingbrooke School Hinchingbrooke House from the gatehouse. who have now been in residence for almost half a century.

This collection is an attempt to bring together some of the research that I and others have undertaken, particularly in the period since the formation of the Friends of Hinchingbrooke House in 2000. Much of the material has been presented to the Friends either at their annual dinner or in their regular newsletter. Some has come from academic historians from Cambridge and Leicester Universities, some from local historians, some from teachers at the school and some from members of the Friends. All of it deserves to be available to a wider audience and print copies of this collection are available in Huntingdonshire archives and at Hinchingbrooke School. Much of this material will be published by the Friends of Hinchingbrooke House in a book entitled ‘New Perspectives on the History of Hinchingbrooke’. The whole project has had the support and encouragement of the President of the Friends of Hinchingbrooke House, John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich, whose long-term commitment to Hinchingbrooke and its history has been of great importance and value.

Research and publication have been greatly helped by generous financial support from the Goodliff Fund administered by Huntingdonshire Local History Society. The fund was created

by Phyllis Goodliff (1897-1993). She knew Hinchingbrooke well both before and after 1970 and attended many events. It was a privilege to know her and I hope that she would approve of this collection. It is appropriate that, as a nine year old in 1906, she gets a mention in a footnote.

I am grateful to all those who have contributed to this collection, especially to Rosemary Horrox, David Smith, Kate Loveman and David Cozens, all of whom have rewritten and expanded their pre-Dinner talks. Ann Colbert has been particularly helpful with material relating to the garden. Ann and Geoff Gardner have enabled me to access material from the newsletters in a very efficient way. I have a particular debt of gratitude to David Cozens and to Terry Barringer for editorial help and to David Smith, not just for his contribution, but for all manner of academic support and encouragement. Tom Wheeley has been a major contributor and an invaluable sounding board for new ideas. As ‘our man on the spot’ he has provided all manner of practical help. Sam Bell’s layout imposed order and coherence on a mass of material. I am grateful for both his expertise and patience. Without Mike Baker’s commitment to this project (and to every aspect of Hinchingbrooke), publication would never have been achieved. a

Roger Mitchell 1

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Contributors: Roger Mitchell taught History at Hinchingbrooke School from 1969 to 1983 and, although he then moved to Lancashire, he has continued to be fascinated by the house and its history.

Dr Rosemary Horrox is a fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where she is Director of Studies in History.

Dr David Smith is a fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he is Director of Studies in History.

Dr Kate Loveman is Associate Professor of English Literature at the University of Leicester.

David Cozens MBE is a former chairman of Huntingdonshire Local History Society and a member of the Friends of Hinchingbrooke House. a

All other contributors are past or present members of the Friends of Hinchingbrooke House. a

This collection: aaaaThis collection, published in two volumes, illustrates the 800 year history of Hinchingbrooke. Items relating to the Mediaeval Nunnery and the period of Cromwell ownership from 1538 to 1627 are in volume one, Part 1. The Montagu Family, who were created Earls of Sandwich in 1660, held the property from 1627 to the 1960s and this period is covered in volume one, Part 2. The terminal date for this collection is 1970, but both the Montagu family and Hinchingbrooke House have a continuing history. The Montagus now live at Mapperton in Dorset, and Hinchingbrooke House is the centre of Hinchingbrooke School, a large and thriving comprehensive. aaaaThe collection brings together material presented to the Friends of Hinchingbrooke House at dinners and meetings or in newsletters. It seems appropriate that these items should have a more permanent existence along with some of the documents and illustrations that have been used or displayed on these occasions. Some references have been included so that those people who want to dig more deeply can be guided to the sources but the informality of the talks and notes has been preserved. a

Items 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 13 and 16 are based on talks given to the Friends of Hinchingbrooke House.

Items 2, 4, 6, 15, 18, 19 and 21 are based on articles from the Friends’ Newsletter. a

aaaaThe remaining items in volume 1 gather together documentary material from a variety of sources. These items are shown in italics on the contents list which follows. Volume 2 (Part 3) comprises plans, drawings and photographs of Hinchingbrooke after 1830. aaaaA Bibliography is included and particular attention should be drawn to two publications that provide excellent introductions to the history and the architectural development of Hinchingbrooke: The current guidebook by Tom Wheeley was published in 2011 and is available from the school. The architecture of the house is described in the Pevsner Architectural Guides: ‘Buildings of England’ series. Hinchingbrooke is included in the Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire and Peterborough volume published in 2014 in an updated edition by Charles O’Brien. aaaaAppropriately, Tom teaches history at Hinchingbrooke School and is a committee member of the Friends of Hinchingbrooke House, while Charles spoke about his research at the Friends Dinner in 2012.

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Contents: A Bibliography of Hinchingbrooke: the House and its owners

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PART 1 Hinchingbrooke from c1200 to 1627: Nunnery and Cromwells 1 Hinchingbrooke Priory c1200 - 1536 by Rosemary Horrox 2 The Skeletons in the Closet: The Hinchingbrooke Bones by Tom Wheeley 3 The Cromwells of Hinchingbrooke 1538 to 1627 by David Smith 4 Queen Elizabeth’s Visit to Hinchingbrooke by Ian Nicholls

7 7 11 15 20

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PART 2 Hinchingbrooke from 1627 to 1960s: The Montagus, Earls of Sandwich

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A The First Six Earls and Pre-Fire Hinchingbrooke (1627 – 1830) 5 The 1st Earl of Sandwich and Chocolate by Kate Loveman 6 Meeting Lady Sandwich in the Loire Valley by Peter and Pamela Downes 7 The 4th Earl of Sandwich and Hinchingbrooke by Roger Mitchell 8 Theatre and Music at Hinchingbrooke in 18th Century. Documents 9 The Prince of Wales at Hinchingbrooke: Christmas 1786. Documents 10 Pre Fire Hinchingbrooke: A Mansion of the Olden Time

by Roger Mitchell 11 Hinchingbrooke before the Fire. Documents and Illustrations a B Fire, Renewal but eventual Relocation (1830 – 1960s) 12 Fire and Rebuilding in the 1830s. Documents and Illustrations 13 Hinchingbrooke and Huntingdon at the time of the 8th and 9th Earls

by David Cozens 14 Edward VII at Hinchingbrooke. Documents 15 The Hinchingbrooke Casket by Anne and Geoff Gardner 16 Hinchingbrooke 1945 – 1970: Dark Days for the Country House

by Roger Mitchell 17 Post War Challenges: Documents

21 23 24 26 32 37 40 45

64 73 81 85 87 98

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C The Gardens and Grounds from 17th to 20th Centuries 18 The Restoration of the Pepys Steps by Tom Wheeley 19 The First Earl’s Garden by Tom Wheeley and Roger Mitchell 20 The Eighth Earl’s Garden. Documents 21 Arcadia at Hinchingbrooke? by Ann Colbert

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102 103 110 119

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

A Bibliography of Hinchingbrooke: The House and its owners.

Documentary material on Hinchingbrooke is widely scattered, as references in this collection show, and the 1830 fire destroyed many important documents. The two best starting places are the Sandwich Archive held at Mapperton by the present Earl and the Hinchingbrooke Collection held by Huntingdonshire archives. The following printed sources are useful. a

For the House before the Fire:

Mark Noble. Memoirs of the Protectoral House of Cromwell. 2 Vols. 1787.

Noble was a conscientious 18th century scholar and genealogist. His book contains much written material on the Cromwells and some illustrations of the pre-fire house. a

J.P.Neale. Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen. 1st Series Vol 2. 1819.

In eleven volumes, Neale provides the most comprehensive survey of English Country Houses in the early 19th century. Hinchingbrooke is particularly well treated with a full written account of house and family together with two illustrations (and also the frontispiece to volume 3).

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For the House at the Time of the 8th Earl: Elizabeth Balch. Glimpses of Old English Homes. 1890.

8th Earl of Sandwich. Hinchingbrooke. 1910.

Balch provides a gushing and romantic description of the house and its history. By contrast the 8th Earl’s account is entirely impersonal; a history of house and family followed by a room by room list of pictures. There is no mention of the garden. Although the title page says ‘by’ the Earl, it might well have been ‘for’ him, compiled by a secretary or archivist and given by him to friends and visitors.

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Twentieth Century Historical and Architectural Descriptions of the House: Country Life, Articles and Photographs. 2nd November 1907 and 6th and 13th April 1929.

Victoria County History (VCH) Huntingdonshire. 3 Vols. 1926-1936.

Royal Commission on Historic Monuments (RCHM) – Huntingdonshire. 1926.

Both the VCH and RCHM are freely available on line. a

Nikolaus Pevsner. The Buildings of England: Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire and Peterborough.

2nd Edition by N.Pevsner & C.O’Brien 2014. 1968.

The first edition is pure Pevsner, with its unexpected dedication ‘To the Inventor of the ICED LOLLY’ and its decisive judgement on Edward Blore – ‘He was a dull man; Hinchingbrooke confirms it’.

In 2014 a thoroughly revised and expanded 2nd edition was published. The revision was undertaken by Charles O’Brien, who spoke at the annual dinner in 2012. From the 1950s onwards, various guidebooks have been provided for visitors to the house. The 1950s one was probably written by Victor Montagu and there then follow guidebooks by Philip Dickinson

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 (1970) – particularly strong on the mediaeval and Tudor periods, Roger Mitchell (1972), John Cronin (2000), and, most recently, Tom Wheeley (2011). a

Mary Stuart. Houseful at Hinchingbrooke. 1979.

As an account of the changes from the 1950s to the 1970s, this is both invaluable and entertaining. Mary had a unique perspective. She and her family lived in a rented cottage at Hinchingbrooke and she was both a personal friend of the Montagus and Senior Mistress at Huntingdon Grammar School.

People: a

Hinchingbrooke, together with its Cromwell owners, is bound to get a mention in biographies of Oliver Cromwell. Antonia Fraser’s Cromwell, Our Chief of Men (1974) has a clear account and there are references in the following, more recent biographies: Barry Coward. Oliver Cromwell. 1991, p. 11.

Peter Gaunt. Oliver Cromwell. 1996, pp. 30-3.

J.C. Davis. Oliver Cromwell. 2001, pp. 16, 69.

Martyn Bennett. Oliver Cromwell. 2006, pp. 4, 7, 9, 19, 21.

John Morrill. Oliver Cromwell. 2007, pp. 1-4.

So far as the Montagus are concerned, the 1st and 4th Earls of Sandwich were important figures in English History in the 17th and 18th centuries. They both fully deserve their place in The Dictionary of National Biography (online version readily accessible). The 4th Earl’s long-term mistress, Martha Ray, gets her own entry with the description ‘singer and murder victim’ and her murderer, James Hackman, is also included. Rather surprisingly, the 5th Earl of Sandwich also appears in the Dictionary. His entry is brief and in it he is described as ‘a man of no real ability’ whose ‘public life was undistinguished’. Two other family members from the 18th century are also included – Basil Montagu (illegitimate son of 4th Earl and Martha Ray) and William Montagu (younger brother of the 4th Earl) for whom the entry ends ‘his early death on 10th February 1757 aroused few regrets’. None of the 19th century Montagus of Hinchingbrooke are included but there is an entry for Victor Montagu, 10th Earl (1906-1995). In the History of Parliament, which is also readily available on line, there are short biographies of all family members who served as MPs. a Rather unusually, there is a mid-Victorian book of 275 pages, providing biographical information about the Cromwells and, particularly, the Montagus: a Mary Boyle. Biographical Notices of the Portraits at Hinchingbrook [sic]. 1876.

The book has been digitalised by archive.org and is available free online.

Miss Boyle (1810 – 1890) was a Victorian writer and a friend of both Dickens and Tennyson.

She wrote novels and verse as well as this book and a similar one about portraits at Longleat.

She was well connected and, according to her entry in the DNB, ‘much of her life had been spent moving from one country house to another, including Althorp, home of her cousin, Lord Spencer’. She dedicates this book to the 7th Earl and describes herself as ‘his faithful kinswoman’.

It is likely that she lived at Hinchingbrooke while compiling this book. It is a list of portraits and short biographies which vary in length from a few lines to more than twenty pages for important figures like the 1st Earl of Sandwich. There are no illustrations. She takes us around the house describing portraits by their location, rather than in chronological order. The names of rooms are given, but there is no more about the architecture or layout of the house.

Approximately eighty portraits are described, but for important people, especially the 1st Earl, a number of different portraits are included. Fifty portraits are of the Montagus and their

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 connections, six are Cromwell related and the rest are ‘famous names’ especially from the 17th century including Charles I and Henrietta Maria, Archbishop Laud and Prince Rupert. The chronological range is from Charles V (born 1500) to the 7th Earl’s youngest son (born 1844).

The paintings in the Ship Room are briefly listed – seascapes by Van de Velde and Samuel Scott – but otherwise only portraits are included.

The biographical material is interesting but not particularly thorough, and at the beginning of the book she rather disarmingly states that ‘historical and well-known events (which will be found in the annals of England) have been made purposely, to give way to details of a more domestic nature’. a

The most recent full-scale biographies of the two great Earls are: a

Richard Ollard. Cromwell’s Earl, a life of Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich (1994).

Ollard has also written an excellent biography of Samuel Pepys (1974, new illustrated edition 1990), but Claire Tomalin, Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self (2002) is perhaps even better and has more references to Hinchingbrooke House – 30 in total. Both books make extensive use of Robert Latham’s edition of Pepys’ Diary (1970 – 1983).

N.A.M.Rodger. The Insatiable Earl, a life of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1993).

Rodger is primarily a naval historian, but his book is extremely wide-ranging and brings Sandwich to life. For a fascinating analysis of one aspect of Sandwich’s life, his long term relationship with Martha Ray, see John Brewer, Sentimental Murder: Love and Madness in the 18th Century (2004). As First Lord of the Admiralty, the 4th Earl was much involved in Cook’s three great voyages of discovery. The second voyage returned to England with the Polynesian, Omai, who visited Hinchingbrooke. His story is told in Richard Connaughton’s Omai: The Prince Who Never Was (2006). a

Two Montagu biographies from the 19th and 20th Centuries have been published: Mrs Steuart Erskine (ed). Memoirs of Edward, 8th Earl of Sandwich 1839 – 1916 (1919). Most of the material is drawn directly from the Earl’s diaries and letters. There are frequent references to life at Hinchingbrooke, but even more about his travels to Europe, America and the East.

Towards the end of the book his interest in and gift for spiritual healing comes to the fore. In 1915, the Earl wrote and published a short (76 pages) book entitled My Experiences in Spiritual Healing.

Both books have been digitalised by archive.org and are available free online. a

Hinch: A Celebration of Viscount Hinchingbrooke M.P. 1906-1995 (1997) by Andrew Best and our president, the 11th Earl. a

Reminiscences by George Montagu [9th Earl of Sandwich] exists as a typescript copy in Huntingdonshire Local Studies REF C52MON. There is another copy in the National Library of Australia (Rex Nan Kivell Collection NK 10846 – Typescript). This copy is inscribed in ink by author, 'With good wishes to you for Christmas & the New Year from Sandwich’ This suggests that the Earl may have had a number of copies made to send to friends. Sir Rex de Charembac Nan Kivell (1898-1977) was a New Zealander who became managing director of the Redfern Gallery in London in the 1930s. The gallery specialised in modern art, hence the link with the 9th Earl.

There is interesting material about the 9th Earl’s first wife, Alberta Sturgis, in her half sister’s autobiography Late and Soon by Frances Leggett (1968). The story of the 9th Earl’s second wife is told in The Bizarre Life of Ella Sully by G.M.Warner (2015).

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PART 1 Hinchingbrooke from c1200 to 1627: The Nunnery and the Cromwell Family 1 Hinchingbrooke Priory c1200 - 1536 by Dr Rosemary Horrox.

This essay is based on the pre-dinner talk that Dr Horrox gave in 2008.

2 The Skeletons in the Closet: The Hinchingbrooke Bones by Tom Wheeley. This article was in the FHH Newsletter Issue 23 July 2014.

3 The Cromwells of Hinchingbrooke 1538 to 1627 by Dr David Smith.

This essay is based on the pre-dinner talk that Dr Smith gave in 2007.

4 Queen Elizabeth’s Visit to Hinchingbrooke by Ian Nicholls.

This article was in the FHH Newsletter Issue 16 December 2010.

Hinchingbrooke Priory*

by Dr Rosemary Horrox a

Discussion of the early history of Hinchingbrooke priory was until relatively recently mainly reliant on references in the work of the sixteenth-century antiquary John Leland, who credited William the Conqueror with moving the nuns from Eltisley when their house there had been destroyed. The Eltisley nunnery had been, he tells us, the burial place of the virgin St Pandonia who had died around 904. She was the daughter of a Scottish king, who had fled to the priory, where one of her kinswomen was prioress, after an attempted rape.

The nuns themselves evidently accepted at least part of this version. At the time of the Dissolution they were distributing 10s a year in alms to pray for the soul of William the Conqueror, ‘their founder’. But this part of the story is clearly wrong. The nuns’ site outside Huntingdon was given to a community formerly based at Eltisley by a King William, but by William I, the Lion, of Scotland. It was he who provided not only their new site but also the church of St James, which was to give them their formal name. The grant was confirmed, 1186-1188, to the ‘prioress and nuns of St James outside Huntingdon’ by Hugh, bishop of Lincoln. Other donations were confirmed by the bishop at the same time. The king’s younger brother David had granted them land in Stivecle, and Simund de Turre all the land he held in Huntingdon apart from his own house. The English king John was to be a later benefactor, granting them sixty acres and a meadow before their gate, outside the town of Huntingdon, on 10 June 1199. * References to most of the material used here can be traced in: D.E.Greenway, Charters of the Honour of Mowbray 1107-1191; English Episcopal Acta 31: Ely 1109-1197; English Episcopal Acta 4: Lincoln 1186-1206; Heads of Religious Houses: England and Wales 2: 1216-1377; Heads of Religious Houses: England and Wales 3: 1377-1540; Valor Ecclesiasticus temp Henrici VIII; John Leland, Itineraries and Collectanea; Victoria County History of Huntingdonshire, II; Sally Thompson, Women Religious: the founding of English Nunneries after the Norman Conquest.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 aaaaaWhat had happened to move the nuns from Eltisley is not clear, nor how long they had been settled there. Leland’s account of their removal under the Conqueror entails a pre-Conquest origin and a dramatic ‘destruction’ but there is no other evidence of this. Indeed the earliest secure reference to the community is not until c1160 when Roger de Cundy, the dapifer of Roger de Mowbray, granted to Leticia the nun and her sisters a wood, fifteen acres of land and the chapel of Papley, in the north of the parish of Eltisley. The original charter does not survive, but the grant was confirmed by Roger de Mowbray and his son Nigel (the lords of Eltisley) in 1160-1169, and subsequently by Nigel, bishop of Ely (1133-69). One of the witnesses to Nigel’s confirmation, Richard the archdeacon of Ely, is last recorded in c1158, suggesting a date not much later than 1160 for the original grant. Roger de Cundy also gave the nuns additional land in the parish, which was confirmed initially by Roger de Mowbray, and after his death by his son Nigel (1186-1190), by which time the sisters were explicitly described as the nuns of St James of Huntingdon. The implication appears to be that it was de Cundy who, at some point around 1160, gave the nuns their first base in Papley and that they may have stayed there for no more than ten or twenty years before moving. aaaaaAlthough the charter evidence does something to firm up the nunnery’s early history, loose ends and questions remain. De Cundy’s grant refers to ‘the site’ of the chapel at Papley, which seems to imply some pre-existing form of religious activity there. It is possible that it is this site which lies behind the later belief that there had been a pre-Conquest religious community at Eltisley. However, there is no evidence that connects St Pandonia with the twelfth-century community or with their successors. Her burial at Eltisley, along with the otherwise unrecorded St Windritha, is noted by the Peterborough chronicler Hugh Candidus in a list drawn up in c1155, but her post-Conquest cult seems to have focussed on the parish church, which by 1220-1225 was dedicated to her, and not on the chapel at Papley. In 1344 the parish priest translated her body into the church and provided an appropriate liturgy for the occasion.

Where the body had been previously is not specified, but her cult was also associated with a well to the south of the church, which a late-sixteenth century rector was later to destroy as a focus of ‘superstition’. aaaa Quite when the nuns made the move to Huntingdon is unclear. The obvious date for William’s grant would seem to be between 1165-74: the period when he was both Earl of Huntingdon and King of Scotland. If the nuns did indeed move then they would very rapidly have found themselves in the middle of a war zone. In 1174, in the course of the war between Henry II and his eldest son, the ‘Young King’, the town and its castle were fortified by David of Scotland, the younger brother of William the Lion, as a centre of rebel activity, from which David’s troops sallied forth to attack and plunder the region. It is tempting to wonder whether the later adoption of William the Conqueror as founder was a half-conscious attempt to disown a more embarrassing patron. The Scottish connection did, however, persist into at least the next century, when Devorguilla, the mother of John Balliol, held the advowson of the church and hence the right to appoint its priest. aaaaaThe Benedictine nunnery seems never to have been a large or wealthy house, but then nunneries other than a handful under active royal or aristocratic patronage hardly ever were.

Donors in search of spiritual benefit tended to put their money into the prayers of men. ‘Prayer’ in this context generally meant the saying of mass, which women could not do.

Characteristically, subsequent recorded grants to the nuns seem on the whole to have been both small and local, and to have been of land in the fields rather than buildings. To those mentioned above, a confirmation by Hubert Walter, archbishop of Canterbury (1189-1197) adds grants by Lysiard de Masters (further land in Papley); Everard de Beche (five acres in Papworth Everard); and Geoffrey son of Swein, Haewis his wife and their son Adam (five acres in Kingsfield, Caxton). The last grant was augmented in 1315 by a further seven and a half acres granted by Isabella de Ardern and Joan of Ulneswyk, which suggests how existing connections might 8

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 encourage further grants. It is clear, however, from the list of land held by the nunnery at its dissolution that this tally is far from complete, although none of the other holdings listed there is of much substance. The most valuable is a messuage at Eltisley valued at £3 6s 8d p.a.

Frustratingly, a cartulary of the nunnery, which would have given much fuller information about its acquisitions, survived in Hinchingbrooke House until 1830, when it was destroyed in a fire.

Very little is known of the building history of the nunnery, although William the Lion’s initial grant must have left much to do. Over half a century later Henry III granted oaks to the nuns, which implies that building works were still in train. In 1307 an indulgence (remission of time in Purgatory) was granted to those making gifts towards the repair of the fabric. This was a standard fund-raising expedient, often associated with a specific building campaign although there is no explicit indication of that here. Pevsner considered that the conventual buildings were still ‘recognizable’ in the layout of the later house – although this amounts to little more than an identifiable site for the cloister and surviving bits of medieval walling. The impressive medieval gateway that still survives was imported after the Dissolution from Ramsey abbey, a very much more wealthy and prestigious (male) house.

Not much more is known about the site as a whole. At the Dissolution, as well as land in the fields of Huntingdon, there was mention of a ‘pasture’ called the Vineyard, and a dovecote within a close. That close had been a matter of contention in 1425, when eighteen named local tradesmen and husbandmen, with other malefactors, were accused by the prioress of breaking her close at Hinchingbrooke, ‘depastured [stocked] with beasts, corn and grass’ to the value of £40, and carrying off two of her servants, John Basele and William Freter, to Huntingdon. The prioress’s accusation that the men were ‘arrayed in manner of war’ was a conventional way of upping the stakes, and the government responded by appointing a judicial commission of oyer et terminer to investigate the matter. The commission was headed by John, earl marshal of England: John Mowbray, the descendant of the Mowbray lords of Eltisley who had confirmed de Cundy’s grants in Padley to the nuns in the 1160s. The family retained an interest in Eltisley and therefore perhaps also some sort of quasi-patronal interest in the nunnery.

If so, this is the only surviving evidence that the nunnery might still have had friends in high places. Although the evidence is slight, the nunnery seems to have been on a downward trajectory in its last two centuries. Like many monastic houses it evidently suffered in the Black Death of 1348-9: if once the disease entered an enclosed community the mortality was likely to be very high. The prioress Isabel de Blythe, appointed in February 1349, was dead by May and replaced by Joan of Titchmarsh. The appointment may not have been a success, or perhaps was only ever intended as a stopgap and ‘Anne’ is mentioned as prioress in 1353. Joan was back in 1358 and survived in office until 1392, which implies that she had been a rather young appointment in 1349. From the mid fifteenth century onwards it is striking that prioresses were increasingly appointed from other houses, on three occasions by the bishop of Lincoln after the nuns themselves had failed to elect – which implies either internal dissension or a lack of internal candidates, or both.

By the early sixteenth century the house’s difficulties must have been apparent. In April 1530 John Rayne, vicar-general of John Longland, bishop of Lincoln, held a visitation of the nunnery. The record is perfunctory and, now, fragmentary. Although Domina Alice Wilton the prioress and Domina Agnes Higdon both reported that all was well, it seems possible that they were now the only professed nuns in the community. There is an incomplete note to the effect that provision should be made for two more nuns before Michaelmas. As Henry VIII’s government moved towards beginning the Dissolution, the nunnery was clearly vulnerable. The king’s commissioner Dr Leigh was at the nunnery on 23 December 1535, when it was reported that Alice Wilton had died on the previous Sunday (19th). He commissioned the prior of the Augustinian house of St John in Huntingdon to take an inventory and to lock up the coffers until Thomas Cromwell’s pleasure was known. No new prioress was appointed. In 1536 9

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 parliament authorised the dissolution of houses worth less than £200 p.a. Although the decision was left to the king’s discretion and fewer than half the potential candidates were dissolved at this stage, Hinchingbrooke, valued at just £19 9s 2d gross (£17 1s 4d net) was among them and with no prioress and perhaps just three nuns, had been dissolved by 8 August. aaaaaThe Dissolution, famously, was a windfall for well-connected men on the make comparable only to the Norman Conquest. Two years later, in 1538, Richard Williams alias Cromwell received a royal grant of the priory, with its church, steeple, churchyard, house and all lands. A new chapter in the site’s history had begun.

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The Skeletons in the Closet: The Hinchingbrooke Bones aby Tom Wheeleya For decades, if not centuries, it has been an accepted fact that the bones under the staircase of Hinchingbrooke House are the mortal remains of two Benedictine Nuns who once resided at Hinchingbrooke Nunnery, or the Priory of St. James as it was officially known. However, recent research, made possible by funding provided by the Friends of Hinchingbrooke House (FHH), has revealed that the bones are in fact much older than initially thought, and most certainly not the remains of nuns.

Up to the present, the accepted narrative has been that the bodies are those of two nuns who resided at Hinchingbrooke. The stone coffins, a high status commodity, even suggested that they could have been the bodies of prioresses. Their location outside what would have been the north door of the church went some way in reinforcing such a theory. It was thought that the coffins and their contents lay undisturbed until the Reformation in 1536 when Hinchingbrooke Nunnery was dissolved by Henry VIII and granted to the Cromwell family two years later.

The damage to the coffins, including the loss of their lids and the disruption of This sketch of the bones was completed in 1834 during the bones, was thought to have occurred in remodelling of the House after the great fire of 1830. the years that immediately followed, with Richard Cromwell’s alterations to the fabric of the nunnery causing the disturbance. It is possible that the lids were removed in order to level the floor upon which the staircase was assumed to have been built. The staircase was again remodelled by Edward Montagu in the 1660s, helping account for the disruption.

From that point on, the bodies and the remains lay undisturbed until after the ‘great fire’ of 1830 which ripped through the north-eastern interior of the House, destroying the staircase.

At this point the staircase was rebuilt in rather plain fashion compared to the ornate 1660s Kennard staircase that had preceded it. It was during this work in 1834 that builders found the coffins and sketched what they found. The pen and ink sketch still exists and hangs on the wall outside the Library. It is interesting that the bodies seem more complete in that sketch than they do now. During the 1940s the staircase was again replaced, this time with a close match to the 1660s staircase by Kennard, moved from Rolls Park in Essex. It is quite possible that more disturbance was caused at this point, though Mary Stuart’s memoir, A Houseful at Hinchingbrooke, suggests that this was the point at which the coffins were made visible via a hatch in the floorboards; she recalls them being shown to visitors. And so it is that the ‘Nuns’ Bones’, as they affectionately became known, entered the folklore of the House. Since at least the end of the 19th century the bones have been associated with the reputed haunting of the staircase. George, the 9th Earl of Sandwich recorded in his memoir that his wife, Alberta, 11

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 witnessed the ghosts of two nuns on the staircase during one of her first visits, and more recently tales of cold-spots and ghostly apparitions abounded amongst staff, caretakers and students.

It was against this generally accepted narrative that the Friends undertook to support an initiative to find out a little more about the bones. When a member of school staff, Mrs Jackie Sheehan, approached a contact at the Police Pathology unit, she was put in touch with Kerry-Ann Milic, a Forensic Biologist at Anglia Ruskin University. Kerry-Ann was previously Senior Forensic Anthropologist/Deputy Mortuary Manager with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Bosnia-Herzegovina where she spent five years assisting in the identification of victims from mass graves following the Srebrenica genocide (1995). As such, the Friends and school were delighted that she was willing to give up some of her time to visit the school and carry out a closer inspection of the bones at her laboratory in Cambridge where a small group of students were able to visit her in the summer of 2013.

The Friends were able to support this endeavour by providing the funds for the radio-carbon-dating carried out at Oxford University in order to determine their age.

Thanks to Kerry-Ann’s work, it was revealed that the bones were indeed the remains of two individuals, one male and one female. The male, who died aged between 43-55 years of age, was particularly tall. Using the length of his right ulna as a guide, it is estimated that he stood at somewhere between 176.86cm and 186.3cm (just over 6 feet). One notable feature was that he had suffered a broken arm as an adult but the wound had healed leaving scar tissue. The definition on his brow bone was The surviving bones of the male. Note the prominent also very distinctive, leaving no doubt as to brow bone. his sex. The female, by contrast, was very slight in build, and Kerry-Ann remarked on the small size of her pelvis as well as some possible parturition scars, indicating the possibility of childbirth. The polishing of bone due to the absence of synovial joint fluid indicates that she may well have suffered from Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD). The teeth were in good condition, which taken with the fact that they were in stone coffins, indicates that the individuals were high status individuals. Further ground was broken by the rather surprising results of the carbon-dating that reveal that they died 992 years ago (+/28 years) and therefore date from anywhere between 994 and 1050 AD – two hundred years earlier than previously thought.

So what conclusions can we draw from this fascinating new information? If we assume that the remains are original to the site, perhaps the most important conclusion that we can draw is that there must have been a church on this site prior to the Norman church established shortly after the Conquest in 1066. Until now, the archaeological evidence and the remains of stonework still standing have indicated that the earliest structures date from ca.1100, however, the presence of the burials now suggests that there was a Saxon church, perhaps built of wood, on this site as early as the 10th Century. This extends the known chronology of Hinchingbrooke considerably beyond the 12th century origins previously accepted.

There is no evidence to suggest that the remains have been moved from another site but this 12

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 possibility is worth exploring as long as we remember that it is speculation. We know that the first nuns came to Hinchingbrooke from Eltisley in North West Cambs and that Eltisley then became derelict. In the previous essay Rosemary Horrox lays out the very limited evidence that we have for that nunnery. It might have been a short-lived twelfth century foundation but it is possible that there had been a pre-Conquest foundation linked to the cult of St Pandonia (died c904) and then refounded after being destroyed by Danish raids. If the foundation at Eltisley really did go back to that period, then it would not be impossible that a rich Anglo-Saxon couple, who were founders or benefactors of the nunnery, might choose to be buried there. When the nuns left Eltisley for Hinchingbrooke, perhaps they brought with them, either just the bones or the bones and stone coffins to be reburied at Hinchingbrooke as evidence of continuity. Where would be a suitable place for a new burial in 1200? Outside the church but within the shelter of the cloister would make sense. This would also be a place where no further disruption need take place, Students visit Kerry-Ann Milic in the laboratories at Anglia Ruskin certainly to the 1540s and not university, Cambridge. impossibly to the 1830s.

A more specific question that we do now need to address, however, is whether the stone coffins are contemporary to the remains. The previous dating of the coffins placed them from the 13th century, however, stone coffins were certainly in use in the Saxon period. C. Daniell’s book, Death and Burial in Medieval England 1066-1550, even suggests that stone coffins from this period could well have had wooden lids, thus potentially explaining why these are not in evidence at Hinchingbrooke. Furthermore, whilst acknowledging that stone coffins were a status symbol, Daniell also suggests that early Christian burials could determine the location of the later rebuilding of a church. At Capel Maelog, for example, a later church was positioned next to a stone-lined burial from an earlier period and the grave is called ‘founder’s grave’. Could a similar narrative be true of Hinchingbrooke? Further expert knowledge to date the coffins would certainly help determine if the bones are indeed those of their original occupants. The fact that the remains of only two individuals are present certainly implies that they may be the original occupants and were not simply random remains scooped up from the old burial ground and placed into empty caskets during building work in the Tudor period, or some later century. That the coffins were not removed when that part of the nunnery complex was enclosed by Richard Cromwell in the 1540s suggests that they are probably in their original location; either out of deference for their status, for ease, or because they did not realise they were there.

Assuming the burials are in their original coffins and location, it is necessary for us to determine who they may have been. The teeth and stone coffins mean that we can be sure that they were people of high status. Indeed, it is quite possible that they were patrons of the church and thus were afforded a burial in a prestigious position. Whether there is any familial relationship between them is uncertain. A small sample from each skeleton has been retained in order to see if a DNA match can be made and Kerry-Ann hopes that the parturition scars on 13

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 the female’s pelvis will shed light on whether she had previously given birth. The remains of animal bones were also found in the grave, though it is thought that these may have entered the grave at a later date, either dragged there under the floor boards by rodents or gathered into the space during later alterations to the staircase. When the bones were first examined, one particular mystery immediately presented itself in the form of what appeared to be the dried remains of a chicken. Only once examined in the laboratory was it revealed that it was the back half of a rabbit with dried skin still encasing the skeletal structure. Its mummified condition suggests it has been in the foot of the coffin for years if not decades, again, presumably dragged there through the open foot of the coffins by a rodent.

These findings, only made possible through the generosity of the FHH and Kerry-Ann, have gone a long way in extending our knowledge of Hinchingbrooke’s early history. They have challenged assumptions, provided answers, and above all produced further questions.

Above all, the findings reinforce what a fascinating place Hinchingbrooke House is. As its custodians, we can only hope that it continues to give up its secrets for many years to come.

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The Cromwells at Hinchingbrooke*

aby David L. Smitha The Cromwell family owned Hinchingbrooke for nearly ninety years, from 1538 to 1627. These were years full of colour and drama, with several royal visits to the house. There were grand entertainments and extensive modifications to the house that survive to this day, but in the background there were also mounting debts that eventually compelled the family to sell up.

Over the course of those ninety years there were just three owners of Hinchingbrooke: Sir Richard (c. 1502-44), Sir Henry (c. 1537-1604) and Sir Oliver (c. 1562/6-1655). This essay will look in turn at each of these three figures and their life at Hinchingbrooke. aaaaaOur story begins on 8 March 1538, during the dissolution of the monasteries. On that day, Henry VIII bestowed the Benedictine nunnery of Hinchingbrooke on Sir Richard Cromwell, the nephew of his chief minister Thomas Cromwell. Thomas was the driving force behind the dissolution and it was natural that his family should benefit from it. Hinchingbrooke was at that time valued at £19 9s 2d, and by 1540 Richard had also been granted the Benedictine abbey at Ramsey and the Cistercian abbey at Sawtry, together with various other former monastic property in Huntingdon and St Neots. The gateway from Ramsey Abbey was dismantled and brought to Hinchingbrooke during the 1540s. aaaaaThe fact that Thomas Cromwell was his uncle enabled Richard, the son of a Putney innkeeper, to rise rapidly. This was further assisted by an advantageous marriage to a London heiress, Frances Murfyn. He was knighted in May 1540, and at the King’s suggestion he replaced his father’s surname, Williams, with that of his mother and uncle, Cromwell. Richard represented Huntingdonshire in the Parliaments of 1539-40 and 1542-4; he was sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in 1536-7 and 1541-2; and he was a Justice of the Peace for the two counties from 1538 until his death in October 1544. He was also a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber from 1539 until his death, a premature end at the age of 42 that may have resulted from accompanying Henry VIII on his campaign to France during the summer of 1544. aaaaAlthough Richard left debts of around £3,000, he also left a considerable fortune in property which probably generated an annual income in the region of £2,500. His eldest son and heir, Henry Cromwell, was aged just seven when his father died and he only emerged from a long wardship on his twenty-first birthday in 1558. He married twice, and his first wife, Joan Warren, was the daughter of a Lord Mayor of London. Henry sat as member for Huntingdonshire in the Parliament of 1563 and was knighted the same year. He served as sheriff for Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire no fewer than four times (in 1565-6, 1571-2, 1580-1, and 1592-3), and he was also a Justice of the Peace for the two counties from about 1569 until his death. Henry made extensive alterations at Hinchingbrooke, demolishing most of the remaining monastic structures and creating a substantial manor house. The old priory church was remodelled and divided into two floors and much of the house as we know it today was constructed. Henry *This essay is an adapted version of a talk that I gave to the Friends of Hinchingbrooke House in February 2007.

In writing it, I have drawn extensively on material in Thomas R. Wheeley, Hinchingbrooke House, Huntingdon (Huntingdon, 2011); M. Noble, Memoirs of the Protectoral House of Cromwell (2 vols., London, 1787), I, 1-96; and J.L. Sanford, Studies and Illustrations of the Great Rebellion, (London, 1858), chapter 4. I have also benefited greatly from the three History of Parliament biographies of Sir Richard, Sir Henry and Sir Oliver Cromwell, found respectively in: S.T. Bindoff (ed.), The House of Commons, 1509-1558, (3 vols., London, 1982), I, 734-5; P.W. Hasler (ed.), The House of Commons, 1558-1603, (3 vols., London, 1981), I, 684-5; and A. Thrush and J.P. Ferris (eds.), The House of Commons, 1603-1629, (6 vols., London, 2010), III, 774-8. I hope that this acknowledgement of my general debt to all these works will excuse the lack of individual page references to them in the following notes, which will be limited to specific citations from primary sources.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 developed a routine of spending his summers in Ramsey and his winters in Hinchingbrooke, and he became famous for his liberality. Locally he was known as the ‘Golden Knight’ because allegedly, on the journeys between Hinchingbrooke and Ramsey, he threw coins out of his coach to the people who gathered in the streets to watch him pass. a Another expression of his munificence was the lavish entertainment that he provided when Elizabeth I visited Hinchingbrooke in the summer of 1564. She had been visiting Cambridge, but on her final evening there she had been too tired to watch a play that some of the students had prepared for her. She decided to break her journey at Hinchingbrooke on 10 August 1564 and the visit provided an opportunity for the students to present their play to her. Unfortunately, this plan badly misfired. aaaaThe students’ play satirised those bishops, such as Edmund Bonner, who had been imprisoned for their Catholicism. Elizabeth, who at that time was anxious to preserve good relations with Spain and to curb anti-popery, was incensed. According to one contemporary account: The actors came in dressed as some of the imprisoned Bishops. First came the Bishop of London [Bonner] carrying a lamb in his hands as if he were eating it as he walked along, and then others with devices, one being in the figure of a dog with the Host in his mouth. … The Queen was so angry that she at once entered her chamber using strong language and the men who held the torches, it being night, left them in the dark, and so ended the thoughtless and scandalous representations.1 It is possible that the memory of this embarrassment helps to explain why, when Lord Burghley suggested Sir Henry as a possible candidate for a peerage in 1588, the Queen did not take up the suggestion.

Sir Henry lived on until January 1604, but by that time effective headship of the family had passed to his eldest son, Sir Oliver, who had taken over the running of Hinchingbrooke in 1602. Although Sir Oliver inherited the bulk of his father’s estates, his inheritance was somewhat diminished by the fact that Sir Henry’s will also provided for five legitimate daughters, two illegitimate daughters, and five younger sons of whom one, Robert, became the father of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), later Lord Protector. aaaaThis younger Oliver regularly visited Hinchingbrooke from an early age. In the 1780s, the antiquary Mark Noble recorded the following story that he claimed to have found ‘in the Rev. Dr Lort’s manuscripts’, allegedly from the non-juror Edward Audley who had in turn heard ‘some old men’ tell it to his grandfather. One day, when the infant Cromwell was at Hinchingbrooke, ‘a monkey took him from the cradle, and ran with him upon the lead that covered the roofing of the house: alarmed at the danger Oliver was in, the family brought beds to catch him upon, fearing the creature’s dropping him; but the sagacious animal brought the “fortune of England” down in safety’.2 As we shall see, this is not the only legend that has circulated about the future Lord Protector’s early years.

Sir Oliver’s finances were meanwhile strengthened by his advantageous marriage in 1602 to Lady Anne Palavicino, widow of the wealthy financier Sir Horatio Palavicino. In all, he probably enjoyed an income of about £2000 a year, which in the early seventeenth century would have placed him among the wealthiest ten individuals in Huntingdonshire. Unfortunately, Sir Oliver also inherited his father’s gift for spending money: for example, he marked his wedding by building the magnificent Great Bow Window which bears the date 1602. aaaaFurther lavish expenditure was to follow. Elizabeth I died in March 1603 and was succeeded

by James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England. On learning that the new King planned to pass through Huntingdon on his progress from Edinburgh to London, Sir Oliver invited him to stay at Hinchingbrooke. The King accepted and stayed at Hinchingbrooke from 16

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 27 to 29 April 1603. A splendid contemporary account of the occasion is printed in John Nichols’ Progresses of King James I, and this text is worth quoting at length for what it shows about the nature of such a royal visit in the opening years of the seventeenth century: His Majesty passed in state, the Earl of Southampton bearing the sword before him … to Master Oliver Cromwell’s house, where his Majesty with all comers whatsoever had such entertainment as the like had not been seen in any place before, since his first setting out of Scotland. There was such plenty and variety of meats, such diversity of wines, and those not riffe-ruffe but ever the best of the kind, and the cellars open at any man’s pleasure. And if it were so common with wine, there is little question but the butteries for beer and ale were more common, yet in neither was there difference. For whoever entered the house, which to no man was denied, tasted what they had a mind to, and after taste found fullness, no man like a man being denied what he would call for. As this bounty was held back to none within the house, so for such poor people as would not press in, there were open beer-houses erected wherein there was no want of bread or beef for the comfort of the poorest creatures. Neither was this provision for the little time of his Majesty’s stay, but it was made ready fourteen days, and after his Highness’s departure distributed to as many as had mind to it.

Fortunately, the representation from Cambridge University worked rather more successfully this time than it had during Elizabeth I’s visit in 1564: There attended also at Master Oliver Cromwell’s the Heads of the University of Cambridge, all clad in scarlet gowns and corner-caps; who having presence of his Majesty there was made a most learned and eloquent Oration in Latin, welcoming his Majesty, as also entreating the confirmation of their charter and privileges, which his Majesty most willingly and freely granted.

They also presented his Majesty with diverse books published in commemoration of our late gracious Queen, all which was most graciously accepted of his Highness. Also Master Cromwell presented his Majesty with many rich and acceptable gifts, [such] as a very great and a very fair wrought standing cup of gold, goodly horses, fleet and deep-mouthed hounds, diverse hawks of excellent wing, and at the remove gave fifty pounds amongst his Majesty’s Officers.

It was no wonder that when the time came for James to depart, after a lavish breakfast on 29 April 1603, he ‘took kind and gracious leave of Master Oliver Cromwell and his virtuous lady’, and assured his host that he ‘had treated [him] better than anyone since [he] left Edinburgh’. aaaaAs a reward, a few weeks later the King made Oliver a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, and at his coronation on 25 July 1603 he dubbed him a Knight of the Bath. Sir Oliver had already been sheriff for Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in 1598-9 and had sat as member for Huntingdonshire in all the later Elizabethan Parliaments from 1589 onwards. He continued to represent the county in all the Jacobean Parliaments except that of 1621. aaaaMark Noble wrote in the 1780s that there was ‘a tradition at Huntingdon’ that in 1604 Prince Charles, who had initially remained in Scotland on his father’s accession to the English throne, was on his way south to London and visited Hinchingbrooke, and that during this visit he was left to play with the young Oliver Cromwell. Allegedly ‘they had not been long together before Charles and Oliver disagreed; and as the former was then as weakly as the latter was strong, it was no wonder that the royal visitant was worsted; and Oliver, even at this age, so little regarded dignity, that he made the royal blood flow in copious quantities from the prince’s nose. This was looked upon as a bad presage for that king when the civil wars commenced.’

Like the story of the pet monkey’s abduction of the infant Cromwell, this is another picturesque legend of the young Oliver’s early years that can be neither proved nor disproved. In 1604, Oliver (born April 1599) and Charles (born November 1600) would have been aged four or five 17

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 and three or four respectively, perhaps making it unlikely that they would have been left unattended at such a young age. aaaaaIt is, however, conceivable that such an encounter, or something like it, might have occurred on another occasion, for James stayed at Hinchingbrooke regularly during the course of his reign. He enjoyed the local hunting and established a regular routine by which in October he would depart for the chase at Royston, Hinchingbrooke, Newmarket or Thetford, depending upon the weather and the quality of the game, and only returned to London shortly before Christmas. It can, for example, be established from the letter-book of the Secretary of State, Sir Edward Conway that James stayed at Hinchingbrooke from 19 October to 10 November 1623, and earlier visits had certainly occurred in 1604, 1605, 1616, 1617, 1619 and 1622.

James’s fondness for these visits, and his wish that they should remain frequent, is evident in his appointment in February 1614 of one Jeronimo (or Jeremy) Ross as Keeper of the Wardrobe at Hinchingbrooke and Royston for life; a warrant for Ross’s diet was issued the following year. James was clearly keen to enhance the facilities for his hunting. In July 1620 a warrant was issued to advance £20 to Sir Oliver and to deliver to him twenty timber trees for building a new bridge at Hinchingbrooke for the King’s use. On 16 October 1623, three days before James’s scheduled arrival at Hinchingbrooke, Secretary Conway wrote from Royston to Sir Oliver informing him that the King wished him ‘to have as many pheasants as possible killed in the outwoods, and sent to Hinchingbrooke, but none by any means to be killed in the park’. A further instruction was sent later the same day: ‘no pheasants are to be killed on the morrow, but only so many as can be killed on Saturday before the King’s arrival.’

Such regular and sometimes lengthy royal visits were bound to have a serious impact on Sir Oliver’s finances. Probably in January 1623, he wrote to the King arguing that he had ‘proved his fidelity by asking no more for his house’, which James wished ‘to buy, than a penny for a pennyworth’, and begging ‘payment, either in money or land, as his creditors [were] pressing, and his friends [beginning] to think him out of favour’. He also pointed out that he was old, and had ‘to sustain the children, now grown up, whom he had bred for his Majesty’s service’. This approach was evidently to no avail, for late the following year, probably on or about 14 November 1624, Sir Oliver wrote to Secretary Conway, asking ‘to know if the King will accept of his house and land at his reasonable price’. If not, he begged ‘some token of favour that he may not retire with obloquy in his old age’. aaaaThe death of James I in March 1625 put an end to any hopes of such a sale. Instead, in June 1627 Sir Oliver was obliged to sell off most of his property in Huntingdonshire, including Hinchingbrooke which was sold to Sir Sidney Montagu, one of the Montagu family who had by this time established themselves as the leading family in the county. Sir Oliver moved permanently to Ramsey, where he spent the rest of his days, and lived on to a great age, possibly as much as 92, by which time he was reputed to be the oldest knight in England. The end came in August 1655 after he fell into a fire by which he was drying himself.

By that time England was a republic, and Sir Oliver’s controversial nephew and namesake was Lord Protector. By a strange irony, Sir Oliver died in the same month that his nephew established the rule of the Major-Generals, who were instructed to ‘encourage and promote godliness and virtue, and discourage and discountenance all profaneness and ungodliness ... [and] to enforce the laws against drunkenness, blaspheming and taking of the name of God in vain, by swearing and cursing, plays and interludes, and profaning the Lord's Day, and such-like wickedness and abominations’.

This ‘reformation of manners’ was a far cry from the world of Sir Oliver’s heyday, half a century earlier, when he had entertained King James in great style at Hinchingbrooke. Sir Oliver’s nephew became the key figure in the trial and execution of James’s son, Charles.

Regardless of whether or not there is any truth in the legend that the younger Oliver Cromwell and Prince Charles fought as boys, it is still a remarkable irony to imagine King James and Sir 18

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 Oliver together at Hinchingbrooke in April 1603, and then to remember that the nephew of the one later played a crucial role in the downfall of the other’s son. Little could they have imagined such an outcome in the spring of 1603, when the King told his host that he had entertained him better than anyone else since he left Edinburgh; but then, if history teaches us anything, it is that we none of us know what lies round the corner.

1 Frederick S. Boas. University Drama in the Tudor Age. (Oxford, 1914), p. 383.

2 Noble. Memoirs, I, 92. For an interesting discussion of this story, including an assessment of its origins and significance, see https://edwardvallance.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/oliver-cromwell-and-the-monkey (accessed 10 March 2016).

3 The Great Bow Window was originally on the east front of the house but was moved to its present location on the south front as part of the remodelling that followed the fire of 1830.

4 John Nichols. The Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James the First. (4 vols., London, 1828), I, 98-102.

5 Noble. Memoirs, I, 94.

6 Both these stories have gained a wide currency, thanks not least to L. Du Garde Peach’s Ladybird book Oliver Cromwell (Loughborough, 1963), where they are recounted with illustrations (pp. 4-7).

7 Calendar of State Papers Domestic, [henceforth CSPD]. 1623-5, pp. 99-109.

8 Nichols. Progresses, p. 99; N.E. McClure (ed.), The Letters of John Chamberlain. (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1939), II, 106, 459; CSPD.1623-5, p. 557.

9 CSPD. 1611-18, pp. 222, 278.

10 CSP. 1619-23, p. 166.

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Queen Elizabeth’s Visit to Hinchingbrooke in 1564

aby Ian Nicholsa Ian modestly describes this as an amateur’s attempt to add substance to the few facts available.

The Queen’s visit was one of Hinchingbrooke’s great days and this note helps us to explore it more fully.

I have long been intrigued by the visit of Queen Elizabeth I to Hinchingbrooke on Thursday 10th August 1564. The facts are few, namely, after the Queen’s five day visit to Cambridge to review the university establishment, ascertain their loyalty and gauge both the level of Catholic support and the extent of radical Protestantism, she travelled to Hinchingbrooke during the day of the 10th and stayed overnight to rest and relax, ready for her onward progress through the Midland Counties back to Middlesex and London.

Summer Progresses were popular because they avoided possible outbreaks of plague in London, allowed the court to enjoy pleasant rural fresh air and ensure that the monarch could see her subjects and be seen by them. Her party would have travelled on horseback at a reasonable pace, having on the way, been entertained by Dr Richard Cox, Bishop of Ely, at his house at Longstanton.

Even a one night stay would have put Sir Henry Cromwell to a great deal of expense, for the Queen would have been accompanied by a number of courtiers, officials, ambassadors and ladies in waiting. This mobile court would also include clerks, cooks, general household staff and a large number of carts conveying portable furniture and trappings, clothing, food, personal possessions and all the paraphernalia to support such a large number of dignitaries. Household staff would have gone ahead to prepare lodging, food and quarters for everyone. Many would have passed through Hinchingbrooke’s Gatehouse, recently moved by Sir Henry Cromwell from its former position as part of the gatehouse to Ramsey Abbey. The party would then have entered the Tudor Courtyard with the large brick wall of the service wing to the right of the main entrance.

On the morning that the Queen travelled to Hinchingbrooke, a number of her noblemen were being granted M.A. degrees by Cambridge University. Amongst them were the Duke of Norfolk, the Earls of Sussex, Warwick, Oxford and Rutland and also Sir William Cecil, later Baron Burghley, who had already been elected Chancellor of the University in 1559. The Queen’s favourite and Master of Horse, Robert Dudley, had become High Steward of the University in 1563 and was soon to be created Earl of Leicester (29th September 1564). It is likely that all these men were at or around Hinchingbrooke that night.

We can not be sure which rooms the Queen occupied, though they are likely to have been on the first floor. It is difficult to identify her ladies in waiting and maids of honour with any certainty, but likely candidates include her devoted servant, Kate Ashley, Chief Lady of the Bedchamber, Blanche Parry (William Cecil’s cousin), Catherine Carey (daughter of Anne Boleyn’s sister, Mary) and Catherine Knyvett (later Lady Paget).

The following morning, the party would have risen early, but some would have left even earlier, to prepare the next stopping place. According to the chronology in ‘The Portable Queen’

by Mary Hill Cole (1999), Elizabeth moved on via Kimbolton Castle, to Boughton House in Northamptonshire, where she was entertained by the Montagu Family whose descendants were to purchase Hinchingbooke sixty years later.

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PART 2 Hinchingbrooke from 1627 to 1960s: The Montagus, Earls of Sandwich a Unsurprisingly, most of the material in this collection relates to the Montagus. Between Sydney Montagu, who acquired Hinchingbrooke from his brother in 1627 and Victor Montagu (briefly 10th Earl of Sandwich), who sold it to the County Council in 1962, there are ten generations and nine Earls. The Earldom was granted to Sydney’s son Edward in 1660 and passed in a straightforward way – 7 times from father to son, once to a grandson and once to a nephew.

Two Earls (4th and 7th) held the title for more than 60 years each and two (1st and 4th) played major roles in British history.

For convenience, a division has been made in 1830 when fire destroyed important parts of the old house. For pre-fire Hinchingbrooke, the 4th Earl rightly takes pride of place. He inherited Hinchingbrooke in 1729 at the age of 11 and his remarkable life continued until 1792. There is rather less material here on the 1st Earl whose military, naval, political and diplomatic skills were appreciated by both Oliver Cromwell and Charles II. We get a tantalising glimpse of him through Kate Loveman’s fascinating explanation of his role in the introduction of chocolate to England and there is more about his garden in a later section but, for a wider view, Richard Ollard’s 1994 biography, Cromwell’s Earl, introduces us to a key figure in mid 17th century England.

‘Victorian’ Hinchingbrooke began in the 1830s with the rebuilding undertaken by the 7th Earl who had inherited as a child and held the title and the house until 1884. As with the 1st Earl, there is little here about that Victorian paterfamilias who had four sons and two daughters, but perhaps these omissions will be remedied by contributors to a future publication along similar lines to this.

a

A The First Six Earls and Pre-Fire Hinchingbrooke (1627 – 1830) 5 The 1st Earl of Sandwich and Chocolate by Dr Kate Loveman.

This article, which appeared in the FHH Newsletter Issue 29 June 2017, is based on Dr Loveman’s pre-dinner talk at the 2017 dinner.

6 Meeting Lady Sandwich in the Loire Valley by Peter and Pamela Downes.

This article was in the FHH Newsletter Volume 20 December 2012.

7 The 4th Earl of Sandwich and Hinchingbrooke by Roger Mitchell.

This essay is an updated version of the pre dinner talk given in 2001 8 Theatre and Music at Hinchingbrooke in 18th Century: Documents.

9 The Prince of Wales at Hinchingbrooke – Christmas 1786: Documents.

These two collections of documents describe the 4th Earl’s Hinchingbrooke entertainments.

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10 Pre Fire Hinchingbrooke – A Mansion of the Olden Time by Roger Mitchell.

11 Hinchingbrooke before the Fire – Documents and Illustrations This essay is based on the pre-dinner talk in 2016.Those attending were given copies of ‘The Evidence’ – Documents and Illustrations.

B Fire, Renewal and eventual Relocation (1830 – 1960s) 12 Fire and Rebuilding in the 1830s – Documents and Illustrations 13 Hinchingbrooke and Huntingdon at the time of the 8th and 9th Earls

by David Cozens.

This essay is an expanded version of David’s talk at the 2009 dinner.

14 Edward VII at Hinchingbrooke – Documents.

These documents include an extract from the 9th Earl’s Reminiscences transcribed by Geoff Gardner and included in the FHH Newsletter Issue 24 December 2014.

15 The Hinchingbrooke Casket (Ann and Geoff Gardner).

First published in the FHH Newsletter Issue 20.

16 Hinchingbrooke 1945 – 1970 – Dark Days for the Country House

by Roger Mitchell.

17 Post War Challenges: Documents.

The essay is an expanded version of the pre-dinner talk in 2013.

Further research has led to the inclusion of additional documents.

C The Gardens and Grounds from 17th to 20th Centuries 18 The Restoration of the Pepys Steps by Tom Wheeley.

This article appeared in the FHH Newsletter Issue 27 June 2016.

19 The First Earl’s Garden by Tom Wheeley and Roger Mitchell.

This essay began life as a talk given by Tom at the AGM in July 2016.

Its scope has been widened to include more about the Hinchingbrooke garden in 17th and 18th centuries.

20 The Eighth Earl’s Garden – Documents These documents, some of which have been published in the Newsletter, come from a variety of sources and have been tracked down mostly by Ann Colbert and John Cronin. This collection also includes a summary of Ann’s research on the Japanese Garden that the 8th Earl created.

21 Arcadia at Hinchingbrooke? By Ann Colbert.

First published in the FHH Newsletter Issue 19 June 2012.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

The First Earl of Sandwich and Chocolate

aby Kate Lovemana a In the late 1660s Edward Montagu, first Earl of Sandwich, spent several years on a diplomatic mission to Madrid. In 1668, it was a relief to return to his family and to Hinchingbrooke, but he also wanted to continue to enjoy some of the highlights of Spanish culture. He brought with him to England a skilled Spanish dancer, a taste for Spanish foods, and a fascination with chocolate In England in the mid-seventeenth century, chocolate was a novel and exotic commodity.

Chocolate consumption had spread from the New World to Spain in the sixteenth century.

Chocolate was a product to be drunk, rather than eaten. By the time of Sandwich's embassy, chocolate drinking was customary among well-off Spaniards. In Spain, solid chocolate would be made using cacao beans, sugar, and spices such as cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg. There were many ways to prepare the drink, but the essentials were to add hot water and sugar to shavings of the solid, and then whip the liquid repeatedly to produce a thick, frothy drink.

If manufacturing the solid and preparing the drink each required expertise, so too did knowing how and when to consume chocolate. This was because chocolate was regarded as medicinal if used correctly. In 1652 one English pamphleteer introduced chocolate to his readers by boasting that it not only treated infertility and aided digestion, but would cure consumption, jaundice and syphilis, expel poison, and prevent 'all infectious Diseases’. However, medical writers warned their readers that careless or excessive consumption of chocolate would bring on fevers, cramps, sleeplessness, and depression.

The Earl of Sandwich took such concerns seriously. The extent of his interest is revealed in an unpublished volume of his diary. In December 1668 Sandwich began to enter his research on chocolate into his journal, noting the safest and most prestigious ways to consume chocolate.

He had gathered this information from his own experience, from books, and from informants.

One such informant appears to have been Charles II, with whom Sandwich was on good terms.

Sandwich's journal contains the King's recipe for chocolate, for which the King had paid a great deal of money. Charles liked his chocolate to be made with cardamom, aniseed, and Jamaica pepper, and then perfumed with musk and civet. Another of Sandwich's sources was John Werden, the new English envoy in Madrid. Werden reported back to Sandwich in detail on Spanish chocolate manufacturing.

Both Sandwich and Werden were intrigued by the Spanish custom of serving frozen chocolate to honoured guests. This was a novel technology applied to a novel food. In the 1660s freezing was under investigation by the Royal Society, of which Sandwich was a member.

Instructions for freezing liquids had yet to appear in printed English cookbooks. Remarkably, Sandwich's diary contains what appears to be the first workable recipe for ices – and for a frozen chocolate treat – in English. He wrote: Prepare the chocolatti [to make a drink] and Then Putt the vessel that hath the Chocolatti in it, into a Jaraffa [carafe] of snow stirred together with some salt, & shaike the snow together sometyme & it will putt the Chocolatti into tender Curdled Ice & soe eat it with spoons.

Sandwich included an essential step, which other English visitors to Spain missed: to produce 23

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 a temperature cold enough to freeze the liquid, salt need to be added to the ice. Werden and Sandwich both believed that consuming this frozen chocolate could be dangerous. Fortunately, Sandwich had heard of a way to stave off the risks. To counter “unwholesome” effects from the frozen chocolate, he advised, “one is oblidged for better security to Drinke Hott chocolatti in ¼ of an houre after".

The first Earl of Sandwich has a number of claims to fame, and to these I think we need to add two more: he has a place in culinary history as an early promoter of chocolate, and as the inquisitive recorder of the first recipe for chocolate ices in English.

I would like to thank John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich, for his assistance in using the Sandwich papers at Mapperton House, Dorset. Curious chocolate lovers can find further information on the first Earl's research in my article for the Journal of Social History. Access via http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/english/people/kateloveman

Meeting Lady Sandwich in the Loire Valley aby Peter and Pamela Downesa a

While we were on holiday in the Loire Valley in 2012, we were astonished to come across a reference to Lady Sandwich in the Château de Chenonceau. aaaaaChenonceau is one of the smaller châteaux in this beautiful region of France and one of its special features is that it was a house dominated by female owners. One of these was Louise Dupin (1706-1799) who started up a ‘salon’ where well-known and distinguished writers, poets, scientists and philosophers came and enjoyed hospitality, a wonderful setting and witty ‘enlightened’ conversation. Among her more famous guests were Montesquieu, Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who was for a time tutor to her son.

One of the exhibits in the château was a parchment showing the names of the regular members of Mme Dupin’s salon among whom we spotted the name of Lady Sandwich. We were intrigued. What was she doing spending so much time in France and in the Loire Valley when there must have been so much going on at Hinchingbrooke House in the 18th century? aaaaaWe reported back our ‘find’ to the Friends’ Committee and our specialist historian, Tom Wheeley, kindly investigated and has supplied the following details which throw some light on one of the more colourful members of the Sandwich family.

Elizabeth was the 3rd Countess of Sandwich, daughter of the infamous Earl of Rochester and grandmother to the 4th Earl, the ‘inventor’ of the sandwich. Elizabeth’s father is described as a ‘wit, poet and courtier of Charles II’. She married Edward the 3rd Earl and appears to have used her influence to get him posts, such as ‘Gentleman of the Horse’ to Queen Anne’s husband, Prince George of Denmark. In his biography of the 4th Earl, N.A.M Rodger says of the 3rd Earl that he ‘seems to have been feeble-minded and had managed to dissipate almost the whole of the family’s never large fortune before he was finally confined for insanity. His countess managed his career for as long as she could, passing off his condition as a ‘melancholy which amounted to vapours and no more’, but by 1704, when he had lost his post to Prince George, it could be concealed no longer’.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 aaaaaIn the Biographical Notices of the Portraits at Hinchingbrook [sic], published in 1876, the author, Mary L. Boyle, has a rather harsh judgement of the 3rd Countess: ‘She married Edward in 1691. The marriage was very unhappy and Lady Sandwich’s conduct in every respect most reprehensible, in spite of her numerous panegyricists. She was a brilliant member of society, and we are told that at the early age of ten years, she already showed a great taste for reading and had begun to cultivate several foreign languages. She spoke French, Italian and Spanish. She danced and sang, played on several instruments, and, though learned, was in no wise pedantic’.

Aaaa Mary Boyle reports that the Countess went to Paris shortly after her marriage. Some sources indicate that she went to France for her health. In Paris she became a close friend of many of the leading lights of the period and there are references in letters to her charm, wit and generosity.. The greatest praise they can find for her is that ‘her manners are more French than English’. She was a pupil of the harpsichordist Dieupart who dedicated several compositions to her and these have been recently re-issued on a CD (Music for the Countess of Sandwich – 6 Suites for Flûte du Voix and Harpsichord by Charles Dieupart – Move Records 2004),. She was greatly admired on her return visits to England, often going to Bath. She is referred to as ‘an easy and independent creature’ by the writer Alexander Pope.

A less flattering depiction in Mary Boyle’s book describes her as ‘the unprincipled daughter of an unprincipled father’. Boyle states that the Countess treated her husband very badly, keeping him virtually imprisoned in an apartment at Hinchingbrook, denying him sufficient food and preventing people from having access to him. The room in which he was kept was known for many years afterwards as the ‘Starved Chamber’.

The 3rd Earl died in 1729, not at Hinchingbrooke but in the Yorkshire home of his uncle Wortley Montagu where he lived ‘under restraint’, while Montagu lived at Hinchingbrooke.

After his death, Elizabeth settled in France, moving in learned and cultured circles and this explains how she would be much sought-after for the salon of Louise Dupin in Chenonceau, probably in the early 1750s. aaaaaShe died in Paris in 1757 and, after some difficult legal battles, what remained of her small fortune was passed on to her impoverished grandson, the 4th Earl, even though, at an earlier point in her life, she had vowed to leave her property to her Parisian friends rather than to ‘a person she always abhorred and heartily detested’. aaaaaSo we now know a little more about the Lady Sandwich we did not expect to encounter in a château in the Loire Valley.

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John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich and Hinchingbrooke House

aby Roger Mitchella Were it possible to invite any one figure from Hinchingbrooke’s past to our annual dinner, my choice would undoubtedly be John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. He was a remarkable individual and he embodies 18th century Hinchingbrooke. Born in 1718, he inherited both Hinchingbrooke and the Earldom from his feeble-minded grandfather in 1729 at the age of 10.

He died more than 60 years later in 1792 at the age of 74. He put his name both on the map and on the table. Hawaii was formerly known as the Sandwich Islands, there is a Hinchingbrooke Island off the coast of Queensland and several Montagu Islands, Bays and Capes – mostly named by Captain Cook in honour of his patron. The culinary use of his name was common in his lifetime. The Oxford English Dictionary has a reference to ‘a Sandwich’ from Edward Gibbon’s Journal in 1762 and a decade later the term was used on stage in Samuel Foote’s play, The Maid of Bath.

However there was a price to pay for this public familiarity with his name. It turned the individual into a caricature – ‘Corrupt politician, his ineptness contributed to British failures in War of American Independence, remembered as the inventor of sandwiches to eat at the gaming table’. It sounds like ‘1066 and all that’ but it actually comes from the 1990 edition of Chambers Biographical Dictionary. It is a travesty of the truth and the 4th Earl’s true character and achievements have at last been recognised in an outstanding biography The Insatiable Earl by N.A.M.Rodger published in 1993. As a naval historian, Rodger’s judgement that Sandwich was ‘the best first lord of the admiralty in 18th century’ is proof of competence. It is true that he gambled, he used patronage, he made profits from politics, but so did his contemporaries. Taken all in all, he emerges as an impressive individual – talented, likeable, flawed, but on balance, doing more good than harm.

For Sandwich’s public career, Rodger’s book is indispensable, but this essay has a narrower focus. Drawing material from a variety of sources, including Rodger’s book, I want to throw light on the relationship between the Earl and his house. Hinchingbrooke was Sandwich’s only country seat and indeed the only house that he owned – his London houses were either rented or came with the job.

It might therefore be expected that he would rebuild the outdated house that he inherited.

He was just the sort of man to embark on a major building programme. He inherited young, was energetic, ambitious and sociable and had wide cultural interests. After Eton and Trinity, Cambridge, he undertook a long and varied Grand Tour. We know little about his time in France except that he later enjoyed telling the story that the dancing master he engaged in Paris asked him, as a particular favour, never to reveal who had taught him to dance. In Italy, he spent some time in Turin and Florence, where he met his future wife, before going on to spend three months in Rome and Naples. He then embarked on a voyage round the Eastern Mediterranean visiting Greece, Turkey and Egypt. He was in Athens in 1738, more than a decade before those pioneering antiquaries and surveyors, James Stuart and Nicholas Revett. In all he spent almost three years abroad and Joseph Spence, the traveller and literary scholar, whom he met in Turin in 1740, speaks of him with admiration: a

‘A man that has been all over Greece, at Constantinople, Troy, the pyramids of Egypt, and the deserts of Arabia, talks and looks with a greater air than we little people can do that have only crawled about France and Italy’.1 26

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 Sandwich wrote a detailed narrative2, sketched monuments, recorded Latin inscriptions and brought back antiquities, including a marble vase from Athens with the oldest dated inscription then known – 374 BC. What opportunities there might have been for architectural experimentation based on this first hand experience of ancient buildings. It was not to be but on his return he helped found the Egyptian Society, of which he was elected Sheik, and two years later the Divan Club, of which he was Vizir. The Divan Club put emphasis on dressing up, hence the portraits by Highmore and Northcote of the Earl in Turkish dress, but the Egyptian Society had a scholarly purpose. A continuing cultural and antiquarian interest was shown by his membership from 1740 of the Society of Dilettanti and he was later chairman of the Dilettanti Committee which had much to do with the foundation of the Royal Academy. All of this fitted Sandwich for architectural patronage Many aristocrats would have felt that family honour, the demands of wife and children and the future of the dynasty demanded a complete rebuilding of the ancestral seat, but, for Sandwich, family life brought little happiness. His father died when he was three; his mother virtually abandoned him and remarried. His grandfather was confined for insanity and his grandmother lived in France, a member of the exiled Stuart court. From the age of seven he was sent to board at Eton, and rather touchingly, he managed to make some kind of substitute family from an 18th century public school – a remarkable achievement. Despite an auspicious start, his own marriage ended in disaster. His wife had little money and Sandwich married for love. What began in Florence as a true romance, came under increasing strain. His wife’s fourth pregnancy in 1751 was regarded as ‘a very extraordinary piece of news’ and by 1755 they were living separately. There was increasing evidence of mental illness and in 1767 she was declared a ward of court and confined. Nevertheless, she managed to outlive him, not dying until 1797.

It is a sad story and Sandwich may not have been without blame. From 1762 to 1779 he lived with Martha Ray who bore him several children. He found happiness for a time with what he called his ‘London Family’ but there were tensions here too and the affair ended shockingly with Martha Ray’s murder by James Hackman. Partly because of Martha Ray, he was not close to either of his surviving sons and the rebuilding of Hinchingbrooke as a family home can never have been a priority. aaaaaEven if it had been, he could not have afforded it. He was always beset by financial problems and on several occasions there were crises. His annual income from property appears to have been in the region of £5,000 which compares very unfavourably with the £56,000 pa of his friend the Duke of Bedford. The £3,000 per year that he received as First Lord of the Admiralty was very important to him and when he deserted his friends and accepted office in 1762, he told Cumberland that straitened circumstances obliged him to do so. Out of office again in early 1767 he wrote from Hinchingbrooke to the Duke of Bedford, ‘I am grown so mere a grazier that I scarce enquire how matters go in the Political world but ...... I shall always be ready to quit my grazing on a very short notice’. The Admiralty, his great love, provided occupation, accommodation (he lived rent free at Admiralty House) and income. When he first joined the Board of Admiralty in 1745, he attended 80 of its 81 meetings between January and March and 30 years later his attendance and work effort was equally high. Yet, there is no evidence that office improved his finances in the long term and after extensive trawling through surviving records, Rodger is forced to conclude that ‘it is surprisingly difficult to be sure why his financial position was so poor’ but ‘the most obvious and likely explanation is simply that he continued to live the life of a public man on the income of a country squire'. In the 1780s Sandwich tried to sustain a large political interest on an income barely sufficient for a single seat. The total mortgages on his Hunts estate were £49,900 in 1791 (considerably more than the value of those estates). When he died a year later, his entire personal estate after funeral expenses was only £624.3 Most of Sandwich’s adult life was lived in London. As soon as he came of age, he became 27

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 an active member of the House of Lords and he sought and gained office in one of the most important and testing departments of state, the Admiralty. Work there required an almost constant London presence. In addition, Sandwich was a most clubbable man, closely involved in the social, theatrical and musical life of London. He was a friend of Garrick and the only nobleman to belong to the Society of Beefsteaks. Music was even more important to him and of course to Martha Ray, who was an accomplished singer, and Rodger describes his championing of ‘Ancient Music’, especially the revival of Handel’s work, as ‘his most enduring monument’.

It would be easy to assume that a largely unmodernised Hinchingbrooke played a very small part in his life but this was not the case. Sandwich’s property in Huntingdonshire had two enormous advantages. It was easily accessible from London and it enabled him to control the election of three members of the House of Commons. The borough of Huntingdon and the county of Huntingdonshire each returned two members and in fifty years from 1741 until his death, Sandwich returned both MPs for the borough without contest. Although relations with the Dukes of Manchester at Kimbolton were not always good, both branches of the Montagu family wished to avoid contested elections, which were extremely expensive and ran the risk of letting in a third candidate and destabilising county politics. Both families saw the advantages of each nominating one candidate for the county election and this arrangement held good for half a century. Rodger rightly emphasises the ‘dedication, charm and attention to detail’ by which ‘Sandwich maintained a dominant local influence on completely inadequate resources’ but it was the nature of Huntingdonshire and the position of Hinchingbrooke that made this possible. Huntingdonshire was a very small county and Huntingdon itself was the only town of any size. The Montagus of Hinchingbrooke and the related Montagus of Kimbolton were the only two peerage families and held sway to an extent that would not have been possible in larger counties. From Hinchingbrooke House to Huntingdon Town Hall was only half a mile and the links were strong.

Sandwich provided ‘political entertainment’ at the elections themselves but also on such occasions as Huntingdon races, the coming of age of his son (celebrated with an ox roast on Huntingdon Common), and regular feasts with the Borough Council. Much of this entertainment could be dispensed from Hinchingbrooke but not necessarily at Hinchingbrooke. Huntingdon Town Hall was rebuilt in 1745 and the new and elegant seven bay building contains a fine Assembly Room. This was a much more fashionable room than anything at Hinchingbrooke and events like the Mayor’s feast were held there. This letter from Sandwich to his political ally the Duke of Bedford on 30th August 1752 is a classic of its kind: a

My friends of the Corporation of Huntingdon who are very honest fellows, and deserve to be crammed up to the throat with venison, flatter themselves with the hope of a buck from Woburn Park at the Mayor’s Feast on Michaelmas Day.4 One hopes that Bedford responded positively – he could well afford it, and Sandwich’s cheek and good humour deserved reward. Hinchingbrooke had a very small park and no deer and this request to Bedford was a regular one from someone who needed to economise whenever possible. a

Sandwich needed to economise, but he was not very good at doing so. He was a generous host and his country house was ideally positioned, so far as guests were concerned. The sixty miles that separated London and Huntingdon were enough to establish its true rural credentials but access was relatively easy via the Great North Road, one of the first in England to be turnpiked. Many political and social leaders had houses in Surrey, Middlesex or Hertfordshire, which were closely linked to the metropolis and where the same formal standards would apply.

Hinchingbrooke was a true country seat where a different style of living prevailed. For Sandwich, formality was alien both to his nature and his nurture. Fending for himself from a very young age at Eton and travelling by ship round the Eastern Mediterranean, established a lifestyle in 28

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 which the invention of the sandwich almost becomes an essential means of survival! Nor was this a youthful aberration. He was in his fiftieth year, when he made an unscheduled appearance in Holland, which he explained as follows: a

The truth is that I am with a party of out of the way people of both sexes, who came to sea on a scheme of fishing, and out of a frolick, took it into our heads to pass a few days in this country, we have no cloaths but those on our back.5 a

Eight years later in May 1776 he and some friends and ‘two or three Ladies of Pleasure’ spent three weeks trout fishing, staying at an inn at Spine Hill near Newbury. Other outdoor activities included cricket and boating round the fens. His interests in informal food and the outdoor life were memorably brought together during a visit by Omai – a Polynesian brought back by Cook in 1774 and feted by London Society. Perhaps the Earl should be credited with the first barbecue as well as the first sandwich. Joseph Cradock’s Memoirs6 report that: a

Lord Sandwich one day at Hinchinbrook proposed that Omai should dress a shoulder of mutton in his own manner; and he was quite delighted, because he always wished to make himself useful.

Having dug a deep hole in the ground, he placed fuel at the bottom of it, and then covered it with clean pebbles; when properly heated, he layed the mutton, neatly enveloped in leaves, at the top and having closed the whole, walked constantly around it, very deliberately, observing the sun.

The meat was afterwards brought to table was much commended, and all the company partook of it. a

aaaaaWhen Omai returned to Polynesia in 1776 on Cook’s second expedition, an anonymous poem was published entitled ‘Omiah’s Farewell inscribed to the ladies of London’. It pays a generous tribute to Sandwich: a

Back, back the sails – ‘tis gratitude commands To bow to Sandwich ere I quit these lands .

Hail gallant Peer, the Neptune of this day Illumin’d too by a celestial Ray Mayst thou with honour long direct the fleet And Cupid’s kettle-drum with rapture beat!

To thee I owe my morals and my grace, Thou great example of the human race.

To thy chaste roof my last adieus I pay To gentle Montague and gentler Ray.7 a

Visitors to Hinchingbrooke could expect an active and purposeful stay. Staying with him was described as good ‘for the Robust and the Jolly, but a very bad Hospital’ and elegant visitors were disconcerted by a taste for boisterous horseplay. This might suggest that Hinchingbrooke was a house for hearties but the truth is more complex.

For Sandwich, Hinchingbrooke really was home in a much more personal way than for those great aristocrats whose seats were at grand houses like Chatsworth, Blenheim and Castle Howard. His house mattered to him and he did his best to make it presentable to visitors. That stern critic, Horace Walpole, was impressed: ‘The House of Hinchinbrook is most comfortable and just what I like; old, spacious, irregular, yet not vast or forlorn’. Walpole noted ‘improvements by the present Lord’ because in 1759, Sandwich had created ‘a best eating room’ in the south east corner of the house (now the eastern part of the Library). Newly fashionable gothic windows were inserted and painted armorial glass was commissioned from William Peckitt of York.8 The glass shows the family pedigree through five generations from Edward Montagu, created 1st Earl of Sandwich in 1660, to the 4th Earl himself. Two painted panels show scenes from the life and death of the 1st Earl and it is tempting to see this commission as part of a project 29

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 to mark the centenary of the granting of the Earldom. A letter from George Montagu to Horace Walpole written on 29th December 1759 reports that: a

Mr Bentley’s designs are executed and put up in the great chamber at Hinchingbrooke of the life and death of your admirable Earl of Sandwich. a

The great chamber’ must be the upstairs bow room and when Horace Walpole himself visited Hinchingbrooke in May 1763, he described it as ‘a noble old drawing room …… here the present Lord has frequently acted plays’. Walpole goes on to describe ‘the arms of Cromwell’ in the great bow window, but makes no mention of ‘Mr Bentley’s designs’ which suggests that they were no longer there. The phrase ‘executed and put up’ would fit better with a temporary installation rather than a permanent decorative scheme. Richard Bentley9 provided designs for Walpole’s Villa at Strawberry Hill and also made drawings for Walpole’s friends — 'a very pretty Gothic room for Lord Holdernesse,' or 'a little Gothic building for Lord Strafford' – and perhaps the Hinchingbrooke designs were of a similar nature. They might even have been ‘stage scenery’ of some sort. There were theatricals at Hinchingbrooke in 1760. Arthur Murphy’s play ‘The Way to Keep Him’ was performed on two nights by a company consisting of ‘several persons of distinction’ and four hundred tickets were distributed.10 The most characteristic Hinchingbrooke activities, and the ones in which Sandwich himself was most active throughout his life, were the productions of plays and music. Amateur theatricals took place from the 1740s onwards and from 1769, if not earlier, Sandwich was holding regular music meetings at Hinchingbrooke – one week at Christmas and another in the summer. These grew in scale to involve 60 or 70 performers, tackling 6 different Handel oratorios in 6 days, with Martha Ray taking leading roles, while Sandwich himself played the kettledrums. These meetings continued to at least 1776.

Even after the end of his political career, Sandwich continued to entertain. At Christmas 1786, the Prince of Wales spent three days at Hinchingbrooke and each day ‘an hundred tickets were delivered to the gentlemen and their families in the neighbourhood’. In planning a return visit the following year, the Prince’s equerry requested Sandwich ‘to make no special arrangement for his reception but preserve the usual routine which has made the society of Hinchingbrooke so pleasant’. It is unexpected to find a leader of fashion, the future Prince Regent, being so enthusiastic about Christmas in an antiquated country house like Hinchingbrooke, especially when for the previous three years he and Henry Holland had been remodelling Carlton House. Sandwich was clearly an excellent and very individual host and this must have been sufficient to make his house acceptable. However it could be argued that the house was no longer ‘old fashioned and out of date’ but rather ‘ancient and exotic’ with just enough nods to fashion to please a royal connoisseur. When the Prince of Wales departed, he expressed the hope of ‘revisiting this mansion of mirth and again participating in those scenes of conviviality which are always to be found there.'

Alas, it was not to be and a letter written by Sandwich to his son records his disappointment.

It was sent from Hinchingbrooke on December 25th 1787 and reads as follows: a

Our plays begin tomorrow and are to be repeated every evening till Sunday next. The Prince of Wales has disappointed me of the honour of his company this Christmas, which will cast a great damp upon our neighbours who had depended upon seeing this illustrious visitor at our theatrical performances; as to myself I have been so used to disappointments in the course of my life, that I can bear them better than those who have not had so much experience of that sort.11 A little over four years later Sandwich wrote his last letter, again to his son but this time from his London house: A

a

Allow me, for fear of accidents and as a last request, to recommend to your protection the four 30

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 servants who have attended me during my last illness – Black James,12 the other James and his wife – what attention they have shown me – not forgetting Watson.

I have made an effort to write, but find my head wild so can say no more than adieu probably for ever. a

Two days later on 30th January 1792, he died, deep in debt and harassed by his creditors but still anxious about his loyal servants.

Consideration for others – neighbours in 1787 and servants in 1792 – reminds us of Sandwich’s capacity for friendship and for human kindness. Both for his contemporaries and for us, he was surely one of the most approachable of 18th century aristocrats and his company at dinner would have been a real treat.

1 Letters from the Grand Tour by Joseph Spence. (ed.) Slava Klima. 1975.

2 The Journal was not published until after the 4th Earl’s death. A Voyage performed... round the Mediterranean in the years 1738 and 1739 (by the Earl of Sandwich). With: Memoirs of the author by John Cooke. 1799.

In the 60 years that had elapsed since the original tour, many other travellers had published their reports and so Sandwich’s observations have not been given the prominence they deserve. Find out for yourself by reading the online version at https://archive.org/details/voyageperformedb00sand 3 See the many references to ‘finances’ in the index of Rodger’s book 4 Rodger p88 5 Rodger p115 6 Joseph Cradock. Literary and Miscellaneous Memoirs. 1826-8.

7 A full article by me (Roger Mitchell) on Omai’s Visit was published in Country Life in 1975 and was reprinted in issue 11 of FHH Newsletter. I do wonder whether the contemporary audience would have seen the flattery as double-edged. Sandwich’s reputation as a rake and his readily acknowledged clumsiness make the line ‘To thee I owe my morals and my grace’, capable of less favourable interpretations.

8 For more information about this commission see the D.Phil Thesis of J.T.Brighton submitted to University of York in 1978 entitled ‘The Enamel Glass-Painters of York 1585 -1795.’ Volume 2 covers Peckitt’s Career and includes a transcription of his Commission Book. The thesis is available online at: etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/9936/2/480023_vol2.pdf 9 Bentley had Huntingdon connections. His mother was the daughter of Sir John Bernard of Brampton Park 10 Rodger p87 11 This letter and the one that follows were in Mapperton - Box 267 when I transcribed them in the 1970.

12 FHH Newsletter 28 (Jan 2017) includes this note on James Alexander. On 13th November 2016 a short service was held in Brampton churchyard to rededicate a replacement monument to James Alexander. He was a black African who faithfully served the 4th Earl of Sandwich for many years and became a great friend. The original headstone, paid for by the 4th Earl’s son, had been damaged beyond repair by the elements.

Co-operative Funeral Care, Huntingdon paid for the new hand-carved headstone. The service was conducted

by The Revd Jason Taylor assisted by Pastor Simeon. Viscount Hinchingbrooke, who was accompanied by his two sons, laid a wreath. The inscription reads as follows: Sacred To The Memory of JAMES ALEXANDER A Native of Africa Who Lived More Than Half a Century A Domestic Servant In The Hinchingbrooke Family And Died Nov 15th 1802 In The 66th Year of His Life The Earl of Sandwich Caused This Stone To Be Erected As A Tribute To His Long and Faithful Service

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THEATRE AND MUSIC AT HINCHINGBROOKE IN THE 18TH CENTURY

Documents Two memoirs, both published in the early 1820s, provide us with first-hand material about the musical and theatrical entertainment provided by the 4th Earl, especially in the 1770s and 1780s. aaaaaCharles Butler (1750-1832) was a Roman Catholic lawyer, who gained Sandwich’s patronage in 1777 after publishing a pamphlet supporting naval impressment. His Reminiscences published in 1822 contain the following assessment of Sandwich: a

Lord Sandwich might serve as a model for a man of business – He rose early, and, to a late dinner, dedicated his whole time to business: he was very methodical; slow not wearisome, cautious not suspicious, rather a man of sense than a man of talent; he had much real good nature; his promises might be relied on. His manners partook of the old court; and he possessed, in a singular degree, the art of attaching persons of every degree to him. Few houses were more pleasant or instructive than his lordship’s: it was filled with rank, beauty and talent, and everyone was at ease. He professed to be fond of music, and musicians flocked to him; he was the soul of the catch club, and one of the directors of the concert of ancient music;- but,- (which is the case of more than one noble and more than one gentle amateur) – he had not the least real ear for music, and was equally insensible of harmony and melody. aaa

It is perhaps as well that, when this was published, Sandwich had been dead for 30 years and was therefore spared that final sentence. If he had read it, he might well have asked another friend from the 1770s to defend his musical reputation. This was Joseph Cradock (1742-1826) whose Literary and Miscellaneous Memoirs were published posthumously in 1828 in four volumes. Cradock was a landed gentleman, originally wealthy but eventually impoverished, and an amateur actor and musician. His property was at Gumley in Leicestershire and from there he organised charity concerts in Leicester using the same performers as at Hinchingbrooke concerts. He even persuaded Sandwich not just to attend but to play the kettle-drums. In the early 1770s Cradock tells us ‘I generally went at Christmas to Lord Sandwich’s oratorios at Hinchinbroke’: a

Plays at Hinchinbrook had ceased before I had ever been in company with Lord Sandwich, and Oratorios for a week at Christmas, had been substituted. Miss Ray, who was the first attraction, was instructed in music both by Mr Bates and by Signior Giardini. Norris and Champness regularly attended the meetings, and there were many very excellent amateur performers; the Duke of Manchester’s military band assisted and his Lordship himself took the kettle-drums to animate the whole. “Non Nobis Domine” was sung after dinner and then catches and glees succeeded; all was well conducted; for whatever his Lordship undertook he generally accomplished, and seemed to have adopted the emphatic advice of Longinus, ‘Always to excel’.

Miss Ray in her situation was a pattern of discretion. a Martha Ray’s role was a difficult one. She was not introduced to aristocratic guests and an unexpected encounter with the Bishop of Lincoln upset Sandwich and led one of the guests, probably Lord Denbigh, to write the following ‘severe verses’. They were intercepted before 32

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 they reached Sandwich but Cradock kept a copy and fifty years later, they find a place in his Memoirs: a

When Lords turn musicians to gather a throng, And keep pretty Misses to sing them a song; When Nobles, and Bishops, and Squires are so silly, To attend at the levee of Miss Ray and Billy, When to shew most respect for the Lord of the place is, By listening to fiddlers and praising his mistress; If this be the case and you do not dissemble, Say what is the cause that so many assemble, The cause do you ask? to be sure it is – Handel.

His music so sweet is, when skilfully play’d, And that not by mere spring jacks that make it a trade: There’s a Lord beats a drum, not yet by it disgrac’d, Since a Bishop perchance by Giardini is plac’d.

So the high and the low are all jumbled together, In order that Jephtha may go off the better; And to be of that party, how happy their fates, When for wit and for learning they’ve Cradock and Bates. aa

Perhaps it was that final complimentary reference that caused Cradock to keep it. As the verses confirm, Handel Oratorios were the musical centrepiece of these events. Martha Ray was particularly associated with the role of Iphis in the oratorio Jephtha, but Cradock was especially impressed with her singing in Saul and his Memoirs include ‘a few lines I struck off’: a

Extempore to Miss Ray, on hearing her sing in the Oratorio of Saul, at Hinchingbroke 1 A While you those powers unequall’d thus display, E’en David, self enraptured, hails the lay Hangs up his harp and listens but to RAY. a

This performance of Saul is commemorated in a particularly lively and good-natured piece of verse entitled the Hinchinbrook Music Meeting – A Song. I first came across this in the early 1970s in Box 406 of the Montagu Archive at Mapperton, Dorset. Attached to it is a letter from Lord de Ros to the Earl of Sandwich dated July 12th (19)55 stating that the manuscript was found among old family papers. Another manuscript copy (lacking several verses) survives in Dr Webb’s collection in Cambridge University Library and is published in Scholae Academicae: Some Account of the Studies at the English Universities in the Eighteenth Century by Christopher Wordsworth 1968. The manuscript is dated 1773 but is unsigned. It is doggerel verse about long dead people, most of them amateur or professional musicians, and inevitably we miss out on many of the jokes and allusions. Nevertheless, it captures the informality and sheer fun of social life at Hinchingbrooke. These were large gatherings and the Duke of Manchester, who sometimes attended is full of praise for the Earl: aa

I can not think how Sandwich manages so well as he does with all this party for a week in his house: all is under his own immediate direction, and all as regular as clockwork. Why in this room, at the long and round table in the bow-window, he accommodates seventy. a

It was a lot of work, and, one assumes, it cost a lot of money but for Sandwich it was worth it, because, along with the good humour and fellowship, there was also an underlying seriousness.

This gathering had a purpose. It celebrated and kept alive the music of Handel and brought pleasure to all the participants, especially to Sandwich himself, the host and the virtuoso of the kettle drums.

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aTHE HINCHINBROOK MUSIC MEETING – A SONG 1

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1

Ye friends of sound harmony, mirth and good cheer Who would sing out the old, and sing in the new year You that fiddle for pleasure, for fame or for bread Come and list at Lord Sandwich’s Kettledrum head.

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For now from the care of the Helm2 he descends And blowing his whistle, he summons his friends And nothing he leaves them to wish or desire Except for Giardini3 a little less fire.

3

If Handel4 could rise from his grave but once more He had rather be with us than writing a score For we’ve taste and correctness to please heart and head And his belly to boot would be special well fed.

4

Now the masters all mount in a terrible row And tun’d is each fiddle and rosin’d each bow And Giardini if got in his critical fits Frights the poor Dilettanti5 half out of his wits.

5

At the harpsichord now Joah Bates6 takes his place Tho’ he casts a Sheep’s eye at his dear double bass To the heartstrings it grieves him to quit it so soon For tho’ he mayn’t play it, he puts it in tune

6

But when once he begins to sprawl over a chorus And lays the whole matter so plainly before us No hearer so stupid but soon understands He’s full son to Briareus7 and heir to his hands

7

Chas Jenner8 sat trembling close to his right side And as soon as a hard solo passage he spied He swore that alone he could do it all right Tho’ he makes the same blunder but ev’ry night.

8

Sam Champness9 came lagging but well prop’d with ale He would roar you as sweet as a young Nightingale And you’d swear when so hollow he sang B below He was Samuel ‘called back to this world of woe’.10

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9

Will Gascoigne who plays on the hoarse tenor fiddle And for ever is coming in wrong in the middle With more wit than music is cracking his jests Which he thinks better fun than dry counting of rests.

10 John Beverly11 long had been fiddling the Bass But his fingers so long seldom hit the right place So the great double bass to take up he did beg Where he measures the stops by the length of his leg.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 a

11 Giardini for absentees now looks about If Desborough’s called to a worse crying out Or if any loose straglers the practise would balk If Rokeby or Ward take a ride or a walk. a

12 His Lordship meantime ever active and steady Eyes the drums with impatience and cries aren’t you ready.

Know well who are alert and who always ask pardon And who are the men must be fetched from the garden. a

13 When the Band is all marshall’d from front to the rear And Miss Ray12 and Norris and Busy appear When impatience to start shines in every man’s face Steals in Dr Shepherd13 a-tuning his Bass. a

14 But now hush’d is each noise on each raptured ear Break such sounds as the Angels stand listening to hear.

Handel rouses and hearing his own Thunder roar Looks downward from Heaven and calls out Encor a

15 Now friends take no offence at this jocular greeting But toss off a bumper to our next happy meeting And let’s serve every man who obstructs our delight As David serves War on the Amalekite. a

Some of the performers are identified in the endnotes, but I have no information about Will Gascoigne (Verse 9) or Desborough, Rokeby and Ward (Verse 11). They may well have come either from Cambridge or from Northamptonshire. aaaaIt is tempting to attribute the piece to Joseph Cradock. He was present at this gathering and was a regular writer of verse. Perhaps the strongest piece of evidence is that that he makes no appearance in these verses even though he was mentioned by name in the ‘severe verses’ quoted earlier.

The 1773 gathering was certainly not the last of the Hinchingbrooke Music Meetings. A letter from Sandwich to Cradock in October 1774 reminds him ‘that our musick meeting begins on Monday 2nd January and that we depend on the pleasure of your company’. They may even have continued until Martha Ray’s murder in 1779, although pressures of work at the Admiralty during the American War and a deteriorating relationship between Sandwich and Martha Ray may have caused an earlier suspension.

For Sandwich, the 1780s marked a decline. Cradock tells us that ‘his public career ……. terminated in the year 1784, when he made Hinchinbrook his chief abode. From this time he devoted himself almost entirely to the duties of a private life.’ From the late 1780s, his health ‘declined gradually’ and Sandwich died in 1792.

1 This is Cradock’s third different spelling of Hinchingbrooke.

2 Sandwich was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1771 - 1782.

3 Felice Giardini (1716 – 1796) was born in Turin but made his home and his reputation in London from the 1750s to 1780s as violinist, concert master and composer. He was notoriously quick tempered.

4 George Frederick Handel died in London in 1759.

5 Sandwich was a member of the Society of Dilettanti but was he likely to be ’frighted’ even by Giardini?

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 6 Joah Bates (1741 – 1799) was a keyboard player and Handel enthusiast who also acted as Sandwich’s private secretary and was granted minor (but lucrative) civil service posts.

7 In Greek mythology Briareus was the 50 armed son of Uranus and Gaea.

8 Charles Jenner (1736 – 1774) was a writer and poet with Huntingdon, Cambridge and Northants connections. He had a reputation as a good singer and performer at concerts, as well as being ‘humane and benevolent….., affable and condescending’.

9 Samuel Champness (born 1732) was a professional singer trained in the Chapel Royal.

10 The references to ‘Samuel called back to this world of woe’ (Verse 10) and to ‘David serves war on the Amalekite’ (Verse 15) come from the Libretto of Handel’s Saul – Act 3 Scenes 3 and 4. This strongly suggests that Saul was the Oratorio being rehearsed.

11 John Beverly (1743-1827) was another member of Sandwich’s circle rewarded with a post at the admiralty.

He played the violin and for most of his life he held the ceremonial post of Esquire Bedell at Cambridge University.

12 Martha Ray (1742-1779) became the Earl’s mistress at the age of 17 but their relationship was long-lasting (5 children), loving, publicly acknowledged and relatively stable one. She was a professionally trained and highly regarded singer. It has been suggested that Norris and Busy were also female singers.

13 Antony Shepherd was Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at Cambridge from 1760 to 1796.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

THE PRINCE PRINCE OF OF WALES WALES AT AT HINCHINGBROOKE: HINCHINGBROOKE THE - CHRISTMAS 1786 CHRISTMAS 1786

Documents a There is one final Hinchingbrooke gathering that should be included in this collection. Once again, it took place at Christmas, this time in 1786. Cradock and his wife had spent three years travelling in Europe and he writes: a

‘At my return in 1786, I received a most kind letter from Lord Sandwich, inviting me to Hinchinbrook, where an effort was made to entertain the Prince of Wales for an evening in the old theatre; but I was at that time unfortunately very ill.’ a

Perhaps, like us, Cradock read about the event in the press: a

From Town and Country Magazine Volume 18 for the Year 1786 (p 682-3) An Account of the FESTIVAL celebrated by Lord Sandwich, at Hinchinbrook when visited at Christmas by the Prince of Wales a

On Wednesday morning, in Christmas week, his royal highness the prince of Wales arrived at the seat of the earl of Sandwich, at Hinchinbrook, near Huntingdon, where he remained near three days. The company were the earl of Exeter1, lord Shuldham2, Mr Brown3, Mr Chaplin, Mr Burton, and several other gentlemen of rank and fortune. a

In the evening his highness attended his lordship’s domestic theatre, and seemed highly sensible of the elegant and classic attention paid to him by the frontispiece and motto. In the middle of which was his highness’s crest, and the following quotation from one of Vergil’s Eclogues: a

“Melius cum veneris ipses canemus.”

We will sing better when you come a

The performances were preceded by an excellent, well turned prologue, elegantly delivered by Launcelot Brown esq, member of parliament for the town of Huntingdon, and written by lord Sandwich, which was followed by the representation of the Mock Doctor4, and that much admired musical farce the Romp, in which the characters were supported by ladies and gentlemen of his lordship’s acquaintance, with a propriety and spirit, that would not discredit the most admired and experienced performers. a

On Thursday evening his royal highness was entertained by a private concert, in which he bore a part himself on the violincello, and in which the vocal enchanting powers of madame Mara5 were demonstrated. On Thursday evening, High Life below Stairs, and the Virgin Unmask’d6, were enacted to the entire approbation and astonishment of his highness, as well as the whole audience. a

Each day after dinner and supper, catches and glees, as well as solo singing, in the very highest perfection, were introduced, and could not fail of adding, as they evidently did, such a zest to the royal satisfaction, as could no where else be so completely accomplished. His royal highness 37

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 left that old and hospitable seat, on Friday last at noon, with the most marked expressions of the pleasure he had received in his visit, and of regret at leaving it; expressing, however, his hopes of speedily re-visiting this mansion of mirth, and again participating in those scenes of conviviality, which are always to be found there. a…………

The pieces ordered for representation on the evening of the prince’s departure, were the Mock Doctor and the Virgin Unmask’d. Each day of performing, an hundred tickets were delivered to the gentlemen and their families in the neighbourhood; for whom a repast was provided with every other evident proof of an hospitable and generous mind. a

After providing us with such splendid entertainment, Sandwich himself deserves the last word.

The ‘excellent, well turned prologue’ that he wrote is also printed in The Town and Country Magazine. Sandwich shows that he is still the master of the skills that an 18th century aristocrat needed for success in society and in politics He deploys learning, judgment, grace, flattery and humour in equal measure. Written as a prologue, it makes an equally appropriate farewell: a

PROLOGUE Spoken before the PRINCE of WALES at Hinchinbrooke, the Seat of the Earl of Sandwich, Dec 27, 1786. Written by Lord Sandwich.

VOLTAIRE, with wit, and every science bless’d, By princes envy’d, hated and caressed, Long in each polish’d court of Europe shin’d, By turns the scorn and wonder of mankind.

From court at length to rural shades remov’d, And still attended by the muse he lov’d, With youthful sports he sooth’d declining age, And was himself an actor on his stage.

Of all the various systems he profess’d, He found that mirth and laughter was the best.

Friends to his cause, his doctrine we embrace, And dedicate to mirth this antient place: With his example plac’d before our eyes, This rural theatre is bid to rise, And now while Faction tears this fated isle, And hireling penmen, each good act revile; When Britain, from some late events, may fear, New sets of rulers, almost every year; When modern patriots solemnly declare, No country can such heavy burthens bear; Yet void of shame, with unembarrass’d face, Double those odious taxes when in place; Let us with judgment our condition scan, And say, retirement is the wisest plan.

There, with good cheer, and pastimes such as these, The neighb’ring circle we each night may please, And with such friends, thus innocently gay, Sport the remaining time of life away.

But let me add, that if our humble state, Attracts the notice of the good and great; 38

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

If those most elevated on the earth, Respected for their virtues more than birth, To visit these abodes should condescend, And to our trifles their attention lend, No longer will we call it a retreat, The world shall envy this much honour’d seat.

1 Brownlow Cecil, 9th Earl of Exeter (1725-1793). In the not entirely reliable Memoirs of George III by Robert Huish (1830) it is stated that ‘Madame Mara, then at the zenith of her ability, came from Burleigh with the Earl of Exeter to join the party’.

2 Molyneux Shuldham (1717-1798) was a naval officer and colonial governor. He was created Baron Shuldham in the Peerage of Ireland in 1776.

3 Lancelot Brown was the son of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. His father, who died in 1783, had purchased an estate at Fenstanton, which Lancelot inherited. Sandwich’s patronage ensured his election as MP for Huntingdon from 1784 – 1787 and MP for Huntingdonshire from 1792-1794.

4 The Mock Doctor or the Dumb Lady Cur’d is a play by Henry Fielding first performed in 1732. It is an anglicised version of Le Médecin malgré lui by Molière.

5 Gertrud Elisabeth Mara (1749-1833) was a German soprano. She was in London from 1784 onwards.

6 The Virgin Unmasked, Or, Female Dialogues, Betwixt an Elderly Maiden Lady, and Her Niece by Bernard Mandeville 1709.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Hinchingbrooke Before the Fire: A Mansion of the Olden Time

aBy Roger Mitchella a For more than 150 years from the late 17th century until the early hours of Friday 22nd January 1830, Hinchingbrooke House underwent fewer changes than almost any other great country house. The various phases of classical architecture – Baroque, Palladian and Neoclassical passed it by entirely and the only significant building project in this long period, the 4th Earl’s rebuilding of the South East corner, was in the gothick revival style that reinforced the antiquity of the house. aaaaThis essay (and the illustrations and descriptions that accompany it1) tries to provide a tour of Hinchingbrooke as it was before the disastrous fire of 1830 changed it for ever. The earliest illustration of the house that we have is from 1730, exactly one hundred years before the fire.

My sub-title is that wonderfully evocative phrase ‘A Mansion of the Olden Time’ and I can claim absolutely no credit for it. It is the title of a book published in the decade after the Hinchingbrooke Fire. The first volume of Joseph Nash’s drawings of ‘Mansions of England in the Olden Time’ was published in 1839. Three more volumes followed in the next ten years and in total there are 100 plates and 4 title pages. We view Haddon and Hardwick, Hampton Court and Hatfield House. We enter Athelhampton and Charlecote and see the half timbering at Little Moreton, the brickwork of Compton Wynyates and the stone of Penshurst It is the ultimate roll call of those picturesque and romantic houses of the Olden Time – the period from Wars of Roses to Civil War (Tudor and Early Stuart). We might feel that Hinchingbrooke deserves a place, but it is not included. If Nash had toured England twenty years earlier, then it almost certainly would have been. Nash took a scholarly approach and sadly but correctly rejected post-fire Hinchingbrooke. However, the early Victorians could not get enough of the picturesque – other publications followed and not all of them were as careful.

J.D.Harding’s engraving published in the 1840s claims to show James I’s arrival at Hinchingbrooke in 1603 but he is about to enter through the new post-fire door and, if he had looked up, he would have been more than a little puzzled to see the date 1832 and the coat of arms, not of the Cromwells but of the Montagus.

Hinchingbrooke is included in another great collection of country house engravings from the first half of the 19th century. Between 1819 and 1829, John Preston Neale published Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen. There are 11 volumes and 729 engraved plates, showing more than 600 country houses throughout the British Isles. Not every great house is included. Kimbolton Castle, for example, the property of those other and more senior Montagus, the Dukes of Manchester, does not get a mention. Nevertheless, Neale’s publication is the most comprehensive record that we have and it shows the power houses of the landowning aristocracy and gentry at their peak, before Victorian new money changed the balance of political power and before Victorian rebuilding dramatically remodelled many ancient halls that had survived the Georgian age. What Neale’s Views show is that even as early as the 1820s ancient houses made up only a small percentage of country houses. In the 6 volumes of his first series, approx 300 English houses are shown. Almost two thirds of them had been built (or almost completely rebuilt) after 1720. Of the other third that were built before 1720 most have a regularity of plan and at least a modicum of classical decoration.

Only about 5% can be described as ‘ancient’. Hinchingbrooke falls into that category and merits the attention that Neale gives it – engravings of the North and East fronts in Volume 2 40

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 and a detail of the bay window as the frontispiece to Volume 4. When we compare the Neale pictures from 1820 with the earliest engraving of Hinchingbrooke from almost a century earlier we have the evidence that the great 18th century rebuilding of country houses passed Hinchingbrooke by. This house remained as it was shown by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck in 1730 – at best rambling and irregular, at worst barbaric and outdated. Frankly it no longer looks suitable as the seat of a Peer of the Realm. Why had it not been replaced?

The simple answer is that there wasn’t the money; the rather more complicated and personal one is that the great figure of 18th century Hinchingbrooke, John, 4th Earl of Sandwich2, had made a virtue of necessity and had spent what money he did have on political patronage and personal hospitality not on a Palladian or Neo Classical rebuilding. When he remodelled the South East corner of the house in the 1750s, he deliberately and successfully did so in the newly fashionable gothick style which complemented the existing house and won the praise of that leader of fashion, Horace Walpole. When he visited Hinchingbrooke in 1763 Walpole described it as ‘a very commodious, decent, irregular old house – spacious yet not vast or forlorn’. He was less enthusiastic about its location and concluded that ‘considering it is in Huntingdonshire, the situation is not so ugly nor melancholy as I expected’. Praise indeed.

The 4th Earl lived for another three decades after that visit. He continued to entertain with music and plays and at Christmas 1786, the Prince of Wales (later George IV) spent three days at Hinchingbrooke3. Architecturally it may have been in the Dark Ages, but socially it remained a fashionable house. However, the Earl was heavily in debt and the situation continued to deteriorate until his death in 1792.

His son, the 5th Earl was a widower throughout the period that he held the Earldom. He died in London in 1814 and probably spent most of his time there. A rare exception was that when his son married in 1804, the celebrations were such that ‘the Priory [Hinchingbrooke] has not been so gay since the late Earl’s time’. The 6th Earl held the title for only 4 years before dying of consumption in Rome in 1818. His wife continued to live abroad in Paris and in Italy and his son the 7th Earl was a child when he inherited and spent the 1820s at Eton and Cambridge, while his uncle, Admiral Montagu ( 5th Earl’s illegitimate son), managed the estates. Only after the post-fire rebuilding, in large part funded by the fire insurance claim, did the seventh Earl, who came of age in 1832, take up residence at Hinchingbrooke.

Unsurprisingly, there were no significant building projects in the 38 years between the 4th Earl’s death and the fire and the only recorded work at Hinchingbrooke was a botched internal conversion in 1824 that was probably the cause of the 1830 fire. aaaaWe are fortunate to have more illustrations of Hinchingbrooke between 1730 and 1830 than is the case for many great houses. There are no bird’s eye views by Kipp and Knyff, no major oil paintings, and, of course, no plans and elevations in Vitruvius Britannicus, which confined itself to sophisticated, classical architecture. Instead we start with the Buck Print of 1730. Samuel Buck had in 1726 announced his intention of systematically recording ruins throughout England. The castles, religious foundations, and other remains of antiquity throughout the kingdom, he argued, were in a lamentable condition. He would ‘rescue the mangled remains’ of ‘these aged & venerable edifices from the inexorable jaws of time’ by visiting and recording them. Most of his tours of Southern England and East Anglia were done between 1732 – 7 and eventually he and his brother Nathaniel produced 428 engravings of monasteries, abbeys, castles, and other ruins. Hinchingbrooke is an early publication dated 1730. Not everyone would rejoice in having their house portrayed as a ‘mangled remain’ but the 4th Earl may have been the exception. He had a sense of humour and a serious interest in antiquity.

It was the 4th Earl who directly commissioned the next illustrations that we have of the ouse. They provide no more than a tantalising glimpse from 1757 and they appear on the title page of a Survey of the Earl’s estates carried out by Thomas Warburton and Jonathan Cadman.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 The original is in the County Record Office in Huntingdon. The page is decorated with cartouches containing tiny drawings of the house – 3 distant views, two details of the North Front bay windows and two more of the Gatehouse Arch and the Great Bow Window. The survey also contains a map of the Park which shows the house and garden. Some internal divisions are shown but not with the clarity that one would like.

From this period around 1760 we also have a series of oval paintings, which are still in the possession of the family. Five of them are reproduced in the Victoria County History (VCH)4.

The Lodge with Gateway – East Front The Lodge with Gateway – West Front North Front East Front South Front The paintings for the North and East Fronts are clearly the source for the two engravings in Mark Noble’s Protectoral House of Cromwell. 1st Edition. 1784. In the third edition (1787) the prints include information about those involved in their production - ‘Richard Short pinxit, Mat Haughton delt, R.Hancock fc. The figures are different from those included in the oval paintings, but the house is identical.

The VCH also includes a print of Hinchingbrooke from the South East which it describes as Buck’s View 1730. This is clearly wrong and there is a correction in Volume 3 when a date of c1800 is suggested but unfortunately no source is given.

The engravings of Hinchingbrooke in Neale’s Views of Seats are in Volume 2 of the First Series5. Both were drawn by Neale and show the North and East Fronts. The date of publication is 1822. The frontispiece to Volume 4 (same date) is described as ‘The North Window, Hinchingbrooke’ and shows the more easterly bay window on the North Front.

Our final source takes us to the fire and beyond with a collection of drawings by Edward Blore, the architect commissioned to rebuild Hinchingbrooke after the fire. They are now in the British Library (Add Mss 42018 and 42027). Two drawings are pre-fire. In the 1820s Blore was more an architectural draughtsman and illustrator than an architect and his drawings of the Gatehouse and the North Front are part of a large collection of drawings of mediaeval and Tudor buildings. There is a sketch of the house from the South East in the immediate aftermath of the fire and finally two drawings showing the design for the rebuilding, one showing the North and East fronts and the other the South and West.

Pre-fire Hinchingbrooke was an extraordinary survivor of an almost untouched Tudor house. It is not a regular composition but a series of independent bits of architecture which have been glued together in a rather arbitrary manner. A tour would begin with entry through the late mediaeval gatehouse, which was moved here from Ramsey Abbey in the 16th century. As one enters, it is the Tudor Kitchen block, which is straight ahead. Today this has a picturesque charm but it hardly presents the image of power and magnificence that was so important in the 16th century and beyond. Only by turning one’s gaze to the left is the (early?) Elizabethan north front properly revealed with two impressive bay windows but, until the post-fire rebuilding, an extremely unimpressive main entrance once the wooden porch (shown by Buck) has disappeared. Our route to the west is blocked by the kitchen range and so we proceed to view the east front which has three distinct (and different) sections, the most northerly dominated by the spectacular bow window of 1602, the middle one with a rather Dutch looking stepped gable and the most southerly castellated and with 18th century gothic windows. The south front is a confused range of three elements - the converted mediaeval church to the east, then a link section leading to the tower which probably dates from the 1540s. Although this faces south and overlooks the great terrace of the 1660s, the exterior does not suggest grandeur. There is only one window in the upper storey of the church range, even though that commands the best view from the house, overlooking the terrace and extending across the Ouse valley to Portholme.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 There is one further element to the exterior of the house, which is, of course, the West Front. Built at great expense at one of the few times when there was plenty of money available to the family, it hardly seems to have been a triumph. Pepys, not the most frugal of men, writes ‘I am sorry to think of the money at this time spent thereon’ and explains his reservations as follows – ‘there being nothing to make the outside more regular and modern, I am not satisfied with it.’ That seems to have been the verdict that stood until the rebuilding of the 1830s, because that west front, which ought to have been one of the glories of Hinchingbrooke, is never properly shown in the pre-fire illustrations. It appears on the skyline in the Buck Print and there are two glimpses of it in the oval paintings reproduced in the VCH but it is never shown centre stage.

Neale in the 1820s chose to show the North Front (with the top storey of the West range visible) and the East Front. His description reads ‘The whole of these two Fronts are of stone; other parts of the House are of brick, with stone dressing, built by the first Earl of Sandwich, and lately coloured to correspond with the ancient portion’. Despite six pages of text about the families, the house and its contents, we get no more detail of the West Front.

Alas, we have no pictures of the interior of the house or of its central courtyard and we must make what we can of the descriptions that are available. In the hundred years between 1660s and 1760s, Hinchingbrooke was visited and described by perhaps the ultimate trinity of country house visitors – Samuel Pepys, Celia Fiennes and Horace Walpole. As we have seen above, Pepys has his reservations but both Fiennes and Walpole are favourable. Fiennes travelling in 1697 presents us with an uncompleted restoration house. For Walpole visiting sixty years later, it is irregular and old, but in a letter to George Montagu (31st May 1763) he must be referring to the 1759 alterations by the 4th Earl, when he writes, ‘I believe much has been done since you saw it – it now only wants an apartment, for in no part of it are there more than two chambers together’. By ‘apartment’ he means a set of interconnected rooms allocated to a particular person or group of people. In 1728 Chambers (of Encyclopaedia fame) had written that ‘a compleat Apartment must consist at least of a Chamber, an Antechamber, and a Cabinet or Wardrobe’. Every country house built in the 18th century would provide at least one as a matter of course, but it was much harder to create this sort of arrangement in an older building.

The ‘rabbit warren’ analogy is probably more accurate for Hinchingbrooke.

We are fortunate to have two detailed descriptions of Hinchingbrooke from the early 19th century. One of these is in England and Wales Delineated by Thomas Dugdale first published in 1815 and the other is in J.P. Neale’s Views of Seats (Volume 2) published in 1819. Neale’s description with a few minor omissions is also published (without acknowledgement) in Robert Carruthers’ History of Huntingdon (1824). Carruthers justifies his borrowing as follows ‘The writer has, like honest John Speed, put his sickle into other men’s corn and laid his building on other men’s foundations’. He goes on to say that as his object was to bring together all the information he could collect from authentic sources, originality was but a subordinate consideration. aaaaaOnly four years separate the publication of these two descriptions but two significant changes have taken place – the great room has been divided into five bedrooms and the dining room in the south east corner has had a change of use to drawing room. Both authors put more emphasis on heraldry and picture collection rather than on architectural features. Neither provides a plan of the house nor includes the information from which a plan can be reliably worked out. Nevertheless, a considerable amount of information can be extracted and, reassuringly, the two descriptions rarely contradict. aaaaThe naming of individual rooms is always a problem but Dugdale and Neale agree on most names. Both have Hall, Dining Room, Drawing Room, Ship Room and Library on the Ground Floor and Neale also includes a Billiard Room. For Dugdale, the room in the south east corner, unmistakably identified by the heraldic glass of 1758 is the Dining Room, but for Neale, three years later, it is the Drawing Room. It is tempting to think that if the Dining Room became 43

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 Drawing Room then the Drawing Room should become the Dining Room, but there is no direct evidence for this. The great staircase gives access to the upper storey and here Dugdale is able to describe ‘the Great Room’ lit by the Bow Window and retaining its ancient character, whereas Neale refers to ‘the great dining room’ in the past tense and explains that it has now been converted into five bedrooms. The other main rooms upstairs that are mentioned in both accounts are the Green Room and the Velvet Room. In addition Dugdale identifies a work room and (rather oddly) a work dressing room, whereas Neale identifies Lady Sandwich’s bedroom and dressing room. Perhaps we are getting different names for the same spaces. Finally, Neale also refers to ‘a large apartment converted into a lumber room’ Given that pre-fire Hinchingbrooke will inevitably remain as something of a mystery, it is entirely appropriate that our final sources should pose not just one but two problems. Sixty years previously, Walpole had complained that there wasn’t an Apartment, so when was this created?

We have no evidence that throws light on this, nor can we reject the possibility that what Neale calls an ‘apartment’ was simply one large room, rather than an integrated suite of rooms. My very last question is about ‘conversion’ into a lumber room. For most of us lumber rooms are not converted, they just happen. Did the aristocracy do things differently and what, I wonder, was the nature of that lumber? The Oxford English Dictionary suggests ‘disused furniture or useless odds and ends which take up room inconveniently’. Almost exactly 200 years on, how we would relish the opportunity to unlock the door of such a room and reveal not lumber but treasure. Sadly, we will never get that opportunity. Almost certainly, only a decade after Neale’s description, the lumber went up in smoke in the fire that gravely damaged this ‘mansion of the olden time’.

1 Information as to Sources is included in the section that follows ‘Hinchingbrooke before the 1830 Fire. The Evidence’ where all the illustrations and contemporary descriptions are included.

2 The 4th Earl and Hinchingbrooke is the subject of the previous essay. For his wider career, see N.A.M.Rodger, The Insatiable Earl (London 1993).

3 A Newspaper Report of that event is included in the previous section.

4. The three volumes on Huntingdonshire were published between 1926 and 1938. The Hinchingbrooke pictures are in Volume 2.

5 One of Neale’s original drawings is now in the Huntingdonshire archives.

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Hitchinbroke (sic) Priory (Samuel and Nathaniel Buck 1730)

Hinchingbrooke Before The Fire: The Evidence This collection was made available to those who attended the annual dinner in March 2016.

Together with the best evidence of all – Hinchingbrooke as it is today, incorporating so much of the ancient fabric – it should enable us and future generations to reconstruct that ancient house and, in our mind’s eye at least, conduct ourselves around and through it. a

At the end I have included a few observations and questions. a

A) Descriptions This is not a comprehensive collection and I have extracted relevant information from longer descriptions. Information about family and about pictures has been omitted. Emphasis is on the building, the furnishings and the room use. a

1. Diary of Samuel Pepys. 1660s.

14th July 1661 To Hinchingbroke, which is now all in dirt, because of my Lord’s building, which will make it all very magnificent.

21st September 1661 To Hinchingbroke, where Mr Barnwell showed me the condition of the house, which is yet very backward, and, I fear, will be very dark in the cloister when it is done.

16th October 1662 Up to Hinchingbroke and there with Mr Shepley did look over all the house, and I do, I confess, like well of the alterations and do like the staircase, but there being nothing to make the outside more regular and modern, I am not satisfied with it, but do think it be too much to be laid out upon it. a

2. Celia Fiennes. 1697.

We enter a good, lofty hall, in it hangs the Ship in which he [1st Earl] was lost that is the representation of it cut out in little and all things exactly made to it; there is a good parlour and drawing room, well proportioned are the rooms with good old furniture and 45

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 good pictures. There is a large dining room above with good tapestry hangings and its ceiled with Irish oake carved with points hanging down like fine fret work, this wood no spider will weave on or endure; there are good bed chambers with good furniture and fine pictures, over one of the chimneys is a fine picture of Venus were it not too much uncloth’d, the Gardens and Wilderness and Greenhouse will be very fine when quite finish’d with the dwarf trees and gravell-walks, there is a large fountaine or bason which is to resemble that in the privy garden at White hall which will front the house; the high terrass walks look out on the Road. a

3. Horace Walpole. May 30th 1763. Journal of Visits to Country Seats.

Hinchinbrook, a very commodious, decent, irregular, old house, much of it built in the time of Queen Elizabeth. The offices were part of the Nunnery. Some additions made

by Admiral Sandwich and some improvements by the present Lord. It is not an ugly spot for Huntingdonshire…….. A handsome balustrade to the stairs, carved with the arms and devices of the Admiral …… A noble old drawing room with a ceiling like a college hall. There the present Lord has frequently acted plays. In the great bow window the arms of Cromwell … the Admiral’s arms and his death on Glass by Peckitt in a bedchamber …… In the best eating room fitted up by this lord, is the pedigree of the family in the windows done by Peckitt of Yorke. a

4. Dugdale, England and Wales Delineated. 1816. - a lot of information about families and pictures is omitted.

Hinchingbrook House ….. enjoys an elevated situation, commanding some beautiful and extensive views over a fine tract of country, particularly the rich vale fertilised by the waters of the Ouse. The house, which is a large, irregular building, partly of stone and partly of brick occupies the site of a Benedictine Nunnery. …..

On a broken stone cornice of Hinchinbrook House, belonging to the small portion which remains of the ancient nunnery is the date 1437 but the greater part of the present edifice was built by the Cromwells , in the reign of Elizabeth. The large bow window of the great room was erected by Sir Oliver Cromwell in 1602, as appears from that date on the stonework of the outside, and over which are the royal arms of Tudor, with their supporters, a lion and a dragon ……… In the window itself are two large ovals of stained glass, containing two shields, baron and femme, of the Cromwell arms …..: this window is in the east front, and looks into the pleasure-garden. The offices on the north side include what was originally the common room of the nuns, now the kitchen; and about eight or nine of the nuns’ cells, which are used as lodging-rooms by the menial servants: they are small cheerless rooms of stone, ranged on each side of a narrow gallery, and each lighted by one stone window: the floors are solid, of stone-like composition. The more regular portion of the interior of this mansion forms a quadrangle. The hall, which is principally lighted by a large bow window, contains a variety of portraits …… The great staircase is ornamented with carvings, displaying shields of the Sandwich arms, flowers, etc The dining-room, though small, has an imposing effect from being adorned with whole length portraits…….. Over the fireplace is a large picture of the battle of Sole Bay; and in the windows are the arms and quarterings of the Montagu family, in stained glass, put up by the late Earl in 1758. In the little dressing room …… In the drawing room ….

In the green room …… In the velvet room …. The work room and the work dressing room also contain several portraits.

The great room, to which the bow window was added by Sir Oliver Cromwell, retains its ancient character. The roof is of timber, in the style of the College Halls, and has been painted and gilt in square compartments; the walls have also been painted in fresco, 46

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 but are now partly covered with remains of rich tapestry hangings, worked after the cartoons of Raphael. Here are also two or three models of ships of war, and various old carved elbow chairs, probably of the time of the Cromwells. In the ship room are several good pictures of sea fights …… The library contains a small but select collection of good authors..

The park and grounds of this demesne are neither extensive, nor much diversified. On the south side, bordering the road, is a raised terrace, between which and the house, skulls and other human bones have been dug up. Towards the south-west are vestiges of a more ancient entrance than the present; and in different parts of the estate are fish-ponds, which evidently appear to have belonged to the nunnery. The entrance gateway is of stone, opening on to the court by a large pointed arch for carriages, and two smaller ones at the sides for foot passengers. It is ornamented in the style of Henry the Seventh’s time, and on each face have been since put up two rude figures of human beings, clothed in garments of skins, with ragged staffs of an enormous size.

5. J.P. Neale. Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen. First Series Vol 2. 1819/1822.

A virtually identical description is given in Carruthers’ History of Huntingdon (1824) a

This interesting Mansion displays in its parts the architectural taste of the earliest, as well as of the latest period of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, possessing all that irregularity of design peculiar to the era; the Buildings surround an open Court, and its two principal Fronts, of which we have given Views, are to the North and to the East. The great Court Yard leading to the Entrance on the North Front is crossed diagonally by a Walk, ornamented with clipt Yews. At the Lodge or entrance Gateway are four Savages with clubs, carved as large as life. On this Front are two Bay Windows, of large dimensions, profusely embellished with Shields of the Family of Cromwell, the Arms of the Queen, and a variety of heraldic cognizances …. The Window of the Hall has the lower divisions more lofty than the other ….. The Bay Window of the Dining-room is constructed upon the same ornamental scale and displays upon a panel ….. the arms of Queen Elizabeth……. Over this window, in an ornamented compartment, is a large radiated rose. Upon the west side of the entrance Court is remaining a portion of the Priory entire, now the Scullery, Dairy etc. The ancient kitchen is still in use.

The East Front towards the Pleasure Ground has also two bay windows of very different character: one, the most ancient, gives light to the Drawing Room – it contains some painted glass viz the arms, quarterings and supporters of the Montagus with the motto Post tot Naufragia Portum, the landing of King Charles II and the death of the first Earl of Sandwich. Upon the cornice of the building adjoining this window, which is part of the old priory, is the date 1431. The most curious part of the mansion is the very large circular bowed window built in 1602 which gave light to the Great Dining Room. The gilded roof is said to have been part of the chapel at Barnwell. The basement of the Window forms a Porch. The whole of these two fronts are of stone; other parts of the house are of brick with stone dressing built by the first Earl of Sandwich and lately coloured to correspond with the ancient portion.

In the Hall, the Refectory of the Priory, the old framed timber roof is concealed by a modern floor, but is still to be seen in the chambers above. The great Staircase is carved with the arms of Montagu in panels. The principal rooms on the ground floor are the Dining and Drawing Rooms, the Ship Room, the Billiard Room and the Library together with all the offices. The windows of the Drawing Room are of painted glass containing the marriage and issue from Edward, the First Earl of Sandwich to John the Fourth Earl

by Peckitt of York 1758. On the first floor, the Great Dining Room is now divided into

47

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 five bedrooms. Also the Green Room, the Velvet Room, where stood the great bed of King James I, Lady Sandwich’s bed and dressing rooms and a large apartment converted into a lumber room. a

6. Reports and correspondence relating to the fire: only those sections that throw light on the house as it was before the fire are included.

‘Press Report of 29th Jan 1830’ It is no more than matter of surmise in what part of the building the fire originated; but it is supposed from the direction in which it was first observed, that it commenced in the dining room on the basement, and thence communicated rapidly to the apartments above, and to those adjoining, destroying in its progress the whole of the east front north of the billiard room, and the north front (facing the courtyard) as far as the kitchens; the spacious staircase which had lately been improved at a considerable expense, the circular room with its gilded roof and much admired window, built in 1602, remarkable for its richness of adornment, and which gave light to the great dining room (since converted into sleeping and other apartments) are to be numbered in the premises destroyed……..

The front drawing room, billiard room, kitchens, servants hall, private sitting room and the nursery and sleeping rooms over, being nearly all that have escaped the destruction that threatened them. a

W.A. Montagu writing from the Stamp Office Jany 25 1830 to Louisa (6th Countess) The following the extent of damage done :- The Ship Room, Dining Room and all above with the Bay entirely demolished including the large room recently converted into bedrooms. This supposed the fire originated at the Bay – for it was discovered there – the contents of the Ship Room, Dining Room and small Library saved and not materially injured. The contents of the rooms above principally destroyed with the exception of the pictures in the passage. The principal staircase and skylight entirely destroyed. The Great Hall with the Lumber Room above entirely destroyed, the contents of the former saved, the latter containing the title deeds destroyed. The greater part of the Lady’s Maids Rooms and Nursery destroyed and the servants rooms and part of the starred (?) room - the contents principally saved. aa

L (Louisa’s brother) writing to her from Ferrybridge Jan 26 1830 Yesterday I was there [Hinchingbrooke] on my way north and tho’ the damage is fearful yet it is far less than I had been taught to believe. The old part of the House is gone viz the square containing the Hall, staircase, dining rooms and all over them, of course, the walls also are so much injured that they must be taken down. You, who know my admiration for this part of the building will richly believe how very sorry I am to tell you it is quite destroyed. The rest of the House is almost untouched except from the rough hands of those ………

No blame can attach to anyone except to the architect who altered the Great Drawing Room. It is supposed that the fire originated in one of the dressing rooms where, there being no grate, the Housekeeper had made a fire on the tiles in the fireplace …… These tiles were so very near a beam that it caught fire and the loss of that part of the house was the consequence …… [Hyland] cut round the roofing all round the fire and thanks to the thick wall between the Ship Room and the Billiard Room the flames were stopped in that direction. aa

Mr Turner (7th Earl’s Tutor) to Louisa from Cambridge 16th Feb 1830 The Billiard, Drawing Room and Library are now the only habitable rooms with the

48

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 Steward’s Room, Servants Hall etc and Kitchen. The bedrooms over these are safe and will shortly be put in order.

B) Illustrations a

There are 7 sources of illustrations showing Hinchingbrooke before the 1830 fire. The earliest is the Buck Print of 1730 and the latest is exactly a century later - a post fire sketch by Blore from 1830.

(1) Engraving by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck 1730 entitled ‘The North East View of Hitchinbroke Priory near Huntingdon’. This is reproduced in full on the first page of this collection. On the final page there is a detail of the house itself.

(2) Survey of the Estates of John, Earl of Sandwich taken by Thomas Warburton and delineated

by John Cadman in the year 1757. The original is in the Hunts County Record Office. Page 50 shows the title page with (at the top) drawings of the Bow Window and the Gatehouse Arch.

Below them are two drawings of the North Front Bay Windows and at the bottom of the page are 3 prospects of the House from Bugden, Portholme and the Terrace. Details of these are shown on Pages 52, 53 and 54 (top picture).

Page 51 shows part of the sheet entitled ‘A Plan of Hinchingbrooke House and Gardens with that part of Huntingdon Estate that lies West of the Borough’. The bottom picture is an enlargement showing the plan of the House itself.

(3) Five small oval paintings, reproduced in greyscale in the Victoria County History of Huntingdonshire (1920s). The date c1760 is suggested and that seems reasonable, although the connection to (4) – Prints in Mark Noble’s book - may mean that they are later. The originals are at Mapperton. These are shown at the bottom of Page 54 and on Pages 55 and 56.

(4) Two prints of Hinchingbrooke included in Mark Noble’s Memoirs of the Protectoral House of Cromwell (1787). These are closely related to two of the oval paintings. These are shown on Page 57.

(5) This print also comes from the Victoria County History where it is incorrectly titled ‘Buck’s View 1730’. The style suggests early 19th Century but the source remains unknown. This is at the top of Page 58.

(6) These three pictures come from J.P. Neale’s Views of Seats (1819/1822) First Series. The North and East views (Page 59) are in Volume 2. The title page illustration of the Bay Window (Bottom of Page 58) is in Volume 4 (7) Two Drawings by Edward Blore of the Gatehouse and the North Front done before 1830 (Page 60) and one very small pencil sketch (Page 61) showing the south and east fronts with the Bow Window and North East part of the house damaged by fire. These (and 3 items relating to the Post Fire rebuilding by Blore) are in the British Library.

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Title Page of Estate Survey of 1757

50

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Estate Survey 1757 – Detail showing House and Park

Estate Survey 1757 – Detail showing House and Garden 51

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Estate Survey 1757 – Detail of Title Page showing North Front (Western Section)

Estate Survey 1757 – Detail of Title Page showing North Front (Eastern Section)

52

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Estate Survey 1757 – Detail of Title Page showing ‘Prospect from Bugdon'

Estate Survey 1757 – Detail of Title Page showing ‘Prospect from Portholme'

53

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Estate Survey 1757 – Detail of Title Page showing ‘Prospect from The Terrace'

Hinchingbrooke: The Lodge with Gateway, West Front, c. 1760

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Hinchingbrooke: The Lodge with Gateway, East Front, c. 1760

Hinchingbrooke: East Front, c. 1760

55

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Hinchingbrooke: North Front, c. 1760

Hinchingbrooke: South Front, c. 1760

56

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Hinchingbrooke North Front c1787

Hinchingbrooke East Front c1787

57

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Hinchingbrooke from the South East – early 19th century

Hinchingbrooke Bay Window on North Front (J.P.Neale c1820)

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Hinchingbrooke North Front (J.P.Neale c1820)

Hinchingbrooke East Front (J.P.Neale c1820)

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Hinchingbrooke Gatehouse (Edward Blore before 1830)

Hinchingbrooke North Front (Edward Blore before 1830)

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Hinchingbrooke from the South East (Edward Blore 1830)

Among the questions that intrigue me are the following. ·

Why is the West Front not seen as worthy of a picture? This was a major building project by the first Earl in the 1660s and yet we have no images of it apart from the tiny ‘Prospect from Bugden’ (Page 9).

·

Why is the Gatehouse aligned so that the initial view is not of the grand North Front of the House but of the service wing (Nunnery Block)? Today, this looks picturesque but when new, it would look messy.

·

What is the history of the pointed arch window between the two bay windows on the North Front? It is best seen on Blore’s pre-fire drawing but every illustration of the North Front shows it and it must therefore have existed before the 4th Earl’s gothic work of the 1750s. It is hard to see any explanation other than a survival from the Nunnery. The 1757 plan of the house shows a narrow corridor leading to that window (which is never shown as a door).

·

After the disappearance of the Entrance Porch in mid 18th century, why was nothing done to give a bit of dignity to the entrance of a great house?

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

·

What was the state and the use of the upper part of the Nuns Church (ie room above present library)? At the East end gothic windows from the 1750s, but on the South a blank wall with a low window or hatch.

·

Where was the pre-fire staircase? It would make little sense in its present position where it would have been hard to get to, would not have led up to important rooms and would have duplicated what I take to be a staircase turret shown on Blore’s post fire sketch. A much more appropriate site would be in the cloister behind the Hall to take guests up to the Bow Room (Great Dining Room). It is possible to interpret the 1757 Plan in that way and for me the clinching evidence comes in the descriptions of the fire. If it had been in its present position, it would not have been destroyed, but instead it is part of what Louisa’s brother calls ‘The old part of the House … viz the square containing the Hall, staircase, dining room and all over them’.

·

Did the pre-fire House have a Cloister? The only mention is Pepys who worries that it will be very dark. If it had been worthy of note, surely Horace Walpole, lover of all things Gothic, would mention it.

Hitchinbroke (sic) Priory (Samuel and Nathaniel Buck 1730) Detail of East Front

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

·

A final puzzle is high on the East Front at the point where the brick Chapter House range meets Blore’s stone range to the north. A stone string course runs just below the gable and part of this has what appears to be a date carved on it. The first recorded sighting of the carving is 1816 in Thomas Dugdale’s ‘England and Wales delineated’. He thought it showed the date as 1437. Three years later J.P.Neale interpreted it as 1431 and in 1890 Elizabeth Balch also opted for 1431. We know it was there before the fire but is it genuinely mediaeval? Personally, I have my doubts and in FHH Newsletter 28, I made the case for the date being 1731, an early example of renewed interest in the gothic, possibly by the young 4th Earl. I made a case but could not provide proof and that is the way that I want to leave it. Hinchingbrooke’s problems and puzzles will never be completely solved.

Hitchinbroke (sic) Priory (Samuel and Nathaniel Buck 1730) Detail of North Front

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 A

FIRE AND REBUILDING IN THE 1830S

Documents Contemporary sources enable us to follow events with clarity and detail. Many of these letters and documents have provided readings for Friends’ dinners and other events at Hinchingbrooke.

The Fire itself took place on Friday 22nd January 1830 and was reported in the London Press a week later on 29th January 1830:

DESTRUCTION OF HINCHINGBROOKE HOUSE a

About seven o’clock in the morning of Friday last the inhabitants of Huntingdon were alarmed by the cry of ‘fire’ and it was very soon known that that destructive element was raging with great fury at that baronial residence of the Earl of Sandwich, about a quarter of a mile from the town. Numbers immediately flocked to the spot from the town and adjacent villages. The engines belonging to the Sun and Royal Exchange Insurance Offices were likewise soon there; but it was some time before they could be brought into effective play, owing to the extensive hold the fire had obtained in the interior of the building, and to the partial supply of water before the wells could be opened. A little before eight o’clock, the appearance was truly terrific, the flames issuing through the windows with awful grandeur, and when the roof gave way, ascending in immense volumes, whilst they appeared at the same time to be rapidly expanding in all directions, and everyone deemed at this period that the entire destruction of the whole edifice was inevitable, the wind blowing rather briskly from the south east, and carrying the flames to the most extensive part of the building. In the meantime, every assistance was rendered by the assembled multitude in removing the furniture from such of the apartments that had not yet taken fire; and they happily succeeded in rescuing nearly the whole of the family paintings, valuable library, articles of taste and vertu (many of them recently brought from Italy by the Countess of Sandwich), and a considerable part of the furniture, from the devouring element.

But we regret to say that the family writings, title deeds and other valuable papers fell a prey to the flames. It is no more than matter of surmise in what part of the building the fire originated; but it is supposed from the direction in which it was first observed, that it commenced in the dining room on the basement , and thence communicated rapidly to the apartments above, and to those adjoining, destroying in its progress the whole of the east front north of the billiard room and the north front (facing the courtyard) as far as the kitchens; the spacious staircase which had lately been improved at considerable expense, the circular room, with its gilded roof and much admired window, built in 1602, remarkable for its richness of adornment, and which gave light to the great dining room (since converted into sleeping and other apartments) are to be numbered in the premises destroyed. By about twelve o’clock, the active exertions of the firemen and others were effectual in stopping the flames; but throughout the day, the engines before-mentioned as well as those from Godmanchester, Buckden and St Neots, which had arrived in the course of the morning, continued to play upon the burning heaps of beams and rafters. Thus, in about five hours, was one of the most ancient and splendid residences in the county reduced to nearly a heap of ruins, the external stone and brick walls alone remaining; the front drawing room, billiard room, kitchens, servants hall, private sitting room, and the nursery and sleeping rooms over being nearly all that have escaped the destruction that threatened them; and these were so thoroughly dismantled of everything 64

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 moveable within them as to leave nothing but the bare walls remaining.

During the whole of the morning, the gardens and lawn presented a strange scene of confusion. The splendid furniture scattered about in all directions, some of it mutilated by its hasty removal –marble chimney pieces and tablets torn from the walls. Paintings by Van Dyck, Sir Peter Lely, Zoffany, Hogarth and other masters thrown hastily with beds and mattresses a splendid library piled in one mass upon the snow – and all the painted glass that could be torn from the windows lying about in all directions, much of it shattered and broken - gave a melancholy appearance to the distressing scene around. On the preceding day there had been fires in most of the rooms for the purpose of airing them, and it is supposed from one of these, the conflagration must have had its origin. Two female servants and a lad were the only persons residing in the house and these were ignorant of the calamity until informed of it by some persons who observed the flames from a distance and hastened to their assistance. The damage is estimated at about £10,000. The house and furniture were insured in the Sun Fire Office.

LETTERS TO LOUISA a

We learn more about the fire (and about social niceties in the 1830s) from letters sent to Louisa, Dowager Countess of Sandwich (1781 – 1862), who was in Rome at the time of the fire. Her son, the 7th Earl was not yet of age and was at the time an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge. These letters were part of the Montagu archive at Mapperton. They were in Box 281 – Louisa, 6th Countess – General Correspondence (Tied bundle ‘Hinchingbrooke Restoration’). a

Two of the correspondents were family members: a

‘W.A.Montagu’ was William Augustus Montagu (1785-1852), the illegitimate son of 5th Earl of Sandwich. He was a professional naval officer, who achieved swift promotion during the Napoleonic Wars (Midshipman 1800, Lieutenant 1804, Commander 1805, Post Captain 1807) but had to wait until 1841 before being appointed Rear Admiral and finally Vice Admiral in 1851. He was MP for Huntingdon between 1818 and 1820 and was in reserve from 1822 to 1834 during which period he married and was involved in the management of the Sandwich properties during the 7th Earl’s minority. His wife, Anne, is mentioned in the final paragraph of the letter. a

‘Your affectionate Brother, L’ was Louisa’s younger half brother, John Kerr, 7th Marquis of Lothian (1794 – 1841). He succeeded William Augustus Montagu as MP for Huntingdon in 1820 and went to the Lords in 1824 when he inherited his peerage. a

Both Montagu’s and Lothian’s letters mention a ‘Mr Poyntz’. This is William Poyntz (1769 – 1840). He owned Cowdray Park in Sussex and was a landowner and MP. He was a friend of 6th Earl of Sandwich, by whose will he was entrusted with the guardianship of the 7th Earl, then only seven years of age. According to Mary Boyle, writing in 1876, ‘between the guardian and his ward an affection subsisted, scarcely inferior to that of parent and child’: Stamp Office, Jany 25 1830 My Dear Lady Sandwich I sit down to perform a truly distressing task which is that of informing you that part of old Hinchingbrook has in parts fallen a prey to fire – on Friday morning at half past seven smoke was seen to issue from the part of the House called the Bay and altho’ an immediate alarm was given and the engines from the town had arrived with the most active haste from all the neighbourhood, yet so fierce were the flames and so feeding the materials they encountered that by twelve o’clock that part of the house which I shall hereafter describe presented nothing 65

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 but a heap of ashes. a

The Library, Pictures and a great part of the furniture has been saved and deposited for the present in the Town Hall. It is some consolation to add that the insurance will go a long way to restoring things as they before were. I am informed most of your things have been saved. The amount insured on the House was £6,000, on furniture £1,200, on China £1,100.

The following the extent of damage done:- The Ship Room, Dining Room and all above with the Bay entirely demolished including the large room recently converted into Bedrooms. This supposed the fire originated at the Bay – for it was discovered there – the contents of the Ship Room, Dining Room and small Library saved and not materially injured. The contents of the rooms above principally destroyed with the exception of the pictures in the passage. The principal staircase and skylight entirely destroyed. The Great Hall with the Lumber Room above entirely destroyed, the contents of the former saved, the latter containing the title deeds destroyed. The greater part of the Lady’s Maids Rooms and Nursery destroyed and the servants rooms above and part of the starred [?] room – the contents principally saved.

The Billiard Room, Drawing Room, Library, Pantry, Steward’s Room, Pantry, Linen Room, Servants Hall, Office, Kitchen on the Ground Floor are saved, but entirely dismantled, the contents all saved but much injured. The Velvet Green Room, do Dressing Room, South Room, School Room, Lady S Sitting Room and bedroom adjoining Captain’s Room, Lower Turret Room, Upper do, Lady S bedroom, Dressing Room and Lead Room all saved, but likewise dismantled, the contents preserved but much injured. The roof over the nursery, part of do over the Velvet Room with large passage adjoining were cut down to stop the communication. Lady S’s things removed with all the care the confusion would admit of.

This, my dear Lady S, is my report which accompanied the express informing me of the sad event but thank God it is no worse. I had letters this morning from Lord Lothian and Mr Poyntz dated Huntingdon. They both seem astonished that further mischief was not done. They speak in high terms of the activity and effective zeal of Mr Maule. The agent of the office in which the House is insured is in possession jointly with Mr M. Mr Poyntz has also left Mr Turner1 with instructions to act for him – although I sent immediately for Sandwich yet not a word has been received either of or from him to attend [?] affairs. The greatest interest has been excited in Huntingdon shire and every assistance rendered by the Gentry and Farmers in the neighbourhood. This is consolatory.

I have a letter this morning from Anne who is at Cooper’s Hill. She says ever since she heard the account she has had a continued trembling and feels as if she had lost some near and dear friend. a

W.A.Montagu

a Ferrybridge Jan 26 / 30 My Dear Louisa a

It is very unpleasant to be the herald of what must be distressing. I therefore hope that Montagu’s or Sandwich’s letters will reach you before mine, telling you of the fire that has taken place at Hinchingbrook. I write to you at once, because I have been upon the spot and can tell to what extent things have been saved. I first heard of the fire when in London on Saturday and from the account that Montagu gave me I feared everything but the walls were destroyed. Yesterday I was there on my way north and tho’ the damage is fearful yet it is far less than I had been taught to believe. The old part of the House is gone viz the square containing the Hall, staircase, dining rooms and all over them of course, the walls also are so much injured that they must be taken down. You who know my admiration for this part of the building will richly believe how 66

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 very sorry I am to tell you it is quite destroyed. The rest of the House is almost untouched except from the rough hands of those who would continue to save against the entreaties of Hyland, Harper etc who found the danger was diminishing. Every one of the rooms is completely dismantled but the contents are mostly safe. Your engravings with the great Library Table are undamaged. The books also hardly bear the marks of their removal. I saw them all in the Town Hall. The furniture is principally saved, tho’ of course damaged; and of the pictures I understand few are missing. The confusion was still so great when I was there that particulars of the loss were not to be expected, but I hear that most of the articles in your own room are in the keeping of the Housekeeper. The Papers etc I fear are quite destroyed, to what extent this may be a loss I know not, but I wish more pains had been taken to keep this more in the background, but as it was immediately blazoned through the mob, it was soon in the Huntingdon Paper. Montagu said he could not come down, and as the letter to Mr Poyntz was mis-sent there would have been no one there had not fortunately Mr Turner heard of it at Cambridge and immediately came over. He appears to have been of the greatest use and I believe you are obliged to him that so much of your property is undamaged. I never saw more judgment or more exertion than he seems to have displayed at this nervous moment.

After I had seen the House, I went to Huntingdon where I found Mr Poyntz. He had arrived the night before, and it was I assure you a great relief to him to find that the report was worse than the reality. It is you will believe dreadfully annoying to him that this should have happened but of course no blame can attach to anyone except to the architect who altered the Great Drawing Room. It is supposed that the fire originated in one of the dressing rooms where, there being no grate, the Housekeeper had made a fire on the tiles in the fireplace to dry the room into which the snow had come down the chimney. These tiles were so very near a beam that it caught fire and the loss of that part of the house was the consequence. Hyland seems to have exerted himself gallantly. He cut round the roofing all round the fire and thanks to the thick wall between the Ship Room and the Billiard Room the flames were stopped in that direction. It is almost incredible when one sees what the fire was to imagine the possibility that everything came to have been rescued. The intention is to restore the windows, doors etc to that part saved and to replace all furniture, books etc in the House.

There seems to have been a desperate mob there. Some blackguards took away the pump handles and cut the pipes to stop the water, but Hyland managed to get it notwithstanding.

Women and children broke into the little cellar at the foot of the back stairs and drank all the champagne etc they could find. Your wine in the great cellar however is safe. Mr [illegible] sent three barrels of beer to the Common which took off some of the worst. The mob came from St Neots and every village for ten miles around.

The heart is safe but Maule was not certain where it had been placed.

Your affectionate brother L A

A third letter written a fortnight later is from Mr Turner, who was the 7th Earl’s tutor at Trinity College, Cambridge. His knowledge of the house shown in the letter below suggests that he had previously tutored the Earl at Hinchingbrooke: a

Cambridge , February 16th 1830

a Dear Madam a

It may afford some small consolation to your Ladyship that Lord Sandwich bore the fire with great fortitude and that the remaining part of the house is now resuming its usual appearance.

The books had been taken to the Town Hall and I carefully examined them to ascertain if possible the amount of the injury they had sustained. In general they have been carefully 67

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 preserved and the insurance office have given £50 for the damage of them – certainly half more than I should have awarded. The office will pay £6,000 for the house and £600 for the furniture and two thirds of all the expenses attending the fire. I can not yet reconcile myself to that ill-judged or rather wanton devastation that the unburnt part of the house suffered. It was I believe at one time thought necessary, but still one grieves to see so many rooms utterly stripped to their bare walls. You will be sorry to hear that your own room shared the melancholy fate of the others.

It is however now much advanced in repair and with the exception of the chimney-piece which was utterly broken will assume something of its former elegance. The books are all safe and any loose papers that I saw were carefully removed from observation. We were very anxious about two of the miniatures that were over the fireplace and I am happy to say at length found them. The china and some of the antique ornaments have suffered a little. I made my first enquiries about the lion [?] in the dining room and am sorry that interesting family relic seems to have perished. The compass etc are safe. The library has been repaired and so these and the books and manuscripts are restored to their original places. The library cabinet with your Ladyship’s valuable prints are quite safe and seem to have been removed with great care. On the whole (comparing with Lord Mendlesham’s house) the fire might have been more destructive.

The only probable cause, which I confess does not quite satisfy me, seems to have been a fire on the hearthstone in the Bow Room which heated the stone and communicated to a beam on which it rested. The Billiard, Drawing Room and Library are now the only habitable rooms with the Steward’s Room, Servants Hall etc and Kitchen. The bedrooms over these are safe and will shortly be put in order since 40 or 50 workmen have been employed since the fire and are now on the point of being dismissed. a

The emphasis now turns from salvage to rebuilding and who better to offer advice than Mr Maule, the steward at Hinchingbrooke: April 5th 1830

a Madam It has afforded me great satisfaction to find that my conduct during the late fire at Hinchingbrook has met with your Ladyship’s approbation ……..

In the absence of everyone I took upon myself to act and give directions to secure the House (the remaining part I would say) from the weather and on enquiry as to the difference of expense in doing it temporary or substancially that it would be comparatively trifling, thus I determined (with Lord Sandwich’s approbation) to adopt the latter course – Lord Sandwich also expressed a wish that the library and Drawing Room as well as two or three bedrooms should be made habitable, which I intended to have done, but happening to be in town and seeing Mr Poyntz, he desired I would do no such thing as his Lordship had no business there and was far better attending to his studies at Cambridge. Consequently the House has just been made secure from the weather without there in fact being a room for Lord Sandwich. The amount of the bills I have taken in is about £750 and I had hoped that by expending three or four [hundred?] more to have made the house comfortable and I really do not see having received £6,661 from the fire office why it should not be done.

I had the rubbish thoroughly searched over twice, not that I expected to find any papers, and when I tell your Ladyship it was burning for a week, you will agree with me there was little chance of it. We found some of the tin boxes and their contents, but so burnt that it is impossible to make out anything from them. I see no real injury to the family by the loss of the papers, at least none that an Act of Parliament would not cure, and which could under the circumstances be easily obtained.

68

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 I thought in my former letter I told your Ladyship that the external walls of that part of the House that has been burnt are standing (if not I intended it) and indeed I am credibly informed that they may be built so as to preserve the original character of the House – a London architect will not say so of course, but in my opinion there is no doubt. Lord Sandwich expresses a strong desire that the Bay Window should be preserved which [short section lost] been done by new work. a

One of the themes that has already emerged in these letters is the family affection for the old house and the desire to preserve as much as possible, rather than use the insurance money to build a new house. The 7th Earl was still a minor at the time of the fire and, as the previous letter shows, he and his views simply did not count at least not to Mr Poyntz, his guardian – ‘His Lordship had no business there [ie at Hinchingbrooke] and was far better attending to his studies at Cambridge’. Even though he came of age on 8th November 1832, he still seems to have deferred to his mother and it is to her that Lord Lothian (Louisa’s half brother) writes on December 4th 1832: a

My Dear Louisa I do not think that any architect would answer your purpose as well as Blore. His charges are most reasonable, he is very ready to hear what you have to say, and instead of abusing what you might have to propose, he will do all he can to enter into your views. I do not know if I ever told you that in my first conversation with him in talking of old houses I mentioned Hinchingbrooke especially the old windows to the court when he went to his Portfolio and produced most accurate drawings of them which he had taken some years before in his great admiration of the place.

What charge he might make for a plan I can not say, but I can find out if you wish it. I dare say it would be reasonable. If you determine to employ let me know and I will give you some hints that may be useful. My experience is quite at your service. I think that Blore would give you a plan that would at little expense preserve the character of the old house in every respect. As to the interior I think that you had better plan that yourself as probably no architect could do it so comfortably.

Goodbye dear Louisa Yr Aff L The young Earl wrote from London to his mother on January 2 1833, just two months after his 21st birthday: a

My dearest M With respect to the building I have been thinking it will be a great saving both as regards the external and internal expense not to touch the drawing room by addition of the bay window, but leaving that room in its present state give it to the library which by so doing will be rendered a charming room and the two opening into one another will render it sufficiently large for any purpose of mine as regards company or comfort. You will likewise take into consideration the awkwardness it would occasion in the Green Room above. This has merely suggested itself to me so give me your opinion candidly and honestly.

Sandwich a

It seems likely that Louisa did give her opinion ‘candidly and honestly’ because we hear nothing more about putting the bay window on the Library rather than the Drawing Room. Blore’s plan of the house labels the eastern part of what today is the Library as ‘Drawing Room’ while the western part is ‘Library’ and, of course the bow has been added to what was the drawing room.

Further evidence that Louisa continued to be a powerful influence is that Blore’s account book 69

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 shows that on 27th August 1834 his visit was ‘to meet Lady Sandwich and arrange about Bow Window and other extra works’. The Earl’s contribution to the design of his future home is unclear. The only evidence relating to it is an undated letter to his mother. It is headed ‘The Views’, which suggests a Huntingdon address. aa My dearest M Blore came down here to look at the Bays. The way they have got on appears to me astonishing.

He wishes to know how the bells are to be hung for they are now managed under the floors instead of going along the ceiling and on these being well done depends in a great measure the comfort of the House. The whole place is looking as well as the weather, which is cold, allows. a

Blore’s account book2 shows that he was at Hinchingbrooke on Nov 5th 1833 and again on Jan 1st 1834. Either of these dates would be appropriate for the meeting with Sandwich. What we don’t know is whether Sandwich took an executive decision about the bells or referred the matter on to his mother. a

The Earl and his mother seem to have shared the costs of the project3. Blore’s plans were approved on March 3rd 1833. The salary of a Clerk of Works at £2 10s per week starts to be paid on 26th May 1833. The Clerk, whose name does not appear in the accounts, claims his travelling expenses (18s 6d) on 1st June and the first payment to labourers is on the same date. More than three years had elapsed since the fire and those labourers seem to have spent the summer months clearing and tidying the site before the contractors started their work. The total salary and incidental expenses of the Clerk of Works over the whole project amounted to £428 10s and so at £126pa he probably spent around three years at Hinchingbrooke. By April 1835 more than £4,000 of work had been accounted for and bills for a further £700 had been submitted. This is rather more than half of the total and so a completion date towards the end of 1836 seems likely.

This is confirmed by the fact that the last of Blore’s thirteen visits to check on progress took place on 24th November 1836. By this time Blore had received payments of almost £7,500. In 1834 these are shown as ‘by Lady Sandwich’, but in the following year they are ‘by Lord Sandwich’. a

On 16th November 1837, Blore was able to submit ‘A Statement of Expenditure and Balance due’ and eighteen months later on 28th May 1839 he was able to cross out ‘balance due’ and confirm that the balance of £2,694 – 13s - 1d had been paid by Lord Sandwich. This was a satisfactory if somewhat overdue conclusion to a successful and well-managed project. Blore’s Statement of Expenditure shows the four elements of the rebuilding: a

Amount of sum originally proposed to be expended on rebuilding the portion of the House at Hinchinbrook burnt down agreeably to plans approved March 3rd 1833 £6,000 a

Additional Sum contributed by Lady Sandwich For Ornamental Ceilings, Oak Stairs, fitting up her Ladyship’s room etc etc £1,200 a

Estimate for alterations of Drawing room, Library and Rooms above as approved £1,685 a

Works performed in various parts of the old House, including repairs and alterations of Attics, New Water closet adjoining the Tower, Alterations of Billiard room, and New Porch to the same, alterations of Cellar Stairs and Closet adjoining the same etc etc of which particulars are prepared and which it was understood were not provided for in any of the above sums £512 a

Blore was able to report that at £9,156 – 7s – 7d the actual expenditure was £241 less than the 70

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 estimate. After adding the salary and incidental expenses of the Clerk of Works (£428), his own travelling and incidental expenses (£121) and his architect’s commission (£458), the total charges were £10,163 – 14s – 0d. a

By the time that he made his final payment, the Earl was a married man with his own household.

In 1838 he had married Lady Mary Paget, daughter of the Marquis of Anglesey and they set up house together at Hinchingbrooke. An account book survives and shows their expenses for August 1839. Modest affluence rather than lavish show seems to have been the order of the day4. a

A Calculation for the month of August 1839 a

Servants Wages Tea Dealers Oilman Soap Wax chandlers Fishmongers Butchers Bread and Flour Poulterers Grocers

) ) as an average ) of last year’s )

£40

0

0

£13

0

0

£2 0 £50 9 £13 10 £3 13 £20 16

0 4 5 4 5

£151

12

6

a

At a cost of £40 per month, 20 servants (12 male and 8 females) were employed. We are given their names but not their jobs. Three men earned £50 per year or more (‘Vicks’ £80, J.Wakelin £55 and William Hammond £50), while two males, almost certainly boys, got £12 and £10.

The annual wages of the women servants ranged between £8 and £16. Food for the household cost more than twice as much as the wages for the 20 servants. Doubtless, the servants consumed much of that food, because during the month, there were 136 meals in the Dining Room for family and guests and 763 in the Hall for servants. a

The 1830s had seen the transformation of Hinchingbrooke through fire and rebuilding and also the coming of age and the marriage of its owner, the 7th Earl of Sandwich. He was to live at the rebuilt Hinchingbrooke for almost half a century until his death in 1884. He must have been satisfied with the house, because there were no major changes in his lifetime. a

Even though the rebuilding of Hinchingbrooke took place between 1833 and 1837, the date over the main entrance is 1832, the year before Blore was commissioned. The date must refer to the coming of age of the 7th Earl on 8th November of that year, a great event for the family and the neighbourhood5. a

The external appearance of Hinchingbrooke today is almost unchanged from the 1830s rebuilding. Inevitably the interior has been subject to more significant modernisation – the new dining room, the creation of the inner court and insertion of a different staircase – but even so the framework is that of the 1830s. As these documents have shown, the rebuilding was a corporate enterprise with major contributions from the family and from the estate workmen as well as the professional advice of Edward Blore. The finished result is not great architecture but then that was never the intention. The young Earl, his mother and his steward, all wanted the character of the old house to be preserved and a bit of extra comfort added. For this job, Blore was an excellent choice. Lothian thought that he would do this ‘at little expense’, and the fact that actual expenditure was below the estimate suggests that he was right. As for the interior, 71

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 perhaps Louisa took her brother’s advice and planned it herself, or in collaboration with her son.

They had good reason to be satisfied with the result.

1 ‘Mr Turner’ was the 7th Earl’s tutor at Cambridge. A letter from him follows.

2 The compass of the 1st Earl of Sandwich remains in the possession of the family. The references to ‘the heart and ‘the lion’ may also be linked to the 1st Earl.

3 Cambridge University Library Add 3956 4 The following account of the rebuilding is based on material in the Huntingdonshire archives Hinch 7/16, 7/17 and 7/18 5 The size of the Hinchingbrooke household during the 7th Earl’s lifetime can be traced through the census returns. These are available at www.hinchhouse.org.uk/eighth/census.html.

The 1841 census took place in June when the family was away, probably for the London Season. Subsequent censuses were in late March or early April when the household and at least some family members were in residence. From 1851 to 1881 servant numbers hardly change, with 5 or 6 male servants (plus 3 or 4 in the stables) and between 12 and 16 female servants 6 Letters from George Frederick Maule to the Earl (Huntingdonshire Archives Hinch 7/15 and Hinch 7/46-8) show how important and how expensive this was.

72

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Hinchingbrooke and Huntingdon at the Time of the Eighth and Ninth Earls 1884 – 1962

by David Cozens For thirty two years Edward Montagu was 8th Earl of Sandwich. After his death in 1916, his nephew George Montagu became 9th Earl and held the title for forty-six years. What can we discover about the interactions between these owners of Hinchingbrooke House and the town of Huntingdon ?

Edward George Henry Montagu was christened in the drawing room of Hinchingbrooke House in 1839. He was taken frequently to Windsor Castle or Buckingham Palace by his mother, a Lady-in-Waiting to the young Queen Victoria and from childhood Edward Montagu and Edward, Prince of Wales, became lifelong friends.1 The Earl’s musical talent had been recognised at Eton and music remained a significant feature of his life. He was very fond of the theatre and recalled Sir Henry Irving describing him as ‘an actor born’.2 Many years later, over the weekend of 6th July 1912, no one could have been surprised to see him in Tudor costume welcoming spectators to a pageant that presented the history of Hinchingbrooke. Eight hundred local people had rehearsed for two months to enact a prologue, five episodes and a finale. The event in the grounds of the House was seen by 10,000 folk, some brought by special train from London. Music was provided by the First Life Guards.3 The Hunts Post reported the names of all participants and helpers.

Edward Montagu served as a Colonel in the Grenadier Guards with diplomatic duties in Gibraltar, Constantinople, Berlin and Fez in Morocco. He accompanied the Prince of Wales on a visit to Canada and the United States of America.4 In January 1877 the Prince and Princess of Wales lunched at Hinchingbrooke House before travelling on to Kimbolton. Welcoming arches, decorated by Wood and Ingram with evergreens taken from Hinchingbrooke, were erected in the town. The Cambridge Chronicle noted the quality of the decoration and the loyalty displayed by the inhabitants of Huntingdon.5 aaaaaaaFollowing the death of his father in 1884 , Edward resigned from the Guards to devote his energies to his responsibilities as 8th Earl. At the age of 45, he became “the chairman of everything” in and around Huntingdon. This included becoming in 1888 the first chairman of Huntingdonshire County Council and chair of the Board of Management of the County Hospital.

Prior to this he had been a magistrate and until then from 1876 a Member of Parliament for Huntingdon. He once described himself as a Modern Radical with Socialistic tendencies and, in the same letter to his aunt in 1884, he informed her that Huntingdon had wanted to entertain him at a public dinner but the Conservatives would have nothing to say to it as the Liberals had originated the idea.6 On the occasion of his 70th birthday, he commented that parliamentary life meant a great deal of toil and a great deal of subservience to party discipline and he must confess that he had never been entirely immured [sic] with the political infallibility of either party in the state.7 For a while, he had changed his allegiance from the Unionist Party to the Liberal Party.

Between 1892 and 1893, the Earl designed and built ‘The Cottage’, within the grounds of Hinchingbrooke, in preparation for enlargement of the main house which was to include the addition of a west wing.8 When this was complete in 1896, he moved back to the House.9 Another of his building enterprises, Huntingdon’s Steam Laundry was also completed in the same year. “ I found the work was being sent to other places, and thought that it would give 73

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 employment to many in the town “.10 The Earl also built the Montagu Working Men’s Club on Hartford Road so that working men should have a place of resort and amusement without the necessity of visiting public houses.

The club was to be managed by an elected committee with the Earl as President and the Earl’s nominee as Vice-President. He provided a library of 300 books, a reading room, a billiard room and eventually there was a bowling green. He encouraged the men to undertake further study.11 To mark his three years of service as Mayor, the members and officials of the Corporation of Huntingdon presented the Earl with a silver gilt casket. Edward responded by saying ‘that the casket would be one of the strongest links in the chain which bound together the House of Hinchingbrooke and the town of Huntingdon’. He arranged for a large board to be placed in the council chamber listing the names of all those from 1729 who had served as mayor.12 In 1899 as Chairman of the Governors of Huntingdon Grammar School and at the same time serving as Mayor of Huntingdon, he faced two proposals for a suitable memorial to mark the Tercentenary of Oliver Cromwell’s birth. The Governors wished to use the occasion to raise funds to provide a laboratory, a gymnasium and a workshop. The Free Churches of Huntingdon wished to mark the occasion by building a Cromwell Hall and erecting a statue or bust of Oliver.

The Earl expressed his opinion that the memorial should appeal to everyone and that neither of the proposals quite fulfilled this. The Daily Chronicle had been critical of the Mayor and Corporation for a lack of enthusiasm regarding celebrations on the 27th April, the birth date, and critical of the Earl for failing to take the initiative. The Grammar School went ahead with its appeal with limited success. The sum raised, £232 – 13s – 0d, was used towards the expense of modifying the east end of the school building. The proposal to erect a statue was adopted by the town, but this also failed, raising only £111 – 18s – 0d.13 Between 1900 and 1902 Edward cared for officers wounded during the Boer War. The tranquil setting of Hinchingbrooke and what he came to recognise as his gift for healing were much appreciated as were the recitals given by Dame Nellie Melba.14 At the age of sixty six, inspired by the work of the Church of England Incorporated Society for Providing Homes for Waifs and Strays, the Earl established St Edward’s Home for Boys on a site overlooking Portholme..15 During the Earl’s lifetime, some seventy [ boys not waifs ] were in his personal care. Five of the boys attended Huntingdon Grammar School. One boy was sent to the Guildhall School of Music to develop his fine tenor voice. Another was in receipt of a pension from the military. The Earl stated that the money was not needed to defray the cost of looking after the lad. He instructed that, to be of benefit in the future, the money should be paid into an account in the boy’s name at Barclays Bank in Huntingdon.

The Earl helped his boys find employment, as gardeners or as houseboys at Hinchingbrooke, at The Home itself, at Perkins Nursery at Brampton, or as houseboys with other local families.

He organised apprenticeships with Murketts or with Maddox in Huntingdon, Other sources of employment included Vauxhall in Luton, the Prudential in London and the Union Castle Steamship Company.

The visit of Edward VII to Hinchingbrooke and to the Home on 30th June 1906 was a great occasion for the boys and for the town.16 His commitment to these disadvantaged boys was greatly appreciated. The following sentiments are typical of those in letters written to the Earl from surviving parents, usually the mothers. “… I am more than pleased to think my son is such a bright lad owing to your careful training and bringing up …… trusting your Lordship is keeping in good health, that you may be spared for many years, for the good and kindness you have done for so many poor boys.”

Some of the boys remained in contact with the Earl, writing whilst serving in the 1st World War, passing on regards from other boys they had encountered and wishing the current boys as good an experience as they had enjoyed.

One of the first events resulting from the enclosure of the central court of Hinchingbrooke 74

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 House in 1909 was an evening dance on the occasion of the Earl’s seventieth birthday attended by guests and the household of thirty-five servants. Earlier celebrations had included a tenants’ dinner at the Fountain Hotel and a garden party at Hinchingbrooke for all employees on the estate.17 At a presentation in the Shire Hall, Edward expressed his belief that “there was nothing that repaid a man better or gave greater happiness and satisfaction in life than in permitting others to share in the benefits which Providence might have conferred upon him. He considered it was the great duty of every man to see that all those, who might be in any way dependent upon him either by relationship, by service, by friendship or by misfortune, should be helped”.18 Providence had certainly smiled upon Edward Montagu who led the life of a well-connected aristocrat. Daily life at Hinchingbrooke was eased by his thirty-five servants. He was in a position to travel throughout mainland Europe, often driven by his chauffeur. Towards the end of his life, he went to India in furtherance of spiritual healing. He appreciated the potential of the flying machines he saw over Portholme and in 1910 advocated that every encouragement should be afforded to those who wished to promote Huntingdon as an aviation centre.

At the outbreak of war in 1914, although Honorary Colonel of the Hunts Militia, the Earl, at the age of seventy-five, was clearly too old to undertake active service. He did, however, become involved in several ways. He became chairman of the County Tribunal, chairman of the Territorial Association and County Commandant of New Volunteers. He helped recruit a further two battalions of Hunts Cyclists, and when the Cyclists, which included some of his boys, were posted along the Yorkshire coast, he went to see them. He was also chairman of the Belgian Relief Committee in the county and made it his business to contact all the refugees to ensure their welfare. A young Belgian refugee was taken into temporary care at St Edward’s Home.19 The Earl did not live to see the end of the war. This deeply religious, somewhat paternalistic and unconventional bachelor died in his sleep on 26th June 1916. He was given a military funeral at Brampton .

The title passed to his forty-two year old nephew George Charles , born in London in 1874, the son of Rear Admiral Victor Alexander Montagu. He was educated at Winchester and Magdalen College, Oxford. From 1900 to 1906 he was the Member of Parliament for South Huntingdonshire and was involved in the development of the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground. He was a Director of the Exchange Telegraph Company from 1902 to 1961. In 1905 he married the daughter of William Sturges of New York, Alberta, by whom he had two sons and two daughters.20 Inspired by his uncle’s care for boys in Huntingdon and by the work of American Child Republics, George helped in 1913 to establish at Batcombe in Dorset The Little Commonwealth. aaaaThe Commonwealth sought to reform delinquent children. About fifty children were resident before closure in 1918.21 1916 was not the best of times to inherit the title and estates. The new 9th Earl did not have his uncle’s close connections with Hinchingbrooke and Huntingdon and he also had to face the hardships brought about by poor harvests and the world war. On arriving at Hinchingbrooke, George sought to raise the quality of the farm stock, replacing low quality cattle with pedigree shorthorns. He planted an avenue of Lombardy poplar trees and improved the gardens. 22 Records from the Wood and Ingram nurseries in Huntingdon show that in 1917 he purchased 448 dwarf roses, 10 standard roses, 700 tulip bulbs, 200 narcissus, 36 hyacinths, 150 raspberry canes as well as fertiliser, pots, bamboo canes and birch brooms. 23 Correspondence reveals that women were being employed as gardeners.24 Mary Stuart recalls being told that some 40 staff were engaged to manage the house. These included 8 gardeners, a butler, 3 footmen, a housekeeper and a governess for each child.25 aaaaaDuring the conflict he became chairman of the Central Prisoner of War Committee concerned with the welfare of prisoners held in Germany. His wife, Alberta was just one of many individuals 75

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 and organisations supporting the Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D.) which established Walden House Hospital to care for wounded servicemen. On one occasion Alberta donated one thousand cigarettes to the patients.26 Women, being trained to undertake agricultural work previously performed by men, were housed in Hinchingbrooke House and the grounds became the site of fetes to raise money.

Huntingdon’s First World War Memorial, ‘The Thinking Soldier’, was unveiled by the 9th Earl as Lord Lieutenant on 11th November 1923. It was designed, without charge, by Kathleen Hilton Young, the widow of Captain Scott of the Antarctic. Acting on behalf of the Huntingdon Women’s Institute, Alberta had approached the artist, who was a personal friend. The Institute paid for the statue which was then set on a base financed by public subscription.27 The Huntingdon Women’s Institute with Alberta as its President was one of the first fifteen to be established in the county. It was created in 1918 from the Women’s Agricultural Committee .28 George promoted co-partnership housing, he made available land at half market value for ten cottages in addition to giving financial support. The Huntingdon Co-Partnership Housing Society Ltd was financed by loans and by shareholders. Tenants had to acquire at least three shares at £1 per share. Payments could be made with the 5 to 6 shillings weekly rent. In 1921 when one of the cottages in Alberta Crescent became vacant, applicants included a panel beater from a local car body builder and the works manager of English Clocks and Gramophone Ltd, whose premises later became the home of the Edison Bell Works.29 Arising from statements made at a ‘ public enquiry ‘ into the availability of land for housing, there was an exchange of letters in the Hunts Post regarding the ownership and sale of land.

This was a contentious issue and the writer of a letter critical of the Montagus was privately referred to as ‘a loathsome most horrid little radical cad.’30 On 27th June 1919 The Hunts Post reported that ‘the Earl of Sandwich has followed the example of many of the landed nobility by bringing to the market, for the benefit of those anxious to acquire land, a portion of his Hinchingbrooke Estate comprising in all over a thousand acres’ This was offered by public auction but with mixed success. Of 29 lots listed for Huntingdon and Hartford, only 4 were sold. £2,000 was paid for the Steam Laundry and £1,500 for the Swan Hotel in George St. Including property held in the neighbourhood, some 62 lots were listed of which 30 were sold raising £37,890. The Waterloo Racecourse at Brampton was sold for £4,500.31 The subsequent sales of pasture land between Huntingdon and Hartford between 1920 and 1955 dramatically changed the townscape of Huntingdon.

Twentieth century taxation necessitated not just the sale of land but also of other assets.

The Hunts Post of 10th March 1927 under the headline ‘From One Guinea to £480 for Old Masters’ reported on the sale of paintings by Christies on behalf of the 9th Earl. Announcing the upcoming sale, the Hunts Post had been careful to explain the circumstances: ‘Lord Sandwich’s object in weeding out a number of less important pictures of which he has better examples by the same painters, is to provide space on the wall for the display of others which his Lordship regards as of greater artistic interest. Some of these have, for want of better facilities, been hidden away practically unobserved for years.’

64 paintings are sold for £3,362. The highest prices were paid for three naval scenes – a total of £1,300. At the other end of the scale 13 paintings sold for less than £10, a portrait of Oliver Cromwell by Robert Walker only reached £31-10s and Henrietta Maria by (or after) Van Dyck went for £33-12s.

A set of William and Mary high backed chairs in poor condition were sent to Christies where they were sold for £2,550 rather than the expected £1,000. They were skilfully restored and some were transported to New York.32 The Earl was a keen collector both of medals and of modern art. The money raised from these sales funded new acquisitions. In 1934 George gave to the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich his entire collection of more than a thousand naval medals from the time of the 1st Earl onwards. He became a trustee of the Museum and the 76

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 author of its catalogue of naval medals.33 Modern art was of equal if not greater interest. His collection included works by Cezanne, Renoir and Matisse, he was a personal friend of the artist Paul Maze. George was a committee member of the Contemporary Art Society and became a Trustee of the Tate Gallery between 1934 and 1941.34 In 1920, he advocated the establishment of a public library in Huntingdon to be financed from the rates. Initially rejected, five years later the County Council agreed to set up a Library Committee.35 In 1922, again unsuccessfully, the Earl tried to set up a Pepys Museum in Pepys House in Brampton which he subsequently leased to the Samuel Pepys Club at a peppercorn rent for 99 years.36 In 1930-31 he corresponded with Herbert Norris and others to persuade Herbert to purchase Ferrar House in Huntingdon to house his collection of local records and antiquities. In November 1930 Herbert wrote ‘I already feel happier to know I have a house for my books’. In the same month in a letter to the Countess, he commented, ‘Anyway, I shall have saved it [ Ferrar House ] to the town’. This time the Earl was thwarted by Herbert’s death and in accord with an existing will, which Herbert had failed to change, the Earl accepted that the Norris Library would be established in St Ives.37 Reacting to the 1926 General Strike he volunteered to be a signalman at Cambridge Railway Station. It is not known whether he saw this as a political statement or an opportunity to put his lifelong fascination with railways into practice. In his thirties, he had published ‘Ten Years of Locomotive Progress’.

In the 1930s he was President or Chairman of numerous clubs and societies. These covered such interests as scouting [ The Huntingdonshire Association of Boy Scouts ], cricket, football, boxing, athletics, wheelers, angling and fish preservation and the Amalgamated Society of horticulture, fur and feather, dogs, and beekeeping. George and Alberta maintained the family interest in the Boys Home. On one occasion when the boys were on holiday at Lowestoft, Alberta paid for a steamer excursion on Oulton Broad.38 aaaaaHinchingbrooke continued to be the setting for charitable events. In June 1923 the park was the scene of a ‘vast fete to eliminate an overdraft on the general account of the hospital’ . This was so successful that the money raised exceeded that required, Alberta suggested that the excess should go towards the establishment of a linen fund.39 In July 1937 the centenary show of the county agricultural society was held in the Park with the Earl serving as President. A year later, however, the family’s direct involvement in farming in Huntingdon came to an end when in October 1938 the farm implements and all the livestock, including the TB tested dairy cattle, were sold and the Home Farm was leased to another party.40 aaaaaGeorge laid the foundation stone for the relocated Huntingdon Grammar School on Brampton Road.41 Alerted by the Earl, the Hospital Board defeated a proposal made by the County Council to replace the existing hospital with a new municipal hospital.42 aaaaaFollowing the declaration of war in September 1939 the Earl and Countess moved to The Cottage and never returned to the main house. This became a Red Cross Convalescent Hospital where more than 5,500 patients were cared for before it closed in 1945.43 The park continued to be the venue for various fetes, especially those raising money for the Red Cross.

In 1943 the Earl settled Hinchingbrooke House and 550 acres of surrounding parkland on his elder son Victor Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke. 44 Two years earlier Victor had been returned as the Member of Parliament for South Dorset. aaaaAs part of the war effort scrub lands across the county were cleared for the planting of crops. The Earl was involved in trials using an American Caterpillar Tractor, acquired under the lend lease programme, then the use the British Fowler Gyrotiller to produce a suitable tilth.45 During the war the Earl chaired the National Service Committee and Alberta chaired the Women’s Volunteer Services for Civil Defence. George was also involved in the formation of the Local Defence Volunteer Force which later became the Home Guard. Concerned for the 77

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 welfare of personnel manning anti-aircraft posts, he supplied easy chairs for their comfort.

He became President of the Hunts Entertainment and Welfare Committee for the American Troops who had arrived in the area in 1942. With the assistance of local volunteers, the American Red Cross organised a recreation club in the Priory, the premises of Huntingdon Freemasons.

George supported the idea that a community facility would be an appropriate memorial to those who had lost their lives in the conflict. Various schemes failed to materialise before the Literary and Scientific Institution premises were adapted and officially opened in 1960.46 aaaaaaHis interest in the local heritage was shown when he sought to protect the Sebastopol cannon which the family had given to the town, but it was taken away as scrap metal.47 He also played a role in the preservation of the mediaeval charters for Huntingdon, rediscovered by Philip Dickinson in the strongroom of Winters, the Solicitors, suggesting that after the war the town should provide a controlled environment for their safekeeping.48 The death of Alberta was reported by the Hunts Post of 1st November 1951 captioned ‘She inspired others by her example’. Her concern for the welfare of children and her commitment as a County Councillor to matters affecting heath and education were acknowledged.

Just over a year later the newspaper announced the marriage at the Huntingdon Register Office, of the 77 year old Earl to 50 year old Mrs Amiya Corbin.49 During her life Alberta had many contacts with the Los Angeles Vedanta, a Hindu School of Philosophy. George visited the School to thank it for the beneficial contacts. Problems with the engine of his Royal Mail cargo ship saw him extend his visit. It is sufficient in the context of this account to say that Amiya’s journey took her from Somerset to becoming a senior member of the Vedanta. During the visit she accepted George’s proposal of marriage. They lived in The Cottage where they entertained local friends and those from London. In 1957 the Earl leased a flat in Mayfair which he later made over to Amiya.50 aaaaaaMeanwhile Victor and family were making a valiant attempt to maintain the ancestral home in Huntingdon.51 They eventually moved to Mapperton in Dorset acquired by Victor in 1955.

Over the 5th and 6th of June 1957 Hinchingbrooke House became the venue for the auction of surplus furnishings, paintings, objets d’art and books.52 aaaaaaGeorge died on the 15th of June 1962 in The Cottage, which had been his home for 23 years. He was nevertheless the last Earl of Sandwich to have lived in Hinchingbrooke House.

The contents of The Cottage, excluding his art collection, were sold on the 16th January 1963.53 He bequeathed 15 paintings to Art Galleries and 19 pictures, money, jewels to friends and relatives. To Amiya he left among other items 33 paintings and 3 sculptures. He specifically excluded his son, Viscount Hinchingbrooke, from further bequests because of the substantial financial provisions already made. The will was contested and Amiya having sold one painting was prevented from selling others. Eventually ‘reason and prudence’ prevailed and there was an out-of-court settlement. In 1964 Amiya sold 24 paintings and a Hepworth sculpture for £54,616. This wealthy widow at the age of 84 died at Bath in 1986; but that is another story.54 aaaaaaThe relationships between Hinchingbrooke and Huntingdon were in effect very largely those between the Earls and Huntingdon. The 8th Earl with his military background and his close connections with Royalty was seen to be a member of the established aristocracy and this was reflected in his life style. He was involved in the affairs of the town and was engaged in benevolent activities.

The 9th Earl was also involved in the affairs of the town but under very different circumstances. He had to deal with heavy taxation on the death of the 8th Earl. At the commencement of the second world war the Earl and Countess moved out of Hinchingbrooke House into The Cottage, where predeceased by Alberta, he lived until his death. Meanwhile Hinchingbrooke had been settled upon his son, Victor, who had subsequently moved to Dorset.

Upon the death of the 9th Earl, Victor eventually sold Hinchingbrooke to the County Council.55.

Between 1916 and 1962 there had been a steady erosion of the involvement of the family in the 78

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 affairs of the town.

Hinchingbrooke House now developed another relationship with the town which is described elsewhere.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44

Beatrice (Mrs Steuat) Erskine. (ed.), Memoirs of Edward, Earl of Sandwich. 1919.

See 1 p 198.

See 1 pp 282—83, and The Huntingdonshire Post 12/7/1912.

See also Huntingdonshire Archives Acc 4037 for photographs of the visit John Drake. A Huntingdonshire Nursery. 1742-1950. (2008). pp 83-86.

See 1 p 194.

The Huntingdonshire Post 17/7/1909.

See 1 pp 209-10.

See 1 p 216.

See 1 pp 216-17.

The Huntingdonshire Post on 7th November printed a description of this first class laundry. Water was supplied from an underground reservoir or from tanks holding 3,000 gallons of river water. Washing and rinsing took place in cylinders heated by steam to the appropriate temperatures. An engine-room and boiler-house , stables and a coach house for the delivery van were set alongside the main building. Among the techniques described was the current practice of stiffening and polishing of shirt fronts and collars. Although the laundry refused linen from any house in which there was illness this was waived during the 1st World War when most of the laundry from the hospital was carried out free from charge.

See 1 pp 217-18.

The Huntingdonshire Post 9/11/1899 also Ann and Geoff Gardner, ‘The Hinchingbrooke Casket’.

Paul Nevett. Marking The Tercentenary.1999.

See 1 pp 222-23 David Cozens. Records of Huntingdonshire (Vol. 4 No 4 2017). pp 50-64 ‘St Edward’s Home, Huntingdon’ The Huntingdonshire Post. 7/7/1906 and the reproduced Documents.

See 1 pp 257-58 and The Huntingdonshire Post 26/6/1916 .

See 7.

See 1 pp 286-87.

See Obituary The Times 18/6/1962.

Dorset History Centre D/LCW see also 15.

Reminiscences by George Montagu, pp 27-28. Huntingdonshire Local Studies Ref. C52MON See 5 pp 123-24 See 5 p 132 Mary Stuart, Houseful at Hinchingbrooke. (1979). p 7.

Alan Akeroyd and Caroline Clifford, Huntingdon, Eight Centuries of History. (2004). pp 80-81.

Pauline Hornsby, Huntingdon War Memorial (2001).

See 26 p 85.

Huntingdonshire Archives KHAC/5/58474/6/3.

Letters filed with 29.

See also Huntingdonshire Archives KHAC/5/5874/6/4, The Swan Hotel was acquired by Mr W Yarnold.

See 22 p 37.

See 22 pp 37-38.

See 22 pp 33-36 for his acquaintances with artists of the day.

See 28 pp 89-91.

Leaflet published by The Pepys House Trust .

Huntingdonshire Archives KHAC/5/5874/6/8.

Huntingdonshire Archives HDC 10202.

Childrens Care and Childrens Homes sub committee Ref 10-22/8/1949.

John Haughton Threlfall. The Story of Huntingdon County Hospital. (1980). p 27.

Huntingdonshire Archives HINCH 5 141/42 Ref 10-24 /8/1949.

Alan Akeroyd and Caroline Clifford, 1565-2015, From Huntingdon Grammar School to Hinchingbrooke School. (2014). pp. 129-32.

See 39 pp32-33.

See 28 p 100.

Huntingdonshire Archives. KHAC/5/5874/6/10.

79

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 Caroline Clifford and Alan Akeroyd, Huntingdonshire In The Second World War. (2007). p. 95.

Huntingdon U3A, Local History Group The Huntingdon Institution, The Commemoration Hall. 2008.

See 26 p 102-103 and Huntingdonshire Archives KHAC54/2/1.

See 26. p 95.

Hunts Post 18-12-1952.

G M Warner, The Bizarre Story of Ella Sully (Kindle) (2015) See 21 and Roger Mitchell, ‘Hinchingbrooke 1945-70 Dark Days for the Country House’ Huntingdonshire Archives ED/3928/1/17/21. The Hunts Post 13-6-57 printed a brief report the sale. The highest price paid for a painting was 76 guineas for a portrait of the Third Countess of Sandwich by Michael Dahl. Yet the catalogue included six portraits by Lely.ED/3928/1/14, a catalogue of the art collection of some 272 items dated 1957 does not include any of the items offered for sale.

53 Hunts Post 21-6-1962 recording the death of the 9th Earl and Huntingdonshire Archives Acc 4632 for list of items for sale by auction, This was a surprisingly poorly produced.

54 See 50. Includes a list of the 33 paintings.

55 See 51.

45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

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EDWARD VII’S VISIT TO HINCHINGBROOKE IN JULY 1906 This photograph is included in the 8th Earl’s Memoirs published 1919

Documents This visit was another of Hinchingbrooke’s ‘great days’ and it is an appropriate place to bring together a number of notes and documents that have appeared in the Newsletter.1 Edward George Henry Montagu, 8th Earl of Sandwich was the King’s host and his nephew and successor, George Montagu, later 9th Earl of Sandwich was also present. Uncle and nephew were very different and perhaps the best introduction to them is from My Life and Times 1900 - 1907

by Compton Mackenzie: 2 a

From Abbots Ripton we moved on to Hinchingbrooke. I had not then met Lord Sandwich’s nephew, George Montagu, who was to become a lifelong intimate friend.

‘Uncle Hinch’ was a bachelor eccentric of rich late Victorian texture. The Ladies of the company were sent to stay in country houses nearby; only the men stayed in Hinchingbrooke itself. The great house was run by the butler whose name I have forgotten. When his lordship told a story at lunch or dinner, it was the butler’s duty to know when to join in the laughter or when to keep gravely silent. If he failed to laugh when his lordship thought he should have laughed, he would be asked if he had no sense of humour, and if he laughed when his lordship thought he should not, he was told to get out of the room; I can see him now winking at us with a grin as he closed the door behind him. a

Nephew George succeeded his uncle as 9th Earl and at the 2006 Friends Dinner, our President, 81

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the 11th Earl, spoke about George, his grandfather. A report of that talk was included in the Newsletter: Our President brought to life a complex and creative man. We heard some of his poetry and learned of his enthusiasm for the arts and his commitment to social improvement, not least through his ambitious experiments with the ‘Little Commonwealth’. With so much to cover, there was a only a limited time to look at his family life but John also provided some tantalising glimpses of George’s wife, Alberta Sturges, 9th Countess of Sandwich. She was an American but her earliest memories were of playing with the de Lesseps children on the Champs Elysee in Paris. She did not speak with an American accent and she was fascinated with the East. She also had that rather disconcerting encounter with two nuns (or two ghosts) on the Hinchingbrooke staircase. a

We are fortunate to have accounts of the royal visit from both uncle and nephew, but first we should have the official version from a newspaper report taken from an album of cuttings in the Hinchingbrooke House archive:3 16th July 1906 a

Huntingdon put on its gayest appearance last week to welcome the King on his visit to Hinchingbrooke on Saturday. As soon as an intimation was given that the town should be decorated, the inhabitants replied with a will, and the streets presented a most attractive spectacle.. The GNR station was also decorated and the approaches attended to. The platform was carpeted and flowers were arranged in the booking hall passage. There were on the platform the Earl of Sandwich, Mr George Montagu, Colonel Chichester (the Chief Constable), alderman R.Goodliffe (Mayor), Mr Barcley, beside a number of railway officials. a

The Royal train was signalled shortly after 5pm, and it was drawn to the up platform. It consisted of nine coaches lent by the London and North Western Railway. As soon as the King alighted he was introduced by the Earl of Sandwich to the Mayor and Colonel Chichester and his Majesty bowed as he passed Mrs Goodliffe and her four children.4 Outside the station was drawn up the guard of honour, consisting of 104 men of the Hunts Volunteers, drawn from the different companies, Col Linton in command. The King having inspected them shook hands with Col Linton and congratulated him on the soldierly appearance of the men. a

His majesty was driven to Hinchingbrooke in an open carriage, escorted by 65 members of the Hunts troop of the Beds Imp Yeomanry. The crowd was very great, and the cheering was most enthusiastic. a

The greatest crowd was on Sunday. The streets were lined along the whole route, from Hinchingbrooke to the town, and also on the common. a

On Sunday morning His Majesty with the Earl of Sandwich, Lord Colebrooke and the Hon. John Ward, drove to All Saints church and attended Divine Service there. The other guests followed in motor cars. The service was conducted by the Rev. Hedley Vicars, Rector, and there was no sermon. His majesty expressed pleasure at the way in which the service was conducted, and also at the conduct of the congregation. His majesty and the other guests afterwards visited St Edmunds Home For Boys, of whom about 20 reside there and receive maintenance and education by the generosity of his Lordship. His majesty was received by Miss Thackray, the matron, who with Lord Sandwich conducted the party over the building. His majesty expressed much pleasure at the appearance of the boys and the home. a

In the afternoon His Majesty, the Earl of Sandwich and guests proceeded by motor cars, via 82

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 Worboys, to Ramsey Abbey, where they had tea with Lord and Lady de Ramsey in the grounds, returning via Abbots Ripton.On Monday morning most of the guests left for London. His Majesty and the Earl of Sandwich and the remaining guests went by motor cars to Kimbolton Castle, returning to luncheon. In the afternoon His Majesty and Lord Sandwich left Hinchingbrooke for Newmarket by motor car. a

The 8th Earl’s account appears in his Memoirs:5 a

Diary - 'On June 30th the King honoured me by a visit to Hinchingbrooke. He brought a considerable lot of attendants, servants, chauffeurs, telegraphists', detectives, etc. He attended Divine Service at All Saints', Huntingdon, and visited St. Edward's Home. The boys behaved very well; but I was told, and believe, that they were more interested in seeing me for the first time in a tall hat and frock-coat than in Seeing the King! a

In the afternoon we were photographed by a man who was most amusing ; before leaving he holloaed out to the King, ' Good-bye, Majesty.'

A

We motored over to Ramsey Abbey and had tea with Lord and Lady de Ramsey. On Monday morning we motored to Kimbolton Castle. The King spent about one and a half hours looking over Louise, Duchess of Manchester's (then Duchess of Devonshire) illuminated book of photographs. His extraordinary memory gave the names of all except one, which I was able to recognise as Emma, Queen of the Sandwich Islands. a

The weather was fortunately lovely; the King motored in the afternoon to Newmarket, whither I followed him to stay with Sir Ernest Cassel for the July meeting.

A

The editor of the Memoirs also includes the following anecdote: a

It was during this visit that the King's favourite dog Caesar rolled Lord Sandwich's dog over and over in the grass. "I am glad," said Lord Sandwich, "that you don't do that to me, sir! a

George’s Reminiscences give a more personal perspective:6 a

In 1906 King Edward was invited by my uncle to pay a visit to Hinchingbrooke and I was included in the party. Other guests were Mrs Keppel, Agnes and Fanny Keyser, whom the King had met at Homburg where he had taken the waters. It was these two sisters who founded the famous hospital for officers at the time of the Boer War in Grosvenor Crescent which the King was accustomed to visit from time to time. Lord Rivensdale was another of the guests. During the King’s stay we went over to Kimbolton, another seat of the Montagu family. I shall never forget His Majesty’s remarkable memory of people that he showed on that occasion. He was looking at some old photograph books at the time of the 70s when he used to stay there. These contained groups of members of the cabinet and junior officials and there was hardly one that he could not put a name to, until he turned over a page and saw the figure of a dark, elderly woman. He turned to my uncle and said ‘Who is that Hinch?’. And when he answered ‘Oh Sir, that is Queen Emma of the Sandwich Islands who came over to visit your mother’, he replied ‘Oh yes, of course, I remember her now.’ a

Another day we drove over to Ramsey Abbey, the home of Lord de Ramsey – for some years now a school – for a luncheon party. On starting, I was somewhat horrified to hear my uncle, instead of accompanying the King in his car, suggesting that he should go ahead on his own and show His Majesty the way. In those days before tar was used on the roads, they were extremely dusty. My uncle’s chauffeur scorched ahead, and when the King, who had followed some distance behind, arrived at the front door, where we were all waiting to receive Him, my uncle said ‘I showed you a clean pair of heels, Sir’. To this King Edward replied quite angrily, and rightly so, ‘Yes, Hinch, and you gave me all your damned dust’.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 The concluding episode of his visit occurred when Agnes and Fanny Keyser had to leave, just before the end of luncheon, earlier than the King’s departure. I can see Agnes now, making her curtsey, backing to the door lifting her finger, saying ‘Now you be a good boy Teddy while I’m away’. His Majesty roared with laughter. I remember looking across the table where Mrs Keppel was sitting; she took it extremely well and smiled. a

After the visit, The Huntingdonshire Post, as it was then called, reported as follows: a

What to many will be regarded as a happy and well-merited souvenir was the conferring of the bronze Victorian Order by His Majesty upon Mr H.Cooper,7 Butler at Hinchingbrooke.

Necessarily much of the responsibility for the ensuring of the smooth working of the arrangements in the house depended on Mr Cooper, and all hands agreed that everything passed off splendidly and His Majesty was charmed by the visit. Mr Cooper is an old retainer of the family, having filled a similar position under the late Earl, his period of service extending over more than 30 years.

1 It is fitting that at the end of the story, Compton Mackenzie’s anonymous butler emerges briefly from the shadows.

2 A description of the King’s tour of Hinchingbrooke Gardens forms part of the later section on The 8th Earl’s Gardens.

3 John Cronin, then Curator contributed this extract to FHH Newsletter Issue 3 FHH Newsletter Issue 6 contributed by John Cronin.

4 One of those children was nine year old Phyllis. She lived in Huntingdon until her death in 1993 and in her will and in her will left her estate to The Huntingdonshire Local History Society. The Society decided to use a portion of the bequest to establish The Goodliff Fund for the advancement local history in Huntingdonshire. This fund has provided a generous contribution to the costs of this publication.

5 Memoirs of Edward, [8th[ Earl of Sandwich 1839 – 1916 ed Mrs Steuart Erskine (1919).

6 These extracts appeared in FHH Issue 24 and were provided by Geoff Gardner from a typed copy of Reminiscences in Huntingdonshire Archives.

7 Henry Cooper first appears in the census return for Hinchingbrooke in 1881 when he was 37. In 1881 he is described as Steward, in 1891 as Butler and in 1901 as House Steward. Shortly after the King’s visit, Cooper became ill and died on 12th December 1908. In his Memoirs, the Earl pays him this tribute ‘Thus passed away a dear friend, a most faithful and devoted servant, respected and loved by all the family and by all who knew him’.

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THE HINCHINGBROOKE CASKET

By Ann and Geoff Gardner First published in Issue 20 of the FHH Newsletter

Those of you who visited Huntingdon Town Hall during the Heritage Open Weekend in September 2012 may have seen the “Hinchingbrooke Casket” on display in the Mayor’s Parlour there. It is a beautiful silver gilt casket with lovely enamelled pictorial panels. It was presented to Edward Montagu, 8th Earl of Sandwich by the Aldermen, Councillors and Officers of the Huntingdon Borough Council in 1899. This was in recognition of his service to the borough as chief magistrate and also to commemorate his three successive years as Mayor.

Nothing more was heard of the casket until 1967, after Hinchingbrooke House was taken over

by Cambridgeshire County Council for use as a school, when it was discovered by workmen restoring the House. There are conflicting versions of where it was found. One suggests that it was uncovered in a bricked-up fireplace. Others suggest that it was found in a strong-room or a safe. Terry Ambrose, one of the site managers for the contractors, Rattee & Kett, does not recall the discovery of the casket on 4th September 1967 but remembers hearing that a locksmith had to be called in to open a locked safe. It is possible that the casket was found inside. The present Lord Montagu was only a young boy at the time. He left Huntingdon in 1955 and has no recollection of the incident.

According to an article in the Hunts Post on 23rd November 1967 Victor Montagu, formerly the 10th Earl, before disclaiming his peerage in 1964, offered it to The Huntingdon & Godmanchester Borough Council on semi-permanent loan. The Town Clerk at that time, Mr

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 F. J. E. Dyer, wrote to the Goldsmith & Silversmith Company Ltd to find out more about the casket and was told that it had been commissioned from the Goldsmith & Silversmith Company Ltd by Sir Arthur Wellington Marshall of Buckden Towers on October 6th 1899 on the understanding that it had to be delivered by November 7th. The casket, which weighs 100 ounces, cost £63 when it was made and was presented to the Earl at the Council’s annual meeting on November 9th.

It is a beautiful object and displays the motto for the Sandwich coat of arms on the front.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Hinchingbrooke 1945-1970: Dark Days for the Country House

aby Roger Mitchella The twenty five years after the end of the Second World War were the most difficult ones faced by country houses and their owners in the last five hundred years. For many houses and some families, this period marked the end of the road but both Hinchingbrooke and the Montagus, Earls of Sandwich were to survive, although from the 1960s their paths separated. Long-term political, social and economic changes certainly caused problems for the traditional owners of Country Houses, the landed gentry and aristocracy, but the intensity of the crisis was produced by the consequences of the war, not least the election in 1945 of a Labour Government with a strong mandate for change.

John William Montagu, Seventh Earl of Sandwich might have seen the rot setting in as early as 1846 with the repeal of the Corn Laws. Sandwich was a Tory and a member of the Carlton Club and probably felt betrayed by the decision of the Conservative Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, to end protection for agriculture. He remained with the Protectionist wing of the party and held minor office as Master of Buckhounds in Derby’s ministry in the 1850s. It was under Derby’s leadership that the Conservatives quietly dropped their commitment to protection not least because English agriculture remained prosperous through the third quarter of the 19th century. The survey of Land Ownership in the 1870s probably shows the peak of traditional landownership. The figures were reworked by John Bateman and published as The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland (4th Edition 1883). The Seventh Earl had no difficulties in meeting the two criteria that Bateman laid down for a ‘Great Landowner’ – owning at least 3,000 acres and having a gross annual revenue from land of at least £3,000.

His entry is as follows: Hunts Dorset Cornwall

3,218 acres 5,286 acres 28 acres

annual gross value annual gross value annual gross value

Total for England 8,532 acres

£7,522 £5,693 £126

annual gross value £13,341

There were another 2,844 acres worth £3,802pa in County Limerick.

This did not put the family in the very top rank of landed proprietors – 30 Victorian aristocrats had a gross annual income of more than £75,000 - but it was respectable and a definite improvement on the position in the 18th century, when the 4th Earl owned significantly less land and was permanently in debt. The family’s ‘modest affluence’1 in the 19th century was made possible by the acquisition of the Dorset lands centring on the Hooke Court estate which eventually came to the Montagus long after the 5th Earl’s marriage to Lady Mary Powlett in 1772. The 7th Earl died in 1884 having held the Earldom for 66 years and the Lord Lieutenancy of the County for 43 of them. The date of his death was not inappropriate. The 1880s are widely accepted as marking the beginning of the end for the power and, to a lesser extent, the wealth of the landed classes.

The first of the bad harvests that marked, but did not necessarily cause, the great agricultural 87

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 depression occurred in 1885, the year after the Earl’s death. There were further bad harvests in the late 1880s but the price of wheat did not rise, because foreign imports especially from North America made up the shortfall. English tenant farmers suffered first but their inability to pay rents caused major problems for their landlords. By the 1890s an agricultural depression had taken hold. The value of land declined as did its appeal as a long-term investment. Another factor was also at work. For centuries land had provided social prestige and political power but reforms in the 1870s and 1880s greatly reduced this. The Secret Ballot Act and the Third Parliamentary Reform Act increased the number of people entitled to vote, especially in rural areas, but enabled them to cast their vote without any possibility that their landlord or employer would know how they had voted. There was no instant revolution and deference probably lingered longer in Huntingdonshire than in many other parts of England. The number of Huntingdonshire MPs was reduced from four to three in 1867, but one of them from February 1876 until he inherited the Earldom was Edward George Henry Montagu, later 8th Earl of Sandwich.2 The 8th Earl was probably not aware that he was witnessing what David Cannadine3 describes as ‘the decline and fall of the British aristocracy’. After inheriting the Earldom he was elected as the chairman of the new County Council (1889), appointed Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire (1891) and served as Mayor of Huntingdon for three years from 1896. He showed few signs of cutting back on spending. A passion for motor cars and a penchant for entertaining Edward VII, both before and after he became King, were two of the most effective ways to dispose of cash in the years around 1900. Although he never married, the 8th Earl built Hinchingbrooke Cottage in 1892 and extended Hinchingbrooke House between 1894 and 1896.

The Cottage is said to have been built as a Dower House for the Seventh Earl’s widow, Blanche Egerton, although she died (in London) in 1894.

Perhaps the only straw in the wind was parliamentary representation and particularly the Liberal triumph in the 1906 general election which ‘wiped out another cohort of patricians almost as completely as the last great radical triumph of 1885 had done……. The representation of Huntingdonshire had been virtually monopolised by the Sandwich and de Ramsey families, after the Third Reform Act as before. But both their MPs were defeated in 1906, at which point the family names disappear from the county’s parliamentary history for ever.’4 The future 9th Earl had been Conservative MP for Huntingdon from 1900 to 1906 but he did not stand for re-election in 1906 when the Liberals gained the seat.

The 8th Earl died in 1916 in the middle of World War One and for the first time, the estate would have been subject to Death Duties. Both title and property passed to his nephew George Charles Montagu The war had only a limited impact on family and estate here at Hinchingbrooke. The new Earl was in his forties and none of his children had yet reached their teens and so there was no direct military involvement, although the Earl served as Chairman of the Central Prisoners of War Committee. He continued his public service through the inter-war period as Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire from 1922 to 1946 and Chairman of the County Council from 1933 to 1946. He died in 1962 at the age of 87 but seems to have played little part in the history of Hinchingbrooke House after 1939. When war broke out, he and his wife moved to the Cottage and he continued to live there in the post-war period. According to Lord Montagu of Beaulieu,5 ‘During the last war the Earl of Sandwich, who was also my godfather, handed it [Hinchingbrooke] over to his eldest son, Victor Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke’. Whether this was a formal, legal transfer of ownership is unclear, but certainly it seems to have been Victor Montagu rather than his father who had to deal with the problems and make the decisions.

Country Houses and their owners were in serious difficulties even before the Second World War broke out. Massive land sales had taken place especially between 1919 and 1922, paintings and other family collections had been sold and round 200 country houses were demolished in the inter-war period. Hinchingbrooke and the Montagu family seem to have fared better than most.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 Oddly, the outbreak of war was good news for Country Houses (if not for their owners).

They now had a new purpose; they were needed for the war effort. Those in the know acted promptly - Chatsworth became a girls school and Blenheim became a boys school. Most houses had a more disruptive war serving military purposes. Lyme Park was an army transport depot, Kedleston a listening post sending signals to Bletchley Park. At Hinchingbrooke after Lord & Lady Sandwich moved to the Cottage, the House was used first as a convalescent hospital for soldiers, then as a recuperative home for bombed-out families from London and elsewhere.

During the war more than 5,500 people spent some time at Hinchingbrooke. The House had probably never been so intensively used but the future had never looked more ominous.

In 1941 Vita Sackville-West wrote the text for a book on English Country Houses for the series Britain in Pictures published by William Collins. The series was intended as a contribution to the war effort to show what we were fighting for, but the text was pessimistic: One must ask oneself what the future holds; ask it with sorrow, for the future is indeed unpromising. Even before the war, the prospect was dark enough, but with war taxation and the present rate of death duties it seems improbable that any family fortune will long suffice to retain such homes in private ownership.6 a

In 1945 the war was won and a new Labour Government was elected. Country houses and their owners were not exactly a top priority. The Post-War Labour Government needed money and so the top rate of income tax was 90% and the top rate of death duties 75% (15/- in the £). Country Houses were an anachronism and many of them were in a dreadful state. What could be done with them? Well, if anybody could cope, the English aristocrat could. A childhood in overlarge, underheated houses, a public school education and service in the armed forces were excellent preparation for the post-war world. But even so, it was daunting. What were the options? At least six possible ways forward come to mind. One could live in it, demolish it, give it to the National Trust (perhaps with the option of continuing to live in at least part of it), open it to the public, rent it out or sell it off for institutional purposes. These options are not mutually exclusive and many families tried to find a successful combination but few can have embarked on all six. Here at Hinchingbrooke, one man, ‘Hinch’7, did actively explore every route and this provides structure as well as subject matter for the rest of this essay.

However, it is important to remember that alongside the decline and disposal of Hinchingbrooke, there is a separate but linked story of the acquisition of Mapperton and the family move to Dorset. This process began before the end of the Second World War because in 1941, after wartime service with the Northamptonshire regiment in France, and then on the general staff of the home forces, Hinch became Conservative MP for South Dorset. He succeeded Viscount Cranborne (later Marquis of Salisbury) who went to the House of Lords.

During the war, the major political parties adopted the convention of not contesting by-elections in seats which they did not hold and so Hinch was elected unopposed. He held the seat for 21 years until he inherited the Earldom. His closest campaign was in 1945 when he defeated the Labour candidate by 2,166 votes in a poll of over 30,000. In each of the four subsequent general elections he increased his majority which rose to 6,693 in 1959. The family already had a close connection with South Dorset through the Hooke Court estate inherited in the 19th century from the Dukes of Bolton and comprising more than 5,000 acres. Hooke Court itself was an old house but not a particularly appealing one and the family link to Dorset was greatly strengthened when Hinch was able to purchase a country house but not a landed estate in the mid 1950s. This purchase runs counter to the prevailing current of the 1950s when most aristocrats were selling country houses rather than buying them but the circumstances were unusual. As we will see, Hinchingbrooke was becoming less and less viable, Hinch’s political 89

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 base was in Dorset, Mapperton, the house that he bought, was only three miles away from the Hooke Court estate and the market for country houses was in the doldrums. Mapperton was purchased not from a landed family but from the executors of Ethel Labouchere. She had purchased the house in 1919, three years after her banker husband had died, had rescued it from decay and had created a glorious Italianate garden. When she died without direct heirs in 1955, Hinch acted quickly – perhaps he had made his interest known during her lifetime.

It was certainly an astute purchase. Perhaps Hinch had read Vita Sackville-West’s book that is quoted earlier in this essay. The next sentence reads as follows ‘Fortunate are those who inherit houses of manageable size, but what of those who carry the beloved burden of unreasonably spacious halls’. Hinchingbrooke must be regarded as a ‘beloved burden’ while Mapperton qualifies as being of ‘manageable size’, not to mention architectural distinction and ideal location. It has now been the family home for half a century and contains many items that were previously at Hinchingbrooke.

However, when World War Two ended there can be no doubt that Hinch was focused on returning to Hinchingbrooke. We are fortunate that his return was chronicled by none other than James Lees-Milne who at the time was secretary to the National Trust Historic Buildings Committee. He was a near contemporary of Hinch at Eton and the two had remained friends.

His published diaries 8 are a crucial source for the history of the English Country House in the 1940s and Hinchingbrooke provides some of his most vivid and candid entries. The story begins as early as Sunday 9th September 1945, when he records that ‘Hinch talked to me in Brooks’ Club about Hinchingbrooke, which he wants to convert into a Cromwellian Museum, he living in a part only, after pulling down an ugly Victorian wing.’

Lees-Milne first visited Hinchingbrooke on 26th January 1946 and the diary entry is a classic: I reached Hinchingbrooke at one o’clock. No answer from the front door bell, so I drove round to the back. Walked in and wound my way through a labyrinth of passages, finally emerging into the square oak room at the corner where Hinch was squatting over an inadequate fire. He greeted me with ‘My dear Jimmie, has no one helped you find the way in?’ He and Rosemary most welcoming. Gave me sherry and a rabbit pie cooked by Rosemary, for the staff consists of army batmen and wives, not trained servants at all, and no cook. They are picnicking in the house, still full of hospital beds and furniture.

Hinch took me round the house. The gatehouse and nunnery with gables and the large 1602 bay window are the best features. Hinch has contracted for £400 to have the 1880 wing of red brick pulled down: also the ugly pepper-box tower of that date. This will make the house far more manageable and improve the appearance. There is absolutely nothing to see inside the house, apart from the Charles II dado of the staircase.

At 3.30 I found Rosemary on hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor, and I helped her swab it over. We went to tea with the Sandwiches, now living in the dower house. Lord S, very distinguished, showed me his pictures. Really a superb collection of French Impressionists and English School. We got on well. He rather disapproves of Hinch’s intention to make over the place to the National Trust.

The kind Hinchingbrookes made me stay the night in the house, so I cancelled my room at the George Inn. Very cold and most primitive bathroom with no bathmat, no soap etc. Rosemary a true bohemian, untidy and slapdash; and for this reason admirable and tough. She is like a very jolly able-bodied seaman. Has four children and intends to have lots more. She has studied medicine and wanted to become a qualified doctor but Hinch put a stop to that. She is robust, 90

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 intelligent and affectionate. aaaaOn 18th October 1946 he visited the house again and reported both on Rosemary’s pregnancy and on the improved state of the house: On to Hinchingbrooke for luncheon. Rosemary, wearing an untidy overall-cum-maternity gown, greeted us warmly. She appears to be going to have her fifth child. They have a man servant whose clothes for sheer scruffiness, excelled any garments I have ever seen. We looked around the house, now furnished. Family portraits of high quality and interest – a Hogarth of a boy and several Georgian Montagus.

Lees-Milne was back in March of the following year but this time stayed at Farm Hall, Godmanchester with Marshall Sisson, the architect, and his wife. His diary reports as follows: Sisson and I motored to Hinchingbrooke, the Hs being away. We walked round the outside examining Sisson’s demolition of the Victorian wing. He has made vast improvements. We agreed that a wall is needed in its place and that the tower should not be totally destroyed, but its top taken off, made lower, so as not to look so thin as it does at present.

Within two years of the ending of the war, four of the six ways forward had been actively pursued. The growing family had moved back in despite inadequate furnishings, servants or heating. A possible take over by the National Trust had been considered by Hinch, although not approved of by his father. We hear no more of the National Trust riding to the rescue and the diary entry shows that Lees-Milne was not hugely impressed with the house, particularly with its interior. Conversion to a Cromwellian Museum shows Hinch’s entrepreneurial enthusiasm, although whether this would have provided the fun and escapism that the nation craved is perhaps open to doubt. What had undoubtedly been a success in Lees-Milne’s opinion was Marshall Sisson’s demolitions of the 1880s wing. The cost was moderate and indeed Hinch may well have recouped some of that £400 by selling the materials for post-war housing. Local tradition suggests that some houses in Hartford used the Hinchingbrooke brick.

Much of the next decade must have been taken up with the less than exciting task of restoration and renewal carried on with restricted resources and insufficient staff. Hinch himself was an active and controversial MP and was frequently away but progress was made and the intention was that the house and grounds should be opened to the public. Here too we are fortunate to have this aspect of Hinchingbrooke’s history recorded by a key player in the post-war opening up of the English Country House. This was Lord Montagu of Beaulieu whose 1967 book ‘The Gilt and the Gingerbread’ has the subtitle ‘How to live in a Stately Home and make money’. In this book he pays tribute to Hinch as a pioneer, if in the end an unsuccessful one: a

In 1946 Lord Hinchingbrooke decided to open the house to the public. It was a pioneer move and a hazardous one coming as it did at a time when the business was in its infancy and when there were relatively few private cars and organised coach tours. To make matters worse, no one considers Hinchingbrooke to be ideally situated geographically.

After a year or two he began to encounter difficulties with the Inland Revenue. They drew his attention to their directive which stated that a stately home must be run as a business for the eventual realisation of profit and not just to obtain tax relief. This resulted in a long drawn out case which, unfortunately, ended in a victory for the authorities.’

1946 would be a very early date for house opening and no advertising or guidebook from 91

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 that date exists, nor does James Lees-Milne make mention of it. Perhaps it was a year or two later but we certainly know that Hinchingbrooke was fully open in the early 1950s. In 1951 Country Life published ‘a concise guide’ to Country Houses open to the public. The introduction explains that until then there had been no comprehensive catalogue of such houses.

Hinchingbrooke appears with a single paragraph of historical description and the following practical information: Owner - Viscount Hinchingbrooke.

Admission - Daily (except Tuesdays and Fridays) from Whit Saturday to August 30th, 11am to 6pm. By appointment throughout the year for parties of 10 or more.

Charge – House and gardens 2s 6d . Children 1s. Gardens only 1s. Children 6d’ Hinchingbrooke also appears in Open to View: English Country Houses you can visit and how to find them by B. Freeman (Benn 1952) and in ‘English Country Houses open to the Public’ by C. Hussey (Country Life 2nd Edition 1953). However it does not appear in the 3rd edition of 1957 or 4th edition of 1964.

In 1952 a paperback guidebook was published at the price of one shilling. It is entitled ‘History of Hinchingbrooke’ and contains three historical sections (Nunnery, Cromwells and Montagus) followed by a description of the house and gardens. There are three black and white photographs of the Gatehouse, the Nunnery Block and the house from the South West. The text is anonymous and draws on the Victoria County History and the 8th Earl’s history from 1910. Hinch may well have written it himself, although, if so, he was writing in a rather uncharacteristically bland manner. There are a couple of adverts – for Robert Rippon, Bookseller, who may well have been involved in the publication, and for The George Hotel ‘comfortable rooms with hot and cold water and good meal service at moderate prices’.

Also in 1952, Hinch employed someone to look after the house opening. A correspondence survives in the British Library between Dr C.E.Wright, Dept of Manuscripts, British Museum and Lieut Col C Rivett-Carnac who writes on Hinchingbrooke notepaper. Rivett-Carnac initiates the correspondence in August 1952 explaining his connection with Hinchingbrooke ‘I have only been here a short time, showing visitors around (among other duties)’. A mutual friend has suggested that Dr Wright might be able to help with a discovery that Rivett-Carnac has made: The other day we made the most exiting (sic) discovery of a mediaeval wall painting on the inside of a high gable, above a front of the house which has always been considered to be Tudor. This indicates that the Nunnery was a very imposing building, and was, perhaps, altered far less than we think when it was converted into a private house in circa 1550.

We have not the knowledge to date the wall painting. It is on plaster and not very spectacular, consisting of the antlers of a stag and the head of a cow, covering an area of about 12 square feet and painted in a primitive kind of red-brown paint.

The letter succeeds. Wright is keen to come. He is interested in monastic conversions, but even more interested in Blore. Along with an architect friend (Patrick Horsburgh) he is working on a biography of Blore. He claims not to be an expert on wall paintings but will do his best.

Rivett-Carnac arranges the visit: I hope you won’t be disappointed with the wall painting. It is only a part of what must have been a much larger picture. Clearly it was originally discovered by Blore, covered with plaster which protected it from the fire and was subsequently forgotten. Blore seems to have taken great pains to preserve it, for the gable which is decorated, was much weakened by the fire, 92

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 and in the normal course of events, he would have taken it down and rebuilt it. A word of warning! I suggest you bring some old clothes. The loft is disused, difficult to reach, very dirty and covered with huge black cobwebs.

The visit duly takes place and there is a handwritten letter from Dr Wright on 27th August thanking Rivett-Carnac for an enjoyable visit and much kindness. Wright thinks that the wall painting is from the time of Sir Henry and that the stag may be connected with the coat of arms of the borough of Huntingdon. He also provides Rivett-Carnac with information about the Blore Drawings in the British Museum and provides references for those relating to Hinchingbrooke. Rivett-Carnac’s enthusiasm grows and in early September, he writes as follows: When the house closes for the winter, I shall have plenty of time on my hands to search for the originals [Blore Drawings] and I believe the box room over the stables to be very promising.

It is full of tin boxes, and I hear the Earl of S intends to browse through them this coming month. I shall offer my assistance.

In a manner familiar to the present author and doubtless to many other country house enthusiasts, Rivett-Carnac speculates about the development of 16th century Hinchingbrooke before concluding: ‘Please excuse the way I’ve rambled on and on. It’s partly your own fault for sparking off my enthusiasm and I had better do a lot more research before I let loose any more opinions.’

This concludes the correspondence and we will probably never know what those tin boxes revealed or indeed how long Rivett-Carnac remained at Hinchingbrooke. Nevertheless, he provides proof that even in those dark days of the early 1950s, the house could still exert a powerful attraction.

In 1953 it attracted other new arrivals, the Stuart family. Mary Stuart, her husband Charles and their two young children rented ‘an unfurnished flat in one of the courtyards’. Mary had just been appointed Senior Mistress at Huntingdon Grammar School and for the rest of her long life, she was to be closely involved with both the school and the house. As many readers will know, she has written about that involvement in ‘Houseful at Hinchingbrooke’.10 No one can tell that story as well as Mary does in the book but her account of life at Hinchingbrooke, first in that flat and then for another eight years in ‘a different cottage at the corner of the outer courtyard’ is also useful in providing a chronology for the years that saw the departure of the Montagus to Dorset, unsuccessful attempts to let the house and eventually in 1962 the sale of the house and its estate to Huntingdonshire County Council.

That outcome was far from clear in 1953. The new Elizabethan Age was dawning and a pageant seemed an appropriate way to celebrate. Written by David Garnett, acted by a cast of hundreds, and recorded on cine film by Rosemary (Hinch’s wife), the pageant told the linked stories of Hinchingbrooke and Huntingdon. It was one of a number of events which opened house and grounds to the public in addition to the continuing guided tours on Sunday afternoons from Easter to October. In June, the County Show was held on Hinchingbrooke meadow and in the winter, concerts arranged by the Music and Arts Society were held in the Inner Hall.

The house was expensive to run and, although Hinch remained in isolated and slightly aded grandeur in his bedroom on the first floor of the southwest tower, mother and children moved into the more homely setting of nunnery court. Hinch intended to remain at Hinchingbrooke and to maintain and enhance it. This explains the rather unusual way in which he used a legacy from his grandmother. He purchased a staircase, or more accurately, the carved panels from a staircase at Rolls Park in Essex, one of many country houses under threat in the 93

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 1950s.11 In 1953 a decision to demolish Rolls Park was taken and it was probably then that the staircase panels were brought to Hinchingbrooke, a most appropriate new home because the Rolls Park staircase was carved by Thomas Kinward or Kennard, who in the 1660s, also worked at Hinchingbrooke. Marshall Sisson was responsible for replacing the Blore staircase from the

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 1830s with the Rolls Park panels, which are now adjacent to the panels that Kennard carved for the first earl of Sandwich showing the Montagu coat of arms. On 16th July 1954 there was a ball for Hinch’s daughters – the last major Montagu event to be held at Hinchingbrooke. It would be nice to think that the family made their entrance down that staircase.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 Purchasing a staircase was brave, but purchasing a complete country house was much braver, In 1955 Hinch bought Mapperton in Dorset, which is still the family home. The reasoning behind that decision has been explained earlier in this essay. Once the purchase went through, events moved rapidly. Of the six possible ways forward for post war country house owners that I suggested earlier, Hinch had already tried four – living in it, demolishing it (or part of it), giving it to the National Trust and opening it to the public. The final two options now came into the reckoning. Once the family had left for Dorset in 1955, taking pictures, furniture and other items with them, the intention was to let the house and to sell the surplus contents. A catalogue for that sale is in the Huntingdonshire archive.

The House was advertised by Strutt and Parker in 1956 and described as ‘suitable for institutional or similar purposes’.12 At that time there were more country houses available to let than there were institutions willing to take on a lease. Potential tenants encountered by Mary Stuart and her family included an Authors’ College, Cheshire Homes, A.S.Neill (Headmaster of Summerhill), and, as Mary records in her book, ‘the intimidating Headmistress of a Girls School and an elderly, cheerful little man from Lancashire who had made his brass and fancied living in a place like this – just for a year’.

However, none of these signed up for a tenancy and a lease was eventually agreed with Interunion, an evangelical Christian group who opened Hinchingbrooke Castle [sic] as a ‘Christian Interdenominational Holiday and Conference Centre’. 13 Unfortunately, their tenancy was short lived. With the death of its founder, the scheme collapsed leaving Hinch and a number of Huntingdon tradesmen out of pocket. The house then remained unoccupied for nearly four years during which time there was an ‘inundation caused by frost when the sprinkler system burst and nearly 30,000 gallons of water did a great deal of damage’.14 aaaaThe cottages in the stables area were easier to let and for a time American servicemen based at Alconbury joined Mary Stuart and her family. They went but she and her family stayed until 1963 when they were ‘the last to go’. aaaaBy this time, after much negotiation, Hinch had sold the whole estate to the county council.

The house itself was to be used as an extension to the Grammar School. Writing in 1967, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu commented; ‘This project has not yet reached maturity. Meanwhile the house has suffered from the inevitable diseases of empty houses – damp, dry rot and general decay. It is a sad story’.

Fortunately it had a happy ending. In 1968, ‘Work commenced and was placed in the capable hands of Messrs Rattee and Kett’.15 Within two years, restoration was complete. A new comprehensive school was created out of Huntingdon Grammar School, Hinch (by now, having renounced his title, plain Mr Victor Montagu) opened the new and restored buildings and both the author of this essay and the current Chairman of the Friends had joined the staff of what had now become Hinchingbrooke School. The rest, as they say, is history and very nearly fifty years of school history have now elapsed.

a 1 The phrase is taken from page 318 of N.A.M. Roger’s life of the 4th Earl, The Insatiable Earl. 1993.

2 Biographical information about the 8th and 9th Earls comes from G. H. White (ed), The Complete Peerage.

Vol. 11. 1949.

3 D.Cannadine. The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy. 1990. This contains much general information and some relating specifically to the Montagu family.

4 Cannadine p149.

5 Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. The Gilt and the Gingerbread. 1967. p. 23-4.

6 V.Sackville-West. English Country Houses. 1941. p. 47.

7 Victor Montagu. Viscount Hinchingbrooke (1906-1995), was widely known as ‘Hinch’, and by using this name, confusion between house and man is avoided. He held the courtesy title of Viscount Hinchingbrooke for almost half a century, from 1916 when his father became Earl of Sandwich until he reluctantly

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8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

inherited the Earldom in 1962. The entry by Andrew Roth in the online edition of The Dictionary of National Biography is a valuable introduction to his political career.

The entries relating to Hinchingbrooke are to be found in Prophesying Peace (1977) and Caves of Ice (1983).

Lord Montagu of Beaulieu p. 24.10. W. Mary Stuart, Houseful at Hinchingbrooke. 1979.

W. Mary Stuart. Houseful at Hinchingbrooke. 1979.

This information comes from the talk that Kate Hunloke, Hinch’s daughter, gave at the Friends’ Dinner in 2002 (FHH Newsletter No 5).

A copy of the sale particulars survives in the Huntingdonshire Archives and a transcription is part of ‘Hinchingbrooke Documents from the 1950s’ which follows A typescript version of their publicity material survives in the Huntingdonshire Archives and is part of ‘Hinchingbrooke Documents from the 1950s’.

Philip Dickinson. Hinchingbrooke House. 1970.

Philip Dickinson. Hinchingbrooke House. 1970.

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POST WAR CHALLENGES aaa

Documents aa

TENANTS FOR HINCHINGBROOKE Among the documents that Victor Montagu deposited in the Huntingdonshire Record Office when the family moved to Dorset are two relating to the lease of Hinchingbrooke House. The catalogue references are 5671/1 and 5671/2. The first of these consists of five pages of typescript on notepaper headed ‘Strutt & Parker, Land Agents, Surveyors and Auctioneers’. The date 1956 has been added in ink and a section at the end suggests that it was compiled in the second half of that year. The House is to be let ‘unfurnished on lease’ by direction of ‘The Right Honble.

Viscount Hinchingbrooke, M.P.’ It is ‘suitable for institutional or similar purposes’ and can be viewed by appointment through the agents or, at short notice and at the weekends by telephoning Mrs Maule at the Upper Laundry Flat on Huntingdon 448. The property is described as follows: Entrance and Inner Halls, Billiards Room, Magnificent Library, 4 Reception Rooms, 24 Bed & Dressing Rooms, 8 Bathrooms, Complete Offices. Oil fired Central Heating and Domestic Hot Water System. Main Electricity & Water. Modern Cesspool Drainage. The ‘Nunnery’ Flat, Two ‘Laundry’ Flats. Entrance Lodge. 5 Cottages. Garages, Stabling and Outbuildings.

Beautiful Pleasure Gardens and Walled Vegetable Garden with ranges of glass. The Gateway, Parklands, Woodlands and Playing Grounds with Sports Pavilion, in all up to 59 acres if required.

A history and description follows with full particulars of room sizes and names or current uses and even though the estate agents’ language is more restrained than it might be today, efforts are clearly made to attract potential tenants. The following extracts will give the flavour and provide important information about the house at the point when it ceased to be occupied by the family: aa

Hinchingbrooke is famous for its Cromwellian relics, which are unique. Many of them, such as the Hat which the Protector wore at the dissolution of the Long Parliament, have been lent by the Cromwell Association. The Collection of 17th Century Portraits is as fine as any in the country.

The Gardens make an exquisite setting for the house. The Dutch Rose Garden is probably much as the first Earl conceived it.

The House is approached from the Road by a drive guarded by an Entrance Lodge, through well timbered Parkland and Gatehouse, terminating in a circular sweep in the walled Entrance Courtyard. The Building has been well maintained and the Tudor brick and the fine stone of the later periods blend well together. The roof is of tiles with lead flats.

G.P.O. Telephone with 2 lines and 4 extensions. House telephone with 20 extensions. As a precaution against fire, the house is fitted throughout with an automatic sprinkler system by Messrs. Mather & Platt.

Certain of the Flats and Cottages are let on short furnished tenancies or are in service occupation by gardeners etc.

WALLED KITCHEN GARDEN with ranges of lean-to heated glasshouses as follows – Plant

98

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 House, Vine House in two sections with figs and nectrines [sic]. Second two section house containing nectrines, peaches and apricots ………. These Vegetable Gardens are suited for market gardening on a commercial scale.

THE PLEASURE GARDEN AND GROUNDS are most attractively laid out and very easy to keep up, there being very little formal bedding. They comprise stone flagged Terrace, sweeping Lawns studded with magnificent Cedar, Ilex, Chestnut, Copper Beech, Elm and other Trees.

Fine Poplar Avenue entered through a pair of wrought iron gates leading to the Wild Garden and Lake.…… ‘Wendy’ House in a small sheltered garden. Fine herbaceous border entered through a pair of wrought iron gates on stone pillars.

DUTCH ROSE GARDEN enclosed on three sides by a yew hedge and on the south side by a stone balustrade and flight of steps. The arrangement of this garden with its formal beds surrounded by miniature Box Hedges and gravel paths is probably much as the first Earl of Sandwich conceived it.

JAPANESE GARDEN with stream.

A

It is obvious that in letting a property of this National importance no definite terms can be stated as so much depends on the standing of the Tenant and on the purpose for which it is to be used.

The following general terms can, however, be stated: 1. The Lease should be for a minimum of 21 years to a maximum of 60 years at an agreed rent.

2. It is anticipated that provided the Tenant is a suitable one The Historic Buildings Council will make a grant towards external repairs, restoration where required and repointing of brickwork. In that event, it is possible that a Tenant would be called upon to be responsible only for internal decoration.

3. It would be appreciated if, as in past years, certain portions of the house could be open to inspection by Visitors on payment. Some 650 Visitors have visited the house since Whitsun this year (1956). The income from this source would be receivable by the Tenant.

4. Some of the Pictures and all of the Cromwellian Relics would probably remain with the proper safeguard. a

In the mid 1950s there were more ‘Properties of National Importance’ available than there were tenants to fill them. The best that could be managed was a deal with ‘INTER UNION’ (Christian Service Fellowship). An undated typescript draft of their publicity material survives in the Huntingdonshire Archives. There are annotations by Victor Montagu, one of which likens the arrangements to ‘Butlins and the Army’. The new tenants chose to use the name Hinchingbrooke Castle for their ‘Holiday and Conference Centre’ and described it as ‘a famous stately home of great historical interest (dating back to the 11th century)’ and ‘almost adjoining the HUNTINGDON NORTH (Main Line King’s Cross) Station’. The advertisement continues: Situated in 50 acres of glorious parkland and gardens (the latter now in process of reconstruction), it is the ideal rendezvous for relaxation and recreation.

Although some reconditioning and alterations are still in progress, Holiday Guests can now be received for Board Residence. The State Dining Room, Drawing Room, Private Chapel, Library and Games rooms are available for guests.

Television – music – table tennis – snooker - tennis – country walks – are here for one’s 99

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 enjoyment. Excellent boating and fishing can be obtained nearby on the River Ouse.

Furnishings are simple but clean and comfortable. Meals are homely, good and substantial (Breakfast-Luncheon-Afternoon Tea and Evening Dinner provided). Other refreshments, ices, minerals, confectionery etc available in the “TUCK SHOP” of the house.

Inclusive terms for Board-Residence as follows:DOUBLE ROOMS £7 7. 0 per week. LARGER ROOMS (sharing) containing single beds, each person with own locker, cabinet etc. (3/4 persons per room) £5. 12. 0 per week. No single rooms are available at present. Bathrooms and toilets convenient to bedrooms.

Arrival: after 2pm Saturday. Departure: after breakfast on the following Saturday.

Bed and breakfast for odd days, weekends etc by arrangement.

Special week-end accommodation (if available) – Saturday, after 2pm to Sunday, after tea: 25/to 30/-.

Special terms for parties, groups and conferences.

No intoxicants are permitted on the premises.* We regret that we are unable to accept invalids, young children; or to provide for special diets.

APPLICATION FOR RESERVATIONS SHOULD BE MADE TO THE HOUSE OFFICER *Victor Montagu’s annotation reads ‘Sad!’

SELLING UP – SALE CATALOGUES FROM 1957 AND 1963 Hinchingbrooke was to be let unfurnished, hence the sale of ‘Surplus Furnishings, Paintings, Objets d’Art and Books from Hinchingbrooke’. Originally scheduled for May 1957, this actually took place a month later. A catalogue survives (ED/3928/1/17/21) but we do not know what prices were achieved.

There were almost 500 lots sold over two days. After some not very important copper, silver, glass and china (lots 1-54), furniture, carpets and fittings from the main rooms were sold. The sale moved from Front Hall (57-66) to Centre Hall (67-95, to Dining Room (98-117), to Drawing Room (121-148 with Lot 121 the chandelier shown on the cover picture), to Small Dining Room (149-152) and Oak Room (153-187). The contents of the other two main downstairs rooms – the Billiard Room and Library - were sold on the second day, and the first day sale concluded with the contents of the State Bedroom (231-248) and other bedrooms (251-261). All told, at least 46 chairs, 24 tables and 22 cupboards, cabinets and chests went under the hammer. Thirty five items are shown in heavy type and these were obviously judged the pick of the collection.

They include 9 pieces of 16th or 17th century oak furniture as well as items from William and Mary to Regency.

More than 30 pictures were included in the sale. Around half of these were family portraits, the rest a mixture of water colours and other portraits, the Duke of Wellington and Countess Walewska amongst them.

After disposing of a billiard table and 2 guns, the main business of the second day was books and garden and estate equipment. Well over 2,000 books were sold with relatively little information provided. Typical entries read ‘Morley J. Life of Gladstone 3 Vols and 43 other volumes’ or ’36 Vols various Children’s Books’ and so it is difficult to know the quality of the items. There are many country house library staples like The Annual Register 1776-1854 (82 100

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 volumes) and Journals of the House of Commons (39 volumes) but few of the items have a particular connection with house or family. One assumes that books relating to Cook’s Voyages or to the Cromwell family were retained. It would have been worth putting in a bid for Lot 309 Stuart J. and Revett N., Antiquities of Athens, (London 1762) 3 Vols and 6 other Vols. The Society of Dilettanti sponsored this expedition and as a prominent member, the 4th Earl would certainly have owned a copy, perhaps this one. Similarly Lot 323 Nash J., The Mansions of England in the Olden Time (4 Vols) might well have belonged to the 7th Earl to remind him of the style of house that Hinchingbrooke was before the fire.

In some ways, the most poignant part of the sale is at the very end – Garden and Estate Equipment. Flower Pots were sold off 8 dozen at a time in no fewer than 24 lots – almost 2,500 pots in all. Garden tools (various) were divided into 6 lots, while 4 watering cans made up Lot 489. The very last lot at the end of two days of frantic activity was ‘A “Morris” 15cwt Open Truck painted grey, number HKR 271, recently overhauled’. It was the end of an era as far as Hinchingbrooke House was concerned. However, Victor Montagu’s father, 9th Earl remained at The Cottage until his death in 1962.

Another sale then became necessary and on 16th January 1963 in a Marquee outside the Cottage, Dilley, Theakston and Beardmore by direction of the Executors of the late Earl sold ‘Antique and other Furnishings, Collection of Modern Pottery, Contemporary Paintings and Drawings, Books, Garden Furniture, Outdoor Effects’.

Huntingdonshire Archives does have a document relating to the sale (4632) – the outside pages of the catalogue and a hand written list of the prices realised at ‘the sale of furniture’. Sadly, what we do not have is a Catalogue of the Contemporary Paintings and Drawings or the prices that they realised. The 9th Earl had built up a remarkable collection of modern paintings and drawings and it would be fascinating to know the purchasers and the price they paid. Instead we must make do with the information about the 84 items of ‘furniture’ sold. As well as furniture proper, the list includes various decorative objects – silver, china etc. Only four items sold for £100 or more – A Louis XVI clock and a pair of putti candlesticks went for £100, a canteen of silver - 70 pieces, 182 ozs made £130 as did a Chippendale Oval carved gilt mirror. The highest price of £250 was paid for a white marble torso of a woman, three quarter length, School of Alexandria. At the other end of the spectrum an aneroid barometer went for £2 10s. In between there was everything from a William and Mary ‘Oyster’ Walnut Chest with 4 drawers for £95 to a Jacobean Oak Table for £9. Somewhere in between, the 20th century made a relatively rare appearance with a Three Piece Lounge Suite for £60 and a Pye 17 inch Television for £12. The total value realised was approximately £2,800.

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The Restoration of the Pepys Steps 20161

aby Tom Wheeleya A major project to repair and restore the terrace walk and the wall between the terrace and Brampton Road was undertaken in 2016. Perhaps the most noteworthy part of the project has been the complete restoration of the Pepys Steps, that lead up to the terrace walk from the gravel pathway outside the library. The name is probably a modern one but the connection with Pepys is firmly established. The steps and the terrace were almost certainly constructed by Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, in the early 1660s and Pepys’ diary has a number of references to their construction. Pepys was the Earl’s secretary and would have been one of the first to climb the steps in order to promenade along what he called ‘My Lord’s Walk’. This terrace walk has been described by Tom Williamson, an authority on historic parks and gardens as ‘the most important feature of the Hinchingbrooke grounds and one of the more important survivals of 17th century formal landscaping in England’.2 The total cost of the repair was over £100,000 and was made possible by a contribution from the Foundation of the school and a substantial grant from Historic England. The Friends of Hinchingbrooke House made a modest contribution of £1,000, which has gone towards the purchase of four stone planters that will sit at the top and bottom of the steps as shown in the Buck print of 1730. The old stone sundial has been repaired and put back into position at the top of the steps. This will feature a newly designed face with the school emblem, a stag’s head, incorporated into the design. It is fitting that this design is by Ian Oliver, the site manager, the man who made the whole project possible and who negotiated its funding.

This restoration revealed a great deal about the creation of the terrace by the first Earl of Sandwich in the 1660s. A considerable amount of lead piping was found together with an almost perfectly preserved 17th century brass tap - photo. Even more remarkable was the discovery of two red brick chambers which nestled below the top part of the steps and were divided by a brick wall that had supported the centre of the steps. Each measured roughly six feet square. They were roofed by an impressive arched brick ceiling and were probably intended as storerooms for the gardeners. They were sketched, photographed and measured by Historic England before the crumbling brick ceiling was taken down and new foundations put in place.

It is splendid to see this part of Hinchingbrooke’s heritage restored to such a high specification. The red hue of the newly restored brickwork at the top of the mound certainly attracts attention and gives a good idea of what the site would have looked like in its original form. Doubtless it will take on the patina of age in due course. This new focus on the steps reminds us just how carefully they were positioned. Looking northwards from the top of the steps, we can view the gardens to the east of the House with the gatehouse beyond. If we look west we see the gardens that extended towards the ‘grove’ and ‘wilderness’ that led down to Nun’s Bridge. If we go forward to the terrace wall, the view opens out over the meadows and the Alconbury brook – a view that would certainly have pleased the eye of people like Capability Brown, who in the second half of the 18th century favoured the natural landscape rather than the ornamental.

A 1 This article is based on Tom Wheeley’s article in Issue 27 of the FHH Newsletter 2 ‘Hinchingbrooke House, Huntingdon: An Assessment of the Historic Landscape’ by Tom Williamson and Sarah Harrison. This was prepared in 2006 for the Huntingdon West Area Action Plan.

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The First Earl’s Garden1

aby Tom Wheeley and Roger Mitchella Edward Montagu had inherited Hinchingbrooke from his father, Sidney, in 1644 but the instability of Civil War and Interregnum together with Montagu’s political, military and naval commitments meant that few changes were made to house or garden. That all changed in 1660 with the Restoration of Charles II. Montagu played a crucial part in Charles’ return. He commanded the English fleet and it was in his flagship, formerly the Naseby, now hastily renamed the Royal Charles, that the King returned from exile. Montagu’s reward was to be created Earl of Sandwich. Thus, the 1660s was a period of transition at Hinchingbrooke as the new Earl embarked on a major building project, turning the house and its immediate surroundings into a country seat fit for a peer of the realm.

A

BEFORE 1660 aA

We know very little about how the Hinchingbrooke site had been developed before 1660.2 The unusual location of the house has always been a key factor and suggests an evolution of existing buildings rather than a complete demolition and rebuild. The Nunnery Church, now the south range of the House is only a few yards away from the public highway linking Huntingdon first to Brampton and then on to the Great North Road. For the nuns, that proximity was probably welcome. It provided security and convenience and the mediaeval entry to Hinchingbrooke was from the Brampton road to the south west of the Nunnery. That all changed in the Tudor period with conversion from nunnery to country house by three generations of the Cromwell family. When James I arrived at Hinchingbrooke en route to London in 1603, he would have entered from the north east through the ‘new’ gatehouse, parts of which had been brought from Ramsey Abbey by the Cromwells. He reached the main door of the house by crossing what was then an enclosed courtyard. The most important rooms of the house looked out to the north and to the east and any gardens that existed would probably have been laid out there so as to be visible from the upstairs windows. The Great Bow Window, then on the east front, would have been a particularly appropriate viewpoint, especially as viewers would probably have been able to look over the garden wall to the main approach to the house from nearby Huntingdon. aaaaThe Brampton road was probably regarded as an increasing nuisance, but the cost of rerouting it would have been prohibitive and would have required a new bridge across the Alconbury Brook. Instead a south wall with an embankment behind it would hide the road and give the grounds close to the house a real sense of privacy and tranquillity. How and when this embanked wall was created is not known, but it is likely that it originated with the Cromwells.

It may well be that rubble from the conversion of the nunnery was used as a basis for the embankment. Indeed there is evidence of reused mediaeval stonework in the damaged estate wall running down through the trees towards Nuns Bridge. As well as hiding the road, the embankment, which might have had a higher viewing mound on top, would provide excellent views of the formal gardens.

There is no record to show what the gardens or the embankment looked like before 1660, but it seems clear that something must have been there, not least because in his diary, Samuel Pepys records that he was consulted by the first Earl about ‘bringing the crooked wall on the mound to a shape’.3 103

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 aTHE 1660s A We are fortunate to have much better evidence from the 1660s. Some of that evidence was unearthed during the recent restoration of terrace and steps that is described in the previous article in this section. Written evidence comes directly from the famous diary that Samuel Pepys kept throughout this decade. Pepys was closely connected both to the Earl, whose secretary he was, and to Brampton, where his uncle lived, and so his diary recorded much of what unfolded at Hinchingbrooke in the 1660s, in the house, in the garden and in the park. He describes developments and is never afraid to give his own opinion.

As early as 14 July 1661 he wrote: ‘To Hinchingbrooke which is now all in dirt because of my Lord’s building which will make it very magnificent.’ By Autumn of the following year much of the work on the house had been completed. Pepys liked the staircase but his overall judgment was not entirely favourable. On 16 October he wrote: ‘There being nothing to make the outside more regular and modern, I am not satisfied with it, but do think it too much to be laid out upon it’. Hinchingbrooke still looked like an Elizabethan house with, in all likelihood, an Elizabethan garden. It was to that garden that the Earl and Countess now turned their attention and Pepys was there to see it and, as he proudly tells us, to give advice: 16 September 1663 – Thence at Hinchingbrooke I find my lady and the young ladies, and then I alone with my Lady two hours, and she carrying me through every part of the house and gardens which are and will be mighty noble indeed.

20 September 1663 – And so to Hinchingbrooke and there my Lord took me with the rest of the company, and singly demanded my opinion in the walks in his garden about the bringing of the crooked wall on the mount to a shape.

It is likely that an existing Tudor wall and embankment were now in need of repair and regularisation. A year later, the work seems to have been completed because Pepys writes on 15 October 1664: ‘My father and I up and walked alone to Hinchingbrooke [from Brampton]; and among the late chargeable works that my Lord hath done there we saw his waterwork, and the Ora, which is very fine’. John Evelyn, a friend both of Pepys and of Sandwich, uses the word ‘waterwork’ to mean a fountain and that would fit in very well with the tap and the lead piping discovered in 2016. There is further evidence of ‘waterwork’ from Celia Fiennes who visited Hinchingbrooke in 1697 and wrote that ‘there is a large fountaine or bason, which is to resemble that in the privy garden at Whitehall’. She says that this ‘will front the house’, but it is not clear where this would be. As late as 1804 the household accounts include a payment for repairs to the fountain. What Pepys meant by ‘Ora’, is far from certain but the glossary in Robert Latham’s edition of the diary (1985) suggests that the word comes from the Latin for shore and may in this context mean ‘brim of pot or basin’. Once again it seems that water is involved, as it is in a final diary reference to the Hinchingbrooke grounds. On 9 October 1667, Pepys, returning to his uncle’s house in Brampton, ‘walked over the park, through the grove which is mighty pretty as is imaginable, and so over their drawbridge to Nun’s Bridge’.

The only evidence of further development of the garden by the 1st Earl after 1664 is an ice house designed by the Earl of Clarendon and built in 1666.4 Sandwich was at sea during the Second Dutch War which began in 1665 and then for two and a half years from March 1666 to September 1668, he was out of the country serving as Ambassador to Spain. The Journal that he kept while in Spain includes descriptions of gardens and he sent John Evelyn ‘draughts of places, fountains and engines for ye irrigation and refreshing of their plantations’. The Earl was back at Hinchingbrooke in 1669 to 1670 but we have no evidence that he used these ideas in his English garden and his death at the battle of Sole Bay in 1672 ended those possibilities. It 104

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 may be that, even then, the garden was incomplete. As late as 1697 Celia Fiennes describes the Hinchingbrooke estate as follows: ‘The Gardens and Wilderness and Greenhouse will be very fine when quite finished, with the dwarfe trees and gravell-walks’.

The kind of garden redesign that the 1st Earl was doing seems remarkably similar to that being undertaken on a grander scale at Kirby Hall in Northamptonshire later in the 1660s. These gardens have been recreated and can be visited today. They are very formal, crossed by gravel pathways and clipped hedges that abut directly to the house and create what was usually called a ‘parterre’. This is best viewed from a mounded embankment and wall, which also obscures the approach road to the house from immediate view. It is clear from Celia Fiennes’ account – ‘the high terrace walks look out on the road’ - that the Hinchingbrooke terrace was similarly intended as a viewpoint.

There are two other contemporary descriptions of the Hinchingbrooke estate in the 1660s.

In August 1665, Lady Sandwich wrote to her husband: ‘The garden here [is] very hansom, much beyond what I would expect. My Lady Pickering [Sandwich’s sister] saies she doth extraordinary like it, the walk houses and garden houses5 are very fine and the walls very hansom. The lower part doth exceeding well. There is every day company in the Bowling Aley of the better sort of our Nebours.’6 Equally complimentary is the description in a letter 7 written in 1663 by Thomas Povey (c1613-1705).8 Povey was an interesting man. Like Pepys, he was a proto civil servant and he held a number of offices including Secretary to the Duke of York, a post which would have involved close contact with Sandwich. He was a friend of Pepys, who described him as ‘most excellent in anything but business’. He was a man of fashion, a founder member of the Royal Society, a connoisseur and a collector. He collected Dutch pictures, both trompe l’oeil perspectives and landscapes. All of this makes his description an informed and fashionable way of looking at a landscape and it is fascinating to see how highly he valued a prospect which we might regard as unremarkable. It is worth remembering that it would be another hundred years before wilder landscapes ceased being ‘horrid’ and started to become ‘sublime’. Povey’s description is of the view out from Hinchingbrooke and he specifically recommends ‘the Garden Terras’ as the viewpoint: ‘Even to gluttonie my eie is entertained, there being set before it at one view what soe ever Sir Phillip Sydney in Romance or Sir Henry Wooton more in Earnest, would describe to bee the most Perfect or Satisfying Prospect. a

For from a pleasant spott, either the Garden Terras or the newe made Bowling Greene or the Parke or the adjacent Field, we can at once see diverse greate Townes, waters, bridges and above 20 steeples and Parishes, the most beautiful meadows, incompassed like artificiall islands with the gliding river: hills at soe proper and soe differing a distance that if you would bound your view, you may reach those that pleasingly confine it: if you would extend it, you may almost lose it , by not being able to judge whether you see mountains or woods or clouds, soe well do the Distances deceive you. In fine (for the post is upon wing) everie guest here is abundantly entertained, within doores and without, and it is not easy not to be so ungrateful, as not to envie soe faire a prospect as this Lord enjoyes and so full a Felicitie as every waie embraces him.

a If Sandwich ever read this letter, and perhaps Povey intended that he should do so, he would have felt that his expenditure had been justified. The view into his garden would be formal and controlled. Trees and bushes would be clipped and water would flow in straight channels or around regular curves. It is, however, the view out into the wider landscape that gets particular praise from Povey as ‘the most Perfect or Satisfying Prospect’. Reading his 105

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 analysis, he could be describing one of those Dutch landscape paintings that he admired and collected.

Figure 1 Estate Map 1757

THE 18th CENTURY a There were revolutionary changes in English Gardening between the 1660s and the 1760s, but they scarcely affected Hinchingbrooke. Our evidence comes from two main sources: an estate survey of 1757 and a visit by Horace Walpole six years later.

The 1757 Survey gives details of the ‘Hinchinbrook Lands in Hand’.

Acres Roods Poles House, Yards and Pleasure Gardens 77 11 1717 Old Bowling Green and Brick [or Rick] Yard 33 00 2121 The Orchard 11 22 2828 Kitching Garden 33 00 2020 Ladys Garden and Dog Kennel 00 11 2424 703 329 29 The Park, Groves etc 7 0 Nuns Meadow 7 0 033 6 0 10 Bridge Meadow In total, this made up just under 100 acres and, even if the 4th Earl had had the money to make improvements, their scope would have been limited. ‘Capability’ Brown, the man at the centre of that gardening revolution, became a near neighbour when he purchased property at 106

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 Fenstanton, but even though he and the 4th Earl were acquainted, no improvement schemes for Hinchingbrooke exist. Brown worked on the grand scale and, perhaps, for once, he concluded that at Hinchingbrooke there were no ‘capabilities’. This allowed archaic features such as the raised terrace and the wilderness walk to be retained.

Horace Walpole was at Hinchingbrooke on 30th May 1763 and, in a letter to his friend, George Montagu, he summed up the park and garden in a single, crisp sentence. ‘The garden is wondrous small, the park almost smaller, and no appearance of territory.’

In the same letter he also comments on the wider Huntingdonshire landscape: Well, I saw Hinchingbrooke this morning. Considering it is in Huntingdonshire, the situation is not so ugly nor melancholy as I expected; but I do not conceive what provoked so many of your ancestors9 to pitch their tents in that triste country, unless the Capulets loved fine prospects.

There could not be a clearer indication of that change in taste that had taken place since Povey’s description exactly one hundred years earlier. Rather than admiring the scenery from the terrace, he regards the view out as showing only a ‘triste country’. To make matters worse, because the house is so close to the road, ‘they can not take down the wall that shuts it in’.10 The 1757 estate map 11 (Detail shown in Figure 1) may provide an explanation for Walpole’s emphasis on a wall rather than a bank. It shows the steps, embankment and wall very much as we see them today. All walls are shown in red and a careful scrutiny shows what appears to be an internal retaining wall running the full length of the terrace. This suggests that the wall was visible rather than encased in an earth mound. The excavation of the steps revealed a section of this wall and the mortar between the bricks had been carefully finished in a way that suggests that the wall was intended to be seen. If the wall had been visible, this would have given the area between it and the house a very enclosed look and perhaps justified Walpole’s criticism of ‘the wall that shuts it in’. The Pepys Steps would have been the only access point to the Terrace. aaaaaThe terrace and indeed the steps are clearly shown in the 1730 print by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck (Detail shown in fig 2). This is the earliest picture of both house and garden.

Despite some flattening out of the north and east fronts of the house and some problems with the bow window, this is an extremely accurate representation of the house and we must assume that similar care was shown in depicting the garden. Inside the wall, everything is formal, trees are kept under the most rigid control and paths are invariably straight. Beyond the wall, our bird’s eye vantage point allows us to see some of those ‘above 20 steeples’ that Povey enthuses about, but of equal interest is the foreground just beyond the terrace wall. There is no sign of the Brampton Road but instead trees and bushes seem to provide an additional screen. Their existence is confirmed in a letter written in 1735 by ‘a member of the family’.12 This describes the view from the terrace and notes that ‘the venerable old elms on the road are very ornamental and the wood at the bottom of the garden very pretty’.

Two small illustrations (figs 3 and 4) on the title page of the 1757 estate maps mentioned above support the idea that there was no longer a prospect out from the terrace. One has the title ‘PROSP: from the TERRACE’ but shows the view inwards to the east front of the house rather than out across Portholme. The other is entitled ‘PROSP from PORTHOLM’ and shows the chimneys, upper walls and windows of the south front. The terrace wall is not visible because it is completely hidden by trees. Even if Walpole had climbed the Pepys Steps, he might not have been able to enjoy the view that opens before us today. Road and footpath widening in the 19th and 20th centuries and the construction of the Hinchingbrooke access road in the late 1960s mean that the area is now clear of trees13 and what we see is not dissimilar to what Pepys, Povey and the first Earl saw in the 1660s if street lighting and railway line can be 107

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 discounted. The view is impressive and rural and we can thank the 1st Earl, his gardeners and his builders for creating this viewpoint more than 350 years ago. We can also take pride in linking the name of Samuel Pepys to this beautifully restored garden feature.

Figure 2 Buck Print 1730

Figure 3 Estate Map 1757

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Figure 4 Estate Map 1757

1 This note combines material from a talk that Tom Wheeley gave at the FHH AGM in July 2016 with additional material (and speculation) from him and from Roger Mitchell 2 An excellent and up to date summary is in ‘Hinchingbrooke House, Huntingdon: An Assessment of the Historic Landscape’ by Tom Williamson and Sarah Harrison. This was prepared in 2006 for the Huntingdon West Area Action Plan.

3 Diary 20th September 1663.

4 Its location to the North West of the Current Rose Garden is shown on the 1885 25inch O.S. map but in 1912 it was described as ‘recently destroyed’. (Williamson/Harrison).

5 Could either of these have been the brick chambers discovered in the 2016 Restoration or perhaps the small building in the bottom left hand corner of the Buck print?

6 Carte MS 74 f. 354 (Bodleian Library) quoted in Richard Ollard’s Cromwell’s Earl. 1994.

7 State Papers Domestic Charles II cxii f93 Povey to Williamson. Sir Joseph Williamson was another of those early bureaucrats.

8 For more about Thomas Povey see the entry by Barbara Murison in the online version of The Dictionary of National Biography.

9 George Montagu was a member of the Montagu clan and therefore related to the Earls of Sandwich at Hinchingbrooke and to the Dukes of Manchester at Kimbolton.

10 Walpole’s ‘Journals of Visits to Country Houses: Kimbolton and Hinchinbrook. May 1763’.

11 Huntingdonshire Record Office.

12 Williamson/Harrison.

13 If the view outwards had become restricted by the mid 18th century, it is likely that it was opened out againnot long afterwards, probably before the 4th Earl’s death in 1792. Perhaps that was the time when the splendid Cedar of Lebanon was planted.

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THE EIGHTH EARL’S GARDEN: 1880 - 1914

a

Documents a The Hinchingbrooke Gardens were probably at their finest at the time of the 8th Earl of Sandwich in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. The 8th Earl was described in a December 1905 article in the Gardeners’ Magazine as ‘an excellent gardener and also, but what does not always follow, a lover of his garden’. The article applauds his strategic vision, particularly in a major scheme of tree planting, and his willingness to experiment, both with the Japanese Garden and with flower beds. ‘Conventionalism’, we are told, ‘is not rigidly followed at Hinchingbrooke.

The groundwork for the gardens had been laid by the 7th Earl. As a young man, he oversaw the post fire rebuilding, and for the first 50 years of Victoria’s reign he lived at Hinchingbrooke.

During his time the gardens and also the buildings within and adjoining them were developed.

Many of these were demolished after the Second World War but the garden house which he built for his wife survives. Known now as either the Wendy House or the Little House, this lies to the south west of Hinchingbrooke House. It is a miniature early Victorian cottage embellished with her initials, M S, beneath a coronet.

An account of the 7th Earl’s gardens in 1881, written by ‘W.H.’ was published in The Gardeners’ Chronicle. The description includes a conservatory, greenhouse, fernery, forcing and plant houses as well as new fruit-houses in the kitchen garden. This was clearly a major enterprise and, although there is no mention of the Earl by name, we are at least told the name of the man who supervised this garden empire. Mr Bowie was the Head Gardener and his responsibilities were considerable as the (edited) account below makes clear: 1 Gardeners’ Chronicle 10th December 1881 [Hinchingbrook] is situated a little distance to the west of the town, on the north-west side of a gentle slope, and commands a fine view of the surrounding country, particularly of the vale rendered fertile by the waters of the river Ouse. On the south of the pleasure-ground is a high terrace, which overlooks the road from Brampton to Huntingdon, and from which elevation the flower-gardens and grounds look exceedingly pretty. This is indeed a point from which extensive views through vistas of trees are numerous, and from which a direct view of the carpet-bedding (which is exceedingly chaste in design) and a long flower-border are obtained at a glance, the variety of the floral picture and the associations of choice trees and Roses being both pleasant and harmonious……….

The entrance from the park gates to the mansion is cheerfully diversified and the park itself contains numerous specimens of English Elms, Oaks and Limes, and large plantations skirting the boundaries, and at other points, in order to convey or direct the eye to certain views, which are either locally famous or historically interesting. In the pleasure-grounds, which are a model of neatness, there are many noble trees, particularly of evergreen and Turkey Oaks, Copper Beech, and Cedars, of elegant symmetry, which are located in positions where they are in full view……. Upon the south front there is a neat group of flower-beds very tastefully planted or laid out in the carpet style, with central plants of the Agaves or some plant of suitable habit in the centre of each bed. The Rose garden is situated on the east side, which is adorned with many fine trees and shrubs and the Rose avenue that lies to the south-west, has a row of fine Fuchsias, 110

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 bordered with Gnaphalium lanatum, and Trimotas, and Sun Roses planted among the shrubs.

The Italian garden, in front of a block of plant-houses, is very showily planted, and enclosed by ornamental Yew hedges, which are very handsome and beautifully kept, and having the long flower-border, previously referred to, on the north-west side. The garden, I was pleased to see, was planted differently from what is usual in such designs; there was an easy, flowing, and natural style about the arrangement of the plants, which enhanced the enjoyment of the garden………

In the conservatory, there are fine old plants…..At each end of the conservatory there is a greenhouse and fernery respectively, the former containing a showy collection of flowering and foliage plants, and the latter a rather large stock of Ferns for furnishing and cutting.

The forcing and plant-houses are within the walled-in garden, which is over 4 acres in extent, and one of the best kept gardens in the kingdom. The new range of fruit-houses, 160 feet long and 12 feet wide, are the chief attraction of the glass department, which is in a very creditable condition, and in which fine crops of fruit and other supplies are grown every season. [Lists include figs, pineapples, plums, nectarines, peaches and ‘ornamental kinds of Tomatos’]. Since the houses have been erected (during March of the present year), the trees have made astonishing progress which must be satisfactory to the builder, satisfactory to the gardener, and still more satisfactory to the owner who derives the full benefit of the outlay in a very brief space of time, when trees grow and bear such crops of fruit as they do here. The range of vineries is on the east aspect, and here also Mr Bowie has thoroughly renewed all the Vine borders with very marked effect on the general condition of the crops…….

The chief borders of the kitchen garden are gay with the best selection of herbaceous plants, none being tolerated but those which are striking either as showy objects out-of-doors, or for yielding cut flowers for vases. In the fruit department the wall trees are bearing abundantly……..

It may be said of the walled-in garden at Hinchingbrook that it is in a high state of cultivation.

Wherever there is enthusiasm there is success and there are few more enthusiastic cultivators of fruit and vegetables than Mr Bowie. Wall-trees are in such order as is rarely seen now-a-days; in fact, when you enter the garden you are reminded of the fruit and kitchen gardens of ten or a dozen years ago. Every operation is done at the proper time, and the appearance of the trees and plants is the best testimony that their wants are understood, and their requirements looked after.

Vegetable growing, too, is looked upon as being more than garden drudgery. Mr Bowie is never more happy than when he is discussing the different systems of vegetable culture. His crops are of more than average merit, and, what is more, you can enjoy a look at them without inconvenience. It is a pleasure at any time to look upon fine crops, but it is still more so when you find the approaches to them tidy and orderly, and every other department of the garden correspondingly neat, and bearing the mark of skilled generalship at every step you take, or in whatever direction you may choose to look.

It is not known for how long Mr Bowie held sway as Head Gardener but in 1900 James Barson, previously general foreman at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire, arrived to take up the post. One of his first tasks was to create a Japanese Garden, which was perhaps the Eighth Earl’s most important innovation. a

Ann Colbert, a member of the Friends, has produced a major piece of research on the Japanese Garden and this is summarised below.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 2 The Japanese Garden – Ann Colbert The Japanese Garden at Hinchingbrooke House, was created by Edward Montagu, the 8th Earl of Sandwich after his visit to Japan in 1901. Japanese gardens became extremely popular in the first decade of the 20th century and examples survive at places like Lowther Castle, Cumbria (1903) and Gatton Park, Surrey (1909). Two of the largest and best maintained Japanese Gardens are at Tatton Park, Cheshire and Kingston Lacy, Dorset and both were inspired by the Anglo-Japanese Exhibition of 1910. Hinchingbrooke was a particularly early example, predating all of these. Constructed by the Earl’s Head Gardener, James Barson, and his team of fifteen regulars and extra labourers taken from the unemployed of Huntingdon, it was set out between September 1901 and April 1902 in a previously neglected and muddy part of the garden. In a newspaper interview, Barson describes its construction; ‘we drained the pond, made the watercourse and took another piece of the park, where hundreds and hundreds of barrows of soil had collected. Of the last we made miniature mountains. When the garden is illuminated, we have a fire which is supposed to represent burning earth and the effect is very realistic.’

The garden was landscaped to include banks and hills, ponds, a fountain, bridges, stepping stones and to contribute to the idea of ‘borrowed scenery’ – one of the guiding principles of the Japanese Garden – a pile of rocks in the pond represented Mount Fuji. This was used as a container for fireworks when entertaining and provided a recess for a fountain. Emphasis in planting was on trees, shrubs and plants introduced by plant hunters in the 1860’s. In an article in the Gardeners’ Magazine in 1904 James Barson describes the planting. Dwarf cherries, bamboos, azaleas and chrysanthemums abound and there are specific references to Japanese larch, Japanese myrtle and Japanese wineberry, It is likely that most of the plants were species which originated in Japan – although it might be said that the overall view was one of an herbaceous garden which might be found in the English cottage garden. Miniaturisation such as planting in containers was more likely than pruning in the Japanese bonsai style.

By the beginning of the twentieth century Japanese plants could be obtained in England and when Barson mentions ‘azaleas in trunks of trees from Yokohama’ the reference may well be to the Yokohama Nursery in St Albans which specialised in Japanese plants. Other plants may have come from the local nursery of Wood and Ingram, which regularly supplied Hinchingbrooke. Their Index of Plants (1890) for the nursery and a Sales Catalogue (Autumn 1898-1899) indicate a stock of trees, shrubs and plants of Japanese origin introduced in the mid-1800’s by plant hunters.

Some miniaturisation techniques were used and a stone lantern, bronze storks and flying fish brought back by the Earl added to the Japanese theme. A rustic style thatched tea house – known by the family as the Summer House was built in one corner. Fireworks and lighting for social occasions added to the picture.

There is a delightful description of this in My Life and Times – Octave 3 by Compton Mackenzie “Lord Sandwich had a Japanese garden in the middle of which was a miniature Fujiyama. I remember his taking me along to see an eruption of the famous volcano. The gardener was summoned and his Lordship with that slight stutter of his would say “F –fujiyama”, whereupon the gardener would light the fuse and presently Fujiyama would erupt for about a minute until the charge was exhausted.”

Another report of the Japanese Garden providing unusual entertainment comes from an article in the Peterborough Standard on 26 July 1902 reporting that after a performance of Twelfth Night in aid of the Huntingdonshire branch of the Soldiers, Sailors, Families’ Association on Friday evening . . “.the lovely Japanese Garden with its singularly prettily arranged walks, was illuminated by means of a number of huge lanterns, and the scene presented at the conclusion of the entertainment, when a great many wandered round to finish up a delightful evening, vividly reminding one of a picture from fairyland.”

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 By 1907 the garden would have been fully established and a Country Life article describes it as being ‘in a small dell, overlooked by a rustic thatched summerhouse . . the planting included a range of shrubs, waterside plants, waterlilies, and “dwarfed forest trees”. For the next forty years, its appearance hardly changed. Photographs discovered in Family Albums of the Sandwich family show that it was managed up to the mid-1950’s - confirmed by a sketch by Anne Montagu (1953) and recollections of the present Earl of Sandwich (2006). Thereafter it became increasingly wild and overgrown as Mary Stuart described it in 1979 in her book ‘Houseful at Hinchingbrooke’. Today the tea house has gone and the garden itself, although retaining its structure, is neglected.

James Barson’s expertise helped to establish his high reputation. He founded the Huntingdon Horticultural Society with exhibitions held at Hinchingbrooke. There was a show there in July 1904 ‘in the gardens which Lord Sandwich kindly allows to be used for the purpose’. A couple of months later (17 September 1904), the journal Garden Life published an interview with him as part of a series entitled ‘Famous Gardeners at Home’. This was reproduced by the Peterborough Standard under the heading of ‘Hinchingbrooke Gardens, A Professional View’ and contains detailed information about the state of the gardens. There is a copy in the house archive which John Cronin transcribed for FHH Newsletter 4: 3. Garden Life 17th September 1904 In that part of the pleasure grounds that can be best seen from the terrace opposite the mansion, beds containing standard geraniums, standard fuchsias and dahlias are prominent, with two antique vases filled with scarlet geraniums and tagetes. Scarlet geraniums are in fact a great feature, Lord Sandwich being very fond of them. There is a grand cedar, with a trunk fourteen feet six inches around, twenty feet up and more than a hundred and fifty years old, a very handsome beech and some nice specimens of prunus pissardi.

In the path leading to the woods a fine old box hedge, of considerable height, attracted my attention, and in the park, just beyond the gates, adjacent to the appropriately named Walnut Walk, is the lake with some of the best varieties of marliac lilies, which flower well and are extremely ornamental.

‘I see that you have some orange trees in tubs.’

‘Yes’ rejoined Mr Barson. ‘They came from the south of France, and have been here about six years. We take off the old fruit and they seem the better for it.’

‘Here, too, you have a number of geraniums in tubs still thriving.’

‘A dozen. They are all Henry Jacoby, and have been in flower since Whitsuntide. They are very lasting and cause little trouble. The pots you see sunk into the lawn contain the ivy leaf varieties, Madame Crousse, Rycroft Glory, Charles Turner and splendens.’

‘Your honeysuckle arches are quite a feature.’

‘They are just beginning to look lovely. We only grow the old red variety; no other does so well here.’

‘The pleasure gardens must be very considerable in extent.’

‘They are about twenty acres, and the kitchen gardens about four and a half acres.’

‘The arrangement is very charming. Then you must have a large staff?’ ‘ Ordinarily, the strength of the garden staff is about fifteen, four of whom reside in the Bothy.’

James Barson was well known both locally and nationally as a grower of vegetables and wrote newspaper articles about this with titles like ’Valuable Hints to Amateurs’. Ann Colbert has found an article from 1905 that describes the kitchen garden. This was published in FHH Newsletter 29.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 4. The Gardeners’ Magazine 7th January 1905 Many a man would give a great deal to have a kitchen garden like that at Hinchingbrooke. It is completely walled in, and the walls are in fine condition, clothed with pears, plums, cherries and other choice fruits that are well trained, and always give a good account of themselves. The garden is four and a half acres in extent, and as smartly kept as the rest of the establishment.

On either side of the central walk a flower border runs along in front of espalier fruit trees.

Towards the lower end, where the path is crossed by another, the stronger-growing climbing roses are trained over an ornamental wire work temple or arbour. In summertime this walk is such a pretty picture that a light iron openwork gate is to be erected in the wall at the upper end of the garden, so that visitors approaching the house may be able to catch a glimpse of, and enjoy the scene.

Mr Barson is a strong advocate of deep digging and he practices what he preaches. The Earl is a liberal employer, and does not believe in an undermanned garden. Moreover, in the winter it is his especial wish, that so far as possible, men who are thrown out of employment in the neighbourhood shall be given employment in the garden or on the estate. This makes it possible for trenching to be done well and, as the soil is deep, though somewhat light, there is probably little, if any, of the kitchen garden – saving the fine asparagus beds – where a stout stick could not be thrust into the depth of three feet to four feet.

Glass Houses and Orchard “By squares of tropic summer shut and warmed in crystal cases” The indoor department is not an extensive one. It consists of two vineries, two peach houses, two large orchard houses, a plant stove, and an abundance of heated pits and cold frames. In these as elsewhere, evidences of skilful culture are apparent whether it be the fruits, chrysanthemums, table plants or begonias. With Begonia Gloire de Lorraine, Mr Barson is especially successful. Growing from cuttings struck in April, beautifully flowered plants that, in November measured thirty-one inches through.

Behind the principal glasshouses is an unusually complete range of outhouses and offices. Here is the stokehole, the messroom, a shed for pots and pot-washing, one for soils and manures, an engine house – the engine being used for pumping water, a shed for garden sundries and stores, and a commodious fruit-room. Few employers provide such ample, and yet very necessary conveniences for the garden staff.

Hardy fruit is managed well at Hinchingbrooke, and I have already drawn attention to the finely trained wall trees in the kitchen garden. Another long wall, fronted by a long border of the finest tea and hybrid tea roses, gives shelter to a number of apricot trees. Outside the kitchen garden is a young orchard and if the fruit produced this season is an earnest of good things to come, it is safe to say that sundry competitors may have cause to remember the Hinchingbrooke produce.

Edward VII’s visit to Hinchingbrooke in July 1906 was an opportunity for Barson and the 8th Earl to display the gardens to advantage. The local press was predictably enthusiastic: 5 Huntingdonshire Post July 1906 One of the first of the pleasing ceremonies that took place after His Majesty had partaken of tea, was the planting of a young cedar on the west lawn by His Majesty as a memento of the occasion. The operation was watched with much interest by the members of the house party and Mr Barson, the head gardener had the honour of being presented to His Majesty by the Earl of Sandwich. We understand that His Majesty strolled around the delightful gardens which it goes without saying were in splendid condition and as Lord Sandwich has had much to do personally 114

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 with their extension and arrangement, he is not a little proud of them.

The King wore a buttonhole of Lilies-of-the-valley on Sunday and a ‘Malmaison’ carnation on Monday, all of course grown in the gardens. The lawns were perhaps never looking better, the Japanese garden of which his Lordship is naturally very proud, coming in for special attention.

Lord Redesdale, we hear, expressed his delight with this garden and described it as an almost perfect reproduction and one of the best he had ever seen.

Praise from Lord Redesdale (grandfather to the Mitford sisters) was praise worth having. He had served as a diplomat in both China and Japan, was consulted by W.S.Gilbert when he was writing ‘The Mikado’ and was generally regarded as the expert on all things Japanese.

For Barson, being presented to the King must have been a career high point. Trusted and highly respected, his career came to an abrupt end only three years later, when it was discovered that he was forging accounts for his own benefit. He was dismissed and the Earl wrote the following letter to the Daily Mail entitled ‘Liability for Servants’: 3rd September 1909 I notice in your issue of Saturday a paragraph headed ’Dishonest Servants’, which gives an abbreviated account of a communication I addressed to the local Press.

The facts are that my late gardener pleaded guilty and was convicted of a series of frauds and forgeries extending over a considerable period. I have had to pay a large sum for goods ordered without authority and contrary to my instructions from all parts of the country. The cost of the prosecution was nearly £80. Months after his committal I received a bill for goods ordered by the gardener from a tradesman in this county and supplied to the gardener for his own use, and am legally advised that I am responsible for the payment because many years ago the gardener ordered goods from the tradesman in my name.

The responsibility of employers for the dealings of servants with tradesmen thus appears to me incalculable, as if at any time an employer has authorised a servant to buy goods from him, he becomes responsible for the payment for any goods which that servant may thereafter order for his own use or for any purpose.

Sandwich It was a sad end to a decade which saw the Hinchingbrooke gardens at their most spectacular, but even the disgrace of a Head Gardener did not lead to the decline of the garden. The outbreak of war in 1914 had a far more significant and long-lasting effect. The 8th Earl died in June 1916, and although his nephew and successor maintained the garden effectively, the glory days were over.

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GARDEN OPENING AT HINCHINGBROOKE IN 8TH EARL’S TIME a

Documents The three decades after 1880 were difficult times for many country house owners. The agricultural depression reduced their rental income and social change reduced their power, their influence and the regard in which they were held. For the 8th Earl of Sandwich these problems hardly seem to have existed. He extended Hinchingbrooke, built ‘The Cottage’ and spent lavishly on his garden and on entertaining and motoring. He also seems to have been held in high regard locally. In an earlier section, David Cozens has explored the relationship between the Earl and Huntingdon, and in this section documents about the 8th Earl’s Gardens have been collected together.

The documents below, all from the local press, show how the Earl used his gardens to increase his popularity.

1. Hunts Independent Press 26th April 1882 To the Editor Sir I think the nobility and gentry of this county might, with comparatively little inconvenience to themselves, contribute to the pleasures and enjoyments of the tradesmen, mechanics and labouring classes, if they would throw open their parks and gardens, once a week, or even once a month As an old inhabitant of the borough, I have always considered it an honour and a pleasure when Hinchingbrook Park has been thrown open and I have often wished that these occasions were more frequent.

I am yours etc TRICYCLIST 2. Hunts Gazette 24th July 1885 TOURNAMENT AT HINCHINGBROOK The Earl of Sandwich gave a garden party and lawn tennis tournament at Hinchingbrook last Wednesday evening. About 500 invitations were issued and about that number was present.

The party was given to his lordship’s tenantry from all parts of the county, and there were numerous private invitations as well; but all classes mingled together in the most social manner possible. The noble Earl has evidently taken a most commendable step, and he has won the goodwill of all classes by the liberal way in which he threw open the beautiful park and grounds and the ancient castle on Wednesday last, also by the generous way in which he entertained his tenaantry. The park was opened at three o’clock, when the lawn tennis tournament commenced, but the general invitation was for 4.30. Every attention was paid to the guests as they arrived. A marquee was erected on the lawn, from which refreshments of all kinds were served, and Mr J.P.Maule, his lordship’s steward, was most energetic in seeing that all the guests were well attended to. The house itself was a great object of interest. It was thrown open 116

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 for inspection, and the utmost freedom was apparent everywhere, and the various rooms with their ancient associations were viewed with much interest. The greatest order prevailed, and everyone guarded against doing any injury.

Out of doors there was also plenty to interest the company; and the band of the 5th Battalion, King’s Royal Rifles was present’ ……………. The Earl moved about amongst his guests displaying the greatest affability, and all present appeared perfectly at ease.

The lawn tennis tournament formed one of the most interesting features of the evening. It was arranged to take place between twelve ladies, the prize being two elaborate parasols, presented

by Colonel, the Hon A.Montagu………….. The tournament was watched with much interest, and, after a strong competition, Mrs Desborough and Mrs Vernon were declared the victors.

Mrs Desborough played in very fine form. Among the guests were [There follows the usual long list] Among the tenantry [Another not quite so long list] The company separated, after spending a most enjoyable evening, at eight o’clock.

3..Hunts Independent Press 24th (?) July 1885 A very similar report but initially there is a more critical tone which disappears as the passage develops..

Garden Party at Hinchingbrook – The Earl of Sandwich gave a garden party at Hinchingbrook on Wednesday, the attendance being by invitation. This is a step in the right direction and the noble earl has won golden opinions by it. No one can remember an instance of Hinchingbrook house and grounds having been thrown open as it was on Wednesday. An idea of exclusiveness has always prevailed in people’s minds regarding the spot; this idea is, however, in a fair way of being effectually dispelled. The invitations were issued without any regard whatever for party considerations. ……………………..

The house was thrown open for inspection with the utmost freedom; and if his lordship could have heard the hearty expressions of appreciation which were continually being uttered, he would have felt himself amply repaid. The various rooms were examined with the keenest interest; objects of interest abounded everywhere; the only thing that was wanted was something of a guide, especially with regard to the pictures. Out of doors, there was plenty to interest the company. Lawn tennis parties were actively employed, and the comfort of lookers-on was most thoughtfully considered. Individuals might sit on ordinary garden seat, lounge in a chair, or recline in a hammock, these being either in the open or under an awning. The band of the Fifth Battalion King’s Royal Rifles, under the conductorship of Mr J.H.Clearey, was stationed near the conservatory, and performed an excellent selection of music during the evening. The Earl moved about amongst his guests, displaying the greatest affability; and everyone felt quite at ease and at liberty to wander in the quiet walks which abound, or mix among the company in the gardens or on the terraces. Amongst all the various enjoyments the evening seemed to pass quickly away, and the guests departed at 8 o’clock.

4. Press Cutting with neither source nor date given, but almost certainly from the later 1880s GARDEN PARTY AT HINCHINGBROOKE PARK A garden party at Hinchingbrooke might in anticipation be regarded as a pleasant reunion.

The genial courtesy of the head of the Montagues – the Earl of Sandwich, the arboreous beauties of the park and the exquisite culture of the gardens are in themselves half-sureties of success.

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Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 The rain is a more important influence. It fell on Tuesday – for which day invitations had been issued by the Earl throughout the county – as if rain had never fallen before. It descended in deluging showers, driving the scores – who, notwithstanding the threatenings of the day, had ventured out, many in semi-diaphanous garments – to seek the shelter of the wide-spreading trees or the refuge of the historic mansion with its treasured memories of the first Earl, the heroic friend of Samuel Pepys, or the hospitably provided tent in the corner of the lawn. The guests commenced to arrive at four, the Earl himself – clad in a pleasant negligee suit, that betokened a wholesome faith in Jupiter Pluvius – receiving them at the entrance to the wide-spreading lawn. Those who had been invited to join in the pleasures of a lawn-tennis tournament had arrived about an hour earlier Unfortunately, this game was cut short by a downpour of furious force. Afterwards his lordship did all he could to promote the pleasure of his visitors. For awhile the rain kept off, and then the guests strolled in the leafy shades of the trees or enjoyed the beauties of the conservatory and the gardens or gossiped in the tent, the whole appreciating the while the excellent music which the Huntingdon Militia Band, under the leadership of Mr Cleary, discoursed. The gathering was representative of the county – guests from north to south, east to west had been invited. The following – almost a full list of the invitations – will give the best idea of its character.

[A long list follows. To a reader unacquainted with the social niceties of Hunts in the 1880s, it is not very revealing. There are lots of Reverends and several army officers, but no indication of tenants. All told it looks to have been exclusively upper and middle class, perhaps more so than the 1885 event.]

5. Letter to the Editor of Independent Press August 1908 Sir I am a City Worker visiting here and recently went to the Flower Show at Hinchingbrooke.

I had a look round the grand old house first and extended my ramble into the park. All the time I was expecting someone would appear to order me off. I stayed until evening and saw the Earl stroll through the park and among the people without any display or affectation. Instead of grudgingly shutting his gates, he throws them open that people may enter in. The Earl of Sandwich is indeed one of Nature’s Gentlemen. Allow me, Sir, through your paper to offer him the thanks of A city worker

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Arcadia at Hinchingbrooke*

aby Ann Colberta Trees can tell us stories of our social history and those at Hinchingbrooke have been recorded over the centuries. Within the lightly wooded part of the Pleasure Grounds which describes the area bordering the open lawn and to the south west of the house is a circle of box, within which is a small ornamental cottage originally built as a summer house for the wife of the 7th Earl in the middle of the nineteenth century. Within the circle here is a single oak tree which is surrounded by the remains of a circular iron seat. Since its construction the tree has continued to grow, partly engulfing the seat, so that only parts of the structure are visible. Nothing stops a tree from growing!

Past descriptions of the area emphasise the variety and size of the trees. The Gardeners’ Chronicle in 1881noted that there were ‘many noble trees, particularly of evergreen and Turkey oaks, copper beech and cedars of ‘elegant symmetry’. The Gardeners’ magazine in 1905 similarly noted that ‘on the south side (of the mansion) nothing attracts attention so much as the magnificent trees’ and drew particular attention to the ‘grand, old’ Cedars of Lebanon ‘towering upward majestically’. The article went on to describe the beech trees as being ‘particularly fine, and there are some good oaks.’ The 1885OS 25’’ map suggests that the proportion of coniferous and deciduous trees was fairly evenly matched , and there are hints that the area was being managed on ‘Gardenesque’ lines, that is to emphasise the characteristics of the individual specimens more than to use them in an architectural fashion.

The Gardeners’ Chronicle observed that the trees are ‘located in positions where they are in full view, and not likely to be injured or encroached upon by swarms of inferior trees …. As is too often the case when thinning out does not receive the necessary annual attention’. The OS 25’’ map shows a number of paths winding in serpentine style through the trees. What stories could the trees tell us of those guests who strolled after dinner or took part in the Bank Holiday games? aaaaaThe magnificent Cedar of Lebanon beside the open lawn has a girth of 5.9 metres. Its height makes it visible from the surrounding area and the railway line and, with its partner in the river meadows opposite, it is a symbol of the Hinchingbrooke landscape. But this is only one of a number of fine trees ranging in date from the mid 18th to to mid 20th centuries. These include oaks and Turkey oaks with girths from 1.8 – 4.5 metres, beeches, holm oaks, London planes, Atlas cedar, sycamores, a lime, Scots pines and a horse chestnut with a girth of 3.6 metres. There are also a number of sizeable yews together with more recent box and holly and late twentieth-century planting including ornamental Prunus, beech, holly, birch and sycamore.

The Woodland Trust describes trees as ancient, veteran and notable, suggesting that an ancient tree is one that makes you go ‘wow’! We are privileged to have a range of veteran trees, all mature and providing important wildlife habitats with features including hollowing and associated fungi, holes, wounds and large dead branches. What else could we say but ‘Wow!’ as we gaze up into the branches of the magnificent Cedar of Lebanon? Such living relics, the jewels in the crown of Hinchingbrooke, deserve our care and respect as much as other icons of the Huntingdon landscape.

* First published in Issue 19 of FHH Newsletter June 2012.

Design and layout by Sam Bell

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