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But I have been sadly digressing; it was the unexpected kindness shown to us by the owner of Layer Marney Hall that caused me to wander away so from the matter in hand. It would be interesting, did space permit, to trace back the history of the Marney family, who seem suddenly to have become famous and almost as suddenly to have died out. According to the Proceedings of the Essex Archæological Society,' vol. iii., Henry Lord Marney, to whom we owe this grand gateway (grand, though merely a portion of the entire scheme of what was manifestly intended to have been a most stately mansion), Henry Lord Marney then, we learn from the authority above quoted, 'numerous and splendid as were the honours which he acquired, started in life as plain Henry Marney, Esq.,' and belonged to a class described by Henry VIII. as scant well-borne gentlemen, of no great lands.' He was created a baron by title of Lord Marney, a Knight of the Garter, Lord Privy Seal, and Captain of the Body Guard. The patent of nobility he only enjoyed for a year, and his son John succeeded to his title and property, who also died the year following his father's decease, leaving no issue, and so this family, so suddenly brought into prominence, became extinct.

Had Lord [John] Marney lived, probably Layer Marney Hall would have been completed in all its intended magnificence, and it would then, there is little room to doubt, have compared in stateliness with the most splendid mansions of the kingdom. The gateway alone is of great interest, not merely

A UNIQUE BUILDING.

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on account of its architectural grandeur and beauty, but because of the originality of its design and the unusual materials (for the period) employed in its erection. The structure is of bricks, which are peculiarly small, with terra-cotta mouldings. This is one of the earliest, if not indeed the very earliest specimen of the revival of brickwork in any building of consequence since the time of the Romans, but the chief feature of the structure is, of course, the terra-cotta adornments, and it is curious. to note that the clay from which these are made is not to be found in the neighbourhood. Lord Marney is said to have imported Italian workmen especially to make this terra-cotta, which proceeding on his part may account for the classic details in the ornamentation, though the quaint dolphins at the top of the flanking towers scarcely seem to belong to this formal style. But though no rigid or particular style has been adhered to, the general effect of the gateway is excellent; manifestly the architect, by his bold departure from previous forms of building, was left a free hand and wisely decided to be original, not only in his general design and ornamentation, but, as before noticed, even in the materials employed.

This mansion of Layer Marney, it is evident, was to have been a notable building, a monument to the greatness of the family. Here we have no slavish copy of preceding work, but something fresh and suitable to the changed needs of the time, a building expressing great individuality, yet happily free from eccentricity, effective without any sugges

tion of straining after effect, and, above all things, dignified an edifice that tells of the genius of its designer and the splendour of the age.

With the kind permission of the owner we mounted up numerous steps to the top of the tower. From this we had a glorious bird's-eye view : near at hand we looked down upon the tallest trees, and far away to the south we caught sight of the silvery gleam of the Blackwater River. Long we rested on that time-worn tower, for we felt in a lazy mood that day, drinking in the beauty of the scene. We gazed upon a wild wooded country stretching from us long leagues to river and distant sea; the landscape that we looked upon is much the same that the lordly builder of this stately tower must have seen when he came here, as doubtless he often did ; the hoary old church, almost directly beneath us, stands still as it did of yore, within whose hallowed walls, under stately altar-tombs, the once proud possessors of this splendid home now sleep their last long sleep. It would be difficult to find in all England a spot more suggestive of remoteness than Layer Marney; it is the very embodiment of quiet and peace-dulness, if you will-far removed as it is from the vulgar hurry and rush of the outer world. Henry, Lord Marney, could he rise from his cold marble tomb, might look well around him, and from all that he could gather here, he would imagine in all probability that the world, or this corner of England at least, had changed little in all the fateful centuries that he had been sleeping in his grand tomb, for here no railway is in sight, no sound of

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steam whistle frets the stilly country air, no telegraph wires stretch across the land, the roads are possibly no worse and no better than they were three centuries ago. Yes, Lord Marney might wake from his long sleep, and, from all he could tell from the surroundings of his former stately mansion, find the world apparently but little changed; he might think how well his building had lasted and wish to complete it, and perhaps he might wish that his tomb had been better cared for.

CHAPTER V.

Layer Marney Church-Old Altar-tombs-An Ancient Will-An English Earthquake-Rooms once occupied by Famous PeopleAn Historic Farmhouse-A Primitive Letter Box-A Ford on the Road-A Ruined Church-An Ancient Coaching Hostelrie-The Old-fashioned Inn-Inn Signs-Relics of the Past-A Country Church with Tenth-Century Frescoes-Walls six yards thick !— St. Botolph's Priory-A Curious Church Tower.

THE grey old time-hallowed church which stands under the shadow of the grand Layer Marney tower, and which is in truth dwarfed by the majesty and greatness of the latter, is of considerable interest on account of the Marney chapel and the elaborate altar-tombs it contains to that once famous family. It was our good fortune by happy chance to be conducted over this ancient church by the rector of the parish, who kindly gave us every information in his power as to the past history of the building and particulars as to the fine monuments it contains. Our general fate when inspecting such edifices is to be shown round by the clerk, whom, whatever his other desirable qualifications, we have found seldom to take much interest in the office of guide, and who gives you what little information he may in a parrotlike fashion wearisome to listen to, or else does not seem to know anything at all, and hurries you along past objects of interest, careless whether you observe

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