t PALACE AT BISHOP'S WALTHAM, HAMPSHIRE. THIS once celebrated place, formerly a palace, appertaining to the see of Winchester, and the summer residence of many of its bishops, was situated in the midst of a large forest, which received its name therefrom. William de Wyckham, celebrated for his skill in gothic architecture, and to whom Edward III. intrusted the reedification of Windsor castle, generally resided here. On his nomination to the bishopric, finding most of the buildings belonging thereunto in a state of great dilapidation, he expended on their repairs upwards of 20,000 marks; a considerable portion is said to have been appropriated to the enlargement of this mansion, where he died September 27, 1404, in the 80th year of his age. It was at length totally destroyed by order of Cromwell, who caused batteries for that purpose to be erected against its eastern side, owing, it is said, to what the puritans termed the obstinacy of Will. Carle, the then bishop, in refusing to take the covenant; in consequence, he had his estates sequestered, and was not suffered to compound. The tower, given in the annexed plate, forms a part of the ruins: it is of a square form, seventeen feet within the walls, which are six feet in thickness; it contained three rooms, one on each floor; the lower, fourteen feet high, had a fire-place, which still exists. This tower is situated at the south-west point of the building, and commands a view of the distant country over a large piece of water, separated from a broad moat by a narrow embankment; between this and the palace are said to have been walks, which is the more probable, as the moat itself does not appear to have approached these venerable relics of antiquity, especially that part of the fabric, the great hall, now profusely covered with ivy of the most luxuriant growth. On a careful examination of the premises, its form appears to have been a right-angled parallelogram, fronting the four cardinal points; its east and west sides were 300 feet long, its north and south 180; within which space were two courts, whereof that towards the north was considerably the largest. The principal gate of entrance, seventeen feet in width, appeared to have been near the north-west extremity, with the porter's lodge on the left ; domestic buildings altogether occupied the north range; the stables, &c. were on the east; the west contained kitchens and other necessary conveniences, and on the south were lodging rooms, together with the gate leading into the principal or inner court, wherein, on the west, was the large hall, sixty-six feet by twenty-seven broad, and twenty-five feet high; on the east was a chapel of corresponding dimensions; and on the south side stood the body of the house, whose rooms were from twenty to five and twenty feet in height. How changeable is fortune! how uncertain the result of all human undertakings! This fabric, for many centuries the residence of the proud prelate, and whose embattled fronts appear to have challenged fate, and bidden defiance to the vindictive frowns of war, has long been no more; what remains is fast mouldering to decay, so that in all probability a few revolving years will nearly obliterate every vestige, and leave only the spot where once the building stood, for tradition to say, "here was the splendid abode of luxurious ease, and of insatiable pampered pride." This View was taken in 1810. |