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over each gateway. The buildings in the second court are in a far superior style to those in the first. The dining-hall is a splendid room in the ancient Gothic style, with a lofty groined roof. In a chamber adjoining the kitchen is a very singular emblematical figure in oil-painting, usually termed "the trusty servant." The chapel is lofty, finely roofed, and the large windows are filled with stained glass. On the south side of the chapel are the cloisters, enclosing a quadrangle of 132 feet square. In the midst of the quadrangle is a little Gothic chapel, where a monk used to perform a daily mass for the dead. It is now the library of the establishment, and contains a collection of valuable old books. To the westward of the cloisters and library is the school, a detached building, erected in 1687. Over the entrance is a fine bronze statue of Wykeham, cast and presented to the college by Caius Gabriel Cibber, father of Colley Cibber.

The Hospital of St Cross is situated about a mile from the city, in the centre of a delightful part of the valley of the Itchen. A pleasant path leads to it across the meadows. To the left is the hill of St Catherine's, near the summit of which there are traces of an ancient fortification. Behind St Catherine's, on the top of Twyford down, there are some vestiges of the great Roman road from Portus Magnus (Porchester) to Winchester. The Hospital of St Cross was erected in the time of King Stephen by Henry de Blois, and was originally intended for thirteen poor men, a master, a steward, four chaplains, thirteen clerks, and seven choristers. The hospital was built in a quadrangular form; and three sides of the square yet remain. On the outer front of the gateway tower is a statue of Cardinal Beaufort, who may be regarded as the second founder of the institution. The Church of St Cross, which is one of the most interesting monuments of architectural antiquity in the kingdom, consists of a nave and side aisles, with a chancel and transepts, and a massy Norman tower over the intersection. The view from the leads of the tower is very fine. The hospital was stripped of much of its income at the Reformation. It still, however, affords a handsome revenue to the master, and comfortable subsistence to thirteen poor brethren. The present master is the Earl of Guilford, who is in holy orders. The brethren wear black cloaks, with a silver cross on the breast. A small remnant of the ancient hospitality is still kept up; for any one who presents himself at the porter's lodge is entitled to receive a horn of ale and a slice of bread, the ale, however, being of the thinnest and the bread of the hardest.

The Winchester Museum, situated in Jersey Street, contains valuable specimens of archæology, ethnology, mammals, birds, &c. Admission free. Winchester returns two members to Parliament.

liberty in 1851, 13,704.

Population of city and

A road leads from Winchester, a distance of 24 miles, to Gosport, passing through Twyford (where there was once a Roman Catholic seminary, at which Pope received part of his education), Botley and Titchfield, the church of which is an interesting structure, and contains the effigies of Wriothesley, first Earl of Southampton, and his wife and son. Near the town are the ruins of Titchfield Ilouse, in which Charles I. was twice concealed.

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(From Winchester.)

The railway runs hence through the valley of the Itchen.

His

Hursley, 5 miles from Winchester, was once the property of Richard Cromwell, in right of his wife, Dorothy Major. daughters, after his death, sold the estate to Sir W. Heathcote, who caused the ancient mansion to be taken down. A seal was found on this occasion in one of the walls, which proved to be the seal of the Commonwealth; in the opinion of Virtue, the eminent artist, the very one taken away by Cromwell from the House of Parliament.

Bishopstoke St.

Dr. Garnier, Dean of
Winchester,
holds the
living of Bishopstoke. His
gardens are most attrac-
tive, and admission is
readily granted to any re-
spectable person present-
ing a card, and signifying
a wish to see them. The
Himalayan collection is
very fine.

Admiral Hawkes, one of
the naval heroes of the
reign of George II, is!
buried in North Stoneham
church.

From

London.

74

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Bevois Mount.

Bellevue.

The line crosses the river
Itchem by a viaduct.
SOUTHAMPTON.

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Southampton is beautifully situated at the head of the bay called the Southampton Water, having the river Itchen on the one side, and the Test or Anton on the other. It was anciently fortified, and the remains of its walls and castle still exist. The town appears to have had its origin in the Saxon times, and is mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle under the year 873. During the ninth and tenth centuries it was frequently ravaged by the Danes; here Canute occasionally resided; and it was while he stayed at Southampton that the wellknown incident occurred in which he rebuked the flattery of his courtiers. In the sixteenth century Southampton was visited by the Emperor Charles V., by Edward VI., Philip of Spain, and Queen Elizabeth; and it was for some time the residence of Charles I. Southampton possesses an excellent harbour for

merchantmen, and its value and importance nas been greatly increased by the recent formation of docks of a capacity sufficient to receive vessels of the largest class, and steam-vessels. This town has long been a place of great trade with Spain and Portugal, chiefly for the importation of wine and fruit. It has also a considerable trade with France, with the Baltic ports and Canada, and with the Channel Islands. It carries on a brisk coasting trade; and is the most convenient port for steam-boats plying to Guernsey, Jersey, St Malo, Granville, and Havre. There are also regular trading-smacks and schooners between London and Southampton. The total amount of the gross revenue collected at the custom-house in Southampton in 1857 amounted to £86,689. The formation of the South-Western Railway has proved of great benefit to the trade and local interests of Southampton, which is now the principal station for the West India, and also the Peninsular and Oriental packets, by the latter of which the overland communication with India, through Egypt and across the Isthmus of Suez, is maintained; this line of route has been further extended to Sydney and New Zealand.

Southampton was anciently defended by double ditches, battleinents, and watch-towers. Of the gates, the only one remaining is an imposing structure called Bargate, on the north front of which are two figures, said by tradition to represent the famous Sir Bevois of Hampton and the giant Ascapart, whom he slew in single combat. Southampton contains a great number of large and wellbuilt houses, and the principal streets are spacious and well paved.

Southampton contains five churches, of which St Michael's is remarkable for its high slender octagonal tower, which serves as a landmark to ships entering the harbour; it has also a Catholic chapel, and several places of meeting for dissenters of various denominations. There is a grammar-school, founded in the time of Edward VI. On the north side of the town is an asylum for female orphans, the children of soldiers; and there are various charitable institutions. About half a mile from the Bargate stand the barracks, which enclose an area of two acres, but this is not now a military station.

Since the fire which occurred at the Tower of London in 1841, the engraving department of the ordnance establishment has been removed to Southampton, at which town the execution of the national survey of Great Britain is at present carried on, and upon which numerous engravers are now employed. The Ordnance Survey of England and Wales, which was commenced in 1791, has been completed on a scale of one inch to a mile, with the exception of the six northern counties, at a total cost of L.662,000. The remaining portion, as well as a similar survey of Scotland, at present in progress, is being proceeded with upon the scales of six and three inches to a mile.

Southampton was incorporated into a borough by Charles I., and is also a county of itself: it is divided into five wards, and governed by a mayor, ten

aldermen, and thirty councillors. It returns two members to Parliament. Po. pulation of Parliamentary borough 1851, 35,305.

From Southampton to Salisbury is 214 miles-Lymington, 201-Portsmouth, 171-Gosport, 16-Poole, 34-Winchester, 12.

The mildness of the air, the facility of making excursions by water as well as by land, the vicinity of the Isle of Wight and of the New Forest, contribute to render the town a desirable place for either a temporary or a permanent residence, which is further recommended by the excellent supplies of fish, fruit, meat, and other necessaries.

A number of pleasant excursions may be made in the neighbourhood of Southampton. About three miles from the town is the celebrated Netley Abbey,* one of the most picturesque ruins in England. The founder of this abbey was Peter Roche, Bishop of Winchester, who died towards the middle of the thirteenth century. Its inmates were of the Cistertian order. At the dissolution it was granted to Sir William Paulet, afterwards the celebrated Marquis of Winchester. The abbey is now a complete ruin, so that scarcely any part of it can be distinguished, except the remains of the chapel. The walk to it from the town of Southampton is one of enchanting beauty. The abbey itself is aimost completely concealed by the luxuriant foliage of the trees among whick it is embosomed, and, altogether, the spot is one of singular loveliness.

THE NEW FOREST.

In the neighbourhood of Southampton is that large tract of woodland termed the New Forest, than which there are probably few spots in England more interesting, or more worthy of being visited. The New Forest was originally formed by William the Conqueror in the year 1079, about thirteen years after the battle of Hastings. Its shape is a kind of irregular triangle, wide at the south, and drawing to a point towards the north, contained within a circumference of about fifty miles. Great odium has been heaped on the memory of William, particularly by the monkish historians, because of his alleged conduct in afforesting these woodlands, and it has been confidently asserted that he destroyed a large number of villages and churches, drove out the inhabitants, laid their lands waste, and formed the New Forest in their room. These statements, however, are greatly exaggerated, for it is obviously impossible that such an extensive depopulation could have taken place in a country which, from the nature of it, must have been from the first very thinly inhabited. At the same time, he cannot be absolved from all reproach in this matter, for it is evident that many persons must have been dispossessed of their lands ere such an extensive tract could have been wholly at his disposal. His son, William Rufus, was killed in this forest, according to popular tradition, by a random arrow, but the precise circumstances attending his death are involved in doubt. This event

* Leland states that the proper name of the place is Lettley, which is supposed to be a cor ruption of the Latin words de Lato Loco.

took place near Stoney Cross, at a short distance from Castle Malwood. An oak formerly stood on the spot, but this has now disappeared, and its site is marked by a triangular stone about five feet high, bearing the following inscription commemorative of the event :

"Here stood the oak on which an arrow, shot by Sir Walter Tyrrell at a stag, glanced and struck King William II., named Rufus, in the breast, of which he instantly died, on the 2d of August A. D. 1100."

"King William II., surnamed Rufus, being slain as is before related, was laid in a cart belonging to one Purkess,* and drawn from hence to Winchester, and was buried in the cathedral church of that city."

"That where an event so memorable had happened might not hereafter be unknown, this stone was set up by John Lord Delaware, who has seen the tree growing in this place anno 1745."

Stoney Cross is visited in summer by great numbers of persons from Southempton, Winchester, and the neighbouring towns.

The New Forest has preserved its ancient boundaries more exactly, and retains more of the forest than any of our other forests. Part of it is now private property, but 65,845 acres belong to the Crown, subject to certain rights of common, of pasturage, pannage, and fuel, belonging to proprietors of estates within or adjacent to the forest. For local purposes, the forest is divided into nine bailiwicks, and these are again subdivided into fifteen walks. Formerly the chief officer of the forest was the Lord Warden, who was appointed by the crown during pleasure, by letters-patent under the Great Seal, and was generally some person of distinction; under him were a lieutenant, a bow-bearer, two rangers, a woodward, an under-woodward, four verderers, a high steward, an under-steward, twelve regarders, nine foresters, and fifteen under-foresters. Besides these ancient officers of the forest, there was one of later institution, called the purveyor, whose business it was to assign timber for the use of the navy. The forest is now managed by a deputy-surveyor under the Commissioners of Woods and Forests.

There is a numerous population within the limits of this forest. Their moral condition, though much improved of late years, is still low. "On the skirts of the forest," says William Howitt, " and round its vast heaths, are numbers of poor huts, whose inmates have very little visible means of existence, but profess themselves to be woodmen, charcoal-burners, and so on; but it is pretty well

Purkess lived at Minstead, and maintained his family by burning charcoal. His male descendants have continued to occupy the same house, and to carry on the same trade till very recently. The last of the lineal occupiers of the hut died an old man a few years ago. It is id of this family that they always possessed a horse and cart, but never attained to the possession of a team. This tradition is thus referred to in Mr Stewart Rose's ballad of the Red King:

"And still so runs our forest creed,-
Flourish the pious yeoman's seed,

Ev'n in the self-same spot;
One horse and cart their little store,
Like their forefathers, neither mors
Nor less the children's lot.

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