to Maxstoke Castle. A walk of a mile from the railway station brings the visitor to Coleshill. It consists of one long picturesque street on the slope of a hill, at the foot of which flows the Cole, a small stream which gives its name to the town. Near the church is a portico for the use of the market people, with the inscription: "Henricus Dns Digby hanc Porticum in usum hujus Emporii struxit, Anno 1766." Beside this building are the stocks and pillory, in tolerable condition. The Church is a fine building of the decorated Gothic style, with a noble spire, and is situated in a very commanding position. The tourist will find no difficulty in obtaining admission, as the clerk lives in the neighbourhood. It contains some fine monuments of the Digby family. There are three altar tombs, each bearing two figures, male and female, recumbent, with their hands clasped in prayer. One pair of these figures is coloured after life. The lady's figure and dress are particularly handsome. Besides the monuments to which we have referred, there are others of an interesting description. A monumental brass, bearing the date of 1652, and having a male and a female figure cut in outline, will be found worthy of notice. We quote the inscription of one of the altar tombs named above:-"Here lyeth the bodies of John Dygeby of Colleshull esquyere, and Anne his wyffe, one of the dawghters of george throgmertone, knyghte, wyche John deceased the xv° of nouebr, and the layde Anne the xxi of Decbr, in the yeare of our Lord God m° d° lviij, upon whose soules Jhus have mercye."

A pleasant walk of rather more than a mile and a half through the fields will bring the tourist to

MAXSTOKE CASTLE. Though this picturesque edifice is only tenanted by servants, it is generally difficult for visitors to obtain an inspection of its interior without an order, which we believe cannot be got without more trouble than it is worth. The castle itself, however, may be approached through the park. It is a highly picturesque building, and is one of the few structures of the kind in England which are kept in their original fortified aspect. A considerable part of the castle remains in the same state as when it was first erected. It was built by William de Clinton, Earl of Huntingdon, in the reign of Edward III. It continued in the possession of the Clinton family till the reign of Henry VI., when it was passed in exchange to Humphrey, Earl of Stafford, afterwards Duke of Buckingham, for certain manors in Northamptonshire. After various transmissions the castle

and estates, about the reign of Queen Elizabeth, became the property of the Dilke family, the present owners. The castle is built in the form of a parallelogram, with a hexagonal tower at each corner, and is still surrounded by a moat, over which is a bridge. The entrance is by a lofty gateway. The gates are those which were erected by Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham, in the reign of Henry VI. They are covered with plates of iron, embossed with his arms. Between twenty and thirty years ago an accidental fire destroyed a portion of the interior, but the principal parts are untouched. The hall and the drawing room are especially interesting. The latter has a door and chimney-piece curiously carved. In the walls of the great court are to be seen the ancient lodg ments of the soldiers. About a mile to the south of the castle are

THE RUINS OF MAXSTOKE PRIORY, founded in 1337 by Sir William de Clinton, already mentioned as the founder of the castle. It was liberally endowed for canons regular of the order of St. Augustine. The remains consist of the gateway, fragments of the tower and detached parts of the building, and the boundary wall. This picturesque spot is well worthy of a visit. The lover of nature cannot fail to be pleased with these

"Gray but leafy walls, where ruin greenly dwells." The site of the priory belongs to the Leigh family. A small church adjoins the gateway, evidently constructed out of the ruins of the priory.

SOLIHULL AND KNOWLE can be readily visited in a forenoon from Birmingham or Warwick. Solihull is about seven miles distant from Birmingham. It is a pretty, retired country town, picturesquely irregular in its arrangement, and pleasant in its situation, but presenting nothing remarkable in its architecture. The church is the most important building in the town. It is a handsome and spacious edifice, of the cruciform style. It contains no monuments of particular interest or antiquity. The principal tablet sets forth in a long Latin inscription the history and virtues of the family of Holbeche, now, we believe, extinct.

Solihull is interesting as the scene of the school education of the poets Shenstone and Jago. Here, while they were under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Crumpton, commenced that friendship which lasted throughout their lives. Jago thus

speaks of his education here, and of the friendship between himself and Shenstone, which here began :

"Hail, Solihull respectful I salute

Thy walls; more awful once! when, from the sweets
Of festive freedom and domestic ease,

With throbbing heart, to the stern discipline

Of pedagogue morose I sad returned.

Nor can the muse, while she these scenes surveys,
Forget her Shenstone, in the youthful toil
Associate; whose bright dawn of genius oft
Smoothed my incondite verse: whose friendly voice
Called me from giddy sports to follow him
Intent on better themes-called me to taste
The charms of British song, the pictured page
Admire, or mark his imitative skill;

Or with him range in solitary shades,

And scoop rude grottos in the shelving bank."

Knowle is three miles distant from Solihull. The road in some places is peculiarly picturesque, this being particularly the case in the neighbourhood of Malvern Hall, which is passed on the right shortly after leaving Solihull. Knowle is a small and irregular, but pleasant village. Its church, a building of considerable beauty and antiquity, is extremely well worthy of a visit. The style and ornaments of the exterior argue a considerable antiquity, but it is the interior which chiefly interests the visitor. Among the objects deserving of attention are a splendid carved oak screen, several sedilia, or stone seats, within embellished recesses, and some grotesque carvings on the bottoms of a number of oak stalls. All these, and other of the interior details of the church, will be found deserving of an attentive examination. The arrangement of several parts of the interior has evidently been very different from that which it is now; and there is abundant scope for the ingenuity of the tourist, and the person who shows him the church, to account for the uses of various openings, recesses, etc. In the entrance porch the poor's box is recommended to notice by a somewhat curious allegorical group, representing a woman and two children, and two boys with wings. This, as an inscription states, was the gift of Antony Holbeche, 1717. The motto of the family of Holbeche, here quoted, explains the meaning of the name-" Sacræ sub tegmine fagi."

TAMWORTH.

HOTELS.-Peel's Arms, George F. Mills-Bed 1s. 6d. to 2s., breakfast 2s., dinner 2s., tea 1s. 9d., attendance 1s., private room 2s. 6d. Tamworth Arms, G. Eaton; White Horse, Mrs. Brooks; White Lion, Thomas Young.

Population in 1851, 8655. Inhabited houses, 1760.
From Rugby 27 miles; from Birmingham 174.

This ancient town is almost equally divided by the rivers Tame and Anker, the western half standing in Staffordshire, and the eastern in Warwickshire. Each part sends a member to Parliament. From a very early period Tamworth was a place of great importance. There many of the Mercian kings held their court. Ethelfleda, the heroic daughter of Alfred the Great, here defeated the Danes, and raised and fortified an artificial mound, which is now the site of Tamworth Castle. After Tamworth had ceased to be the seat of royalty, a mint appears to have been established in it, some specimens of its coins being still to be met with. The town was incorporated in the third of Elizabeth, and two years afterwards returned two members to Parliament. The manufactures of the town are those of woollen cloth and calicoes. There are also tanneries and ale breweries. The town is respectably built, but contains in its general architecture nothing attractive. The castle and church, however, will probably be regarded as sufficient to repay a visit. Among minor objects of interest may be mentioned the Market House, founded 1701, by Thomas Guy, Esq., (founder of Guy's Hospital, Southwark); an Hospital endowed by the same gentleman; a Grammar School founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1558; and a National School founded by Sir Robert Peel. A monument has been erected to the memory of Sir Robert Peel, consisting of a fine bronze statue, with the following inscription: The Right Honourable Sir Robert Peel, Bart., born Feb. 5, 1788, elected, in the year 1830, Member of Parliament for Tamworth, which town he continued to represent until his death, July 2, 1850."

The Castle, as has been stated, is erected on the artificial mound raised and fortified by Ethelfleda. It was bestowed by William the Conqueror on Robert Marmion, the founder of

the martial family whose name Sir Walter Scott has immortalized in his romantic "Tale of Flodden Field." In a note to "Marmion," Scott makes the following observations :-" In earlier times, indeed, the family of Marmion, Lords of Fontenay, in Normandy, was highly distinguished. Robert de Marmion, Lord of Fontenay, a distinguished follower of the Conqueror, obtained a grant of the castle and town of Tamworth, and also of the manor of Scrivelby, in Lincolnshire. One or both of these noble possessions was held by the honourable service of being the royal champion, as the ancestors of Marmion had formerly been to the Dukes of Normandy. But after the castle and demesne of Tamworth had passed through four successive barons from Robert, the family became extinct in the person of Philip de Marmion, who died in twentieth Edward I., without issue male. He was succeeded in the castle of Tamworth by Alexander de Freville, who married Mazera, his grand-daughter." In the reign of Henry VI., the family and possessions of Freville merged in the Earls of Ferrars. Subsequently Tamworth Castle passed to the Comptons, from whom it came, we believe by marriage, to the Marquis of Townshend, in whose family it now remains.

The artificial mount on which the castle is built is high and steep, and the aspect of the building is picturesque and imposing. Though it has been tenanted by various persons in succession, the interior presents in many parts a melancholy appearance of neglect and decay. Many of the apartments are destitute of furniture; no paintings adorn its walls; and its only decorations are the coats of arms on its cornices, and other antique details in the construction and arrangements of the rooms. We cannot particularize the various apartments. Some of them are noble in their proportions, and must have presented a magnificent aspect when the castle was the residence of its noble owners. One apartment will be viewed with special interest, that called "Queen Mary's Bed-Room." It is said that the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots was kept for some time a prisoner in this castle, and that this was her sleeping apartment. While confined here she was permitted, whenever she pleased, to ascend a staircase leading to the top of the square tower, or keep, to breathe the fresh air, and beguile the tediousness of her captivity by looking abroad on the surrounding scenery. The prospect from the summit is extensive and beautiful. In clear weather, no fewer than fortysix spires can be counted with the naked eye. The grounds attached to the castle are limited in extent, and capable of *The writer visited Tamworth Castle in the end of September 1856.