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A gentleman's tour of 1776 was written by an unknown author, but obviously a man of literary fluency and education. He lived during an exciting period of British history. In 1776 the American colonists were in open revolt and France had allied itself with them against Britain. So when our writer set out from Reading on a journey that was to take him through Berkshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire. the Isle of Wight, Surrey and finally London, Britain was on the brink of war. As he crossed the Solent he would have seen great warships assembling off Spithead while on the Isle of Wight the talk was of smugglers still trading illicitly with France
In 1993, Elizabeth Hutchings retraced his route solving puzzles and answering questions posed in the original Journal. Photographs taken by her enhance the text bringing vividly to life all our author saw and experienced. This intriguing account of a journey made over 200 years ago remains fascinating reading. Included are three illustrations, unique to this book, by Island artists. |
THE GENTLEMAN'S JOURNAL
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The only changes made in the printed text of the facsimile have been the alteration of some punctuation to make it easier to read and square brackets enclose some missing words. The old spellings have been retained but in the notes and on the map modern spelling has been used. Elizabeth Hutchings The catalogue announced it as follows: 311 ISLE OF WIGHT. Notebook containing "Observations made in a Tour of the Isle of Wight, the beginning of September 1776" in which the writer gives descriptions of sites and towns on the Isle of Wight and of the places in the South of England which the party passed through (Portsmouth, Reading, Wilton, Salisbury, Chichester, etc) 17 pages, plus a list of inns, contemporary combed covers, sm. 8vo. One observation is that the people of the Isle of Wight "have a great neatness in their appearance". The account ends ". . . . In the Evening arrived safely in Town; having travell'd about three hundred miles by land and water, in the space of ten days, without meeting with any accident, & very little bad weather, the utmost mirth, good humor & harmony prevailing amongst all the party." [From this we must assume that they started originally from London.] So when our unknown author set out from Reading, Berks, on 31st August 1776 Britain was on the brink of war. In the Solent and Spithead men-of-war were gathering and Island smugglers had seized the opportunity to traffic illicitly with France in dutiable commodities, trading on the Navy's war preparations.
According to some of the people to whom I spoke in Amesbury John Gay wrote the Beggar's Opera in a cave near the ancient and beautiful village church of St Mary & St Melor. Local historians appear to have proved otherwise but it makes a good story. Our Gentleman missed Amesbury Abbey with its five-arched bridge, built in 1775 near the main gates, and much else. The first work took place on the Stonehenge site round about 2800 BC. Succeeding peoples placed granite sarsens from the nearby Marlborough Downs which we see today and the Beaker People brought dolerite bluestones by water from South Wales. It was surely never intended to be a building.
Sir William Chambers' Triumphal Arch, surmounted by the splendid Marcus Aurelius, a copy of the gilded bronze in Rome in the Piazza del Campidoglia, which he would have seen, now forms the entrance to what James I described as, 'The finest house in the land.' Marcus Aurelius is cast in lead and has recently been restored to his former glory. It was transferred from its 'eminence' in the 19th century by the architect, James Wyatt. A fascinating film, with Anna Massey as a nun telling the story of this home, which has been the Pembroke's over 450 years, starts your tour these days. Sappho, the poetess of the Island of Lesbos and Democritus, the Greek philosopher may well still be amongst the many busts you encounter on the way. Quite a few are dated but not named. There is a fine portrait of Democritus by Ribera at the top of a staircase best seen from the room below. A whole day is indeed not enough to see what Wilton has to offer but I can only agree that many weeks would be needed, for both the house and grounds are extremely rewarding. There is a large Palladian Bridge and perhaps you would find the one with the 'pleasing deception.'
The myth that an arrow was shot from waterless Old Sarum to determine the site of a new cathedral and town only carries weight if a deer or antelope was wounded and fell in the area bounded by the rivers Avon, Bourne, Nadder and Wylye. The town was laid out in chequers or squares, many named after their chief Inn. The Antelope Inn bordered Catherine Street between Cross Keys and White Hart. In a hand-written account, The Inns of Salisbury, Roland Graham Gadon writes that Mrs Best was the landlady in 1776 and 14 days before our party stayed, "Mr Alderman Wilkes arrived in the city on Friday, 'with a party of gentlemen and a large retinue,' after, 'a tour to Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight etc.'" John Wilkes had been Lord Mayor of London in 1774. He built a villa in Sandown in 1788. There is a plaque on the building now. Salisbury Cathedral's foundation stones were laid in 1220. The building of the tower and spire was a continuous process once the Cathedral itself was finished and they would have been completed by 1300. The height is 404 feet. It was the tallest in England in 1776 and probably in Europe. In Germany the 19th-century tower at Ulm surpassed it by 126 feet. There is now one step from the nave to the choir, with another step up into the presbytery at the east end and another by the Bishop's throne. James Wyatt gutted the Cathedral of all its mediaeval fittings between 1789 & 1792. Salisbury has many monuments and visitors must decide for themselves which are, 'curious'.
The Church in Lyndhurst is St Michael & All Angels. In November1934 the ashes of Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, by then Mrs Reginald Hargreaves, were buried in the churchyard. Her husband Reginald was a Hampshire cricketer and they lived for many years in the area. Their lodging in Lymington was The Angel Inn which is still in the High Street & Paul Kelly's drawing is on the front cover of this book. It was here that the famous artist and cartoonist Thomas Rowlandson stayed when on his, Tour in a Post-Chaise, with Henry Wigstead. His painting of The Angel courtyard shows the bustling ostlers preparing horses and various conveyances for the day's travellers. This was probably in 1784 and the tour culminated at Spithead where he painted a dramatic picture of the masts of the Royal George, sunk at anchor in 1782. The opening scenes in Patricia Sibley's children's book, Danger at Dark Hows, are set in the Royal George, which was a First-Rate ship, the same class as Balchen's Victory sunk in 1744. Improving roads sent many gentlemen touring, recording all they saw. Often, like William Gilpin, (A Picturesque Tour of the West of England and the Isle of Wight, 1798) publishing them with fine illustrations. These were hilariously parodied by William Combe, with wonderful Rowlandson cartoons in his Dr Syntax in Search of the Picturesque (1809).
Our travellers would have seen the Needles much as they are today as the fourth one had crashed into the sea in 1764. In 1992 the famous arch rock in Freshwater Bay also crashed, on St Crispin's Day, October 25 much to the sadness of us all. Hurst Castle had been built by Henry VIII in about 1535 as part of the Western Solent defences. In November 1648 King Charles was taken there after his abortive attempts to escape from Carisbrooke Castle and on December 18 went to London for the last time. Subsequently it was often used as a state prison. Accompanied by our dog, Pippa, Richard and I walked along a high shingle ridge some years ago. Rewarding, but recommended only for the healthy hiker. There were about 50 gates for the post boy to open and close en route to Newport. The Sun Inn buildings still exist on the corner of Holyrood Street and Lugley Street. Now with a mock-Tudor facade it is Benedict's Wine shop and Delicatessen with a sign, 'Reads Posting House'. Penny Young's beautiful painting of it can be seen with the other illustrations. Opposite in Holyrood Street is Yelf-Brothers, the printers of this book. [The Sun Inn, Benedict's Wine shop and Yelfs no longer exist. 2013] The fine 12th century St Thomas's Church was pulled down and the remains of King Charles' young daughter Princess Elizabeth were discovered under the Chancel. The foundation stone for its replacement was laid by Prince Albert in 1854. At Easter 2008 the Church was designated The Minster Church of STS Thomas. Letter to the County Press December, 1994 from Elizabeth Hutchings. Seeing your report about the restoration of St Thomas's Church Newport prompts me to tell you of what may be a little known fact about the beautiful marble sculpture of Princess Elizabeth in this Victorian church. On reading Sir Leslie Stevens' Mausoleum book I discovered that his wife was, at the age of 10, the model for Marochetti's masterpiece. She was of course to become the mother of Virginia Woolf and niece of the famous photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, who lived in Freshwater Bay. The 1776 tourist would have seen the original St Thomas's and would have been unaware that the remains of Charles I's daughter were buried there. Queen Victoria was horrified at the discovery and commissioned the sculpture and gave it to the Church. The plaque reads. To the memory of the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Charles I, who died at Carisbrooke Castle on Sunday, September 8, 1650 and is interred beneath the chancel of this church, this monument is erected as a token of respect for her virtues, and as sympathy for her misfortunes by Victoria R 1856
Was this the day that a mason scratched 1776 on a window lintel at Appuldurcombe? A Tudor mansion had been pulled down in 1690 by Sir Robert Worsley and a new house built. His descendant, and namesake started rebuilding in 1702 but this was only being completed in 1776 by Richard, (not Robert as our gentleman wrote), the grandson of the first Robert's cousin and heir. He, too, appears to have used the architect James Wyatt. His famous History of the Isle of Wight was published in 1781. The, 'new kind of manufactory' at Appuldurcombe could have been printed wallpaper as tapestry had been woven for several centuries. It was here that John Wilkes records having breakfast one day, together with the Fitzmaurices. In 1772 Richard Worsley brought in Lancelot "Capability" Brown to landscape the considerable grounds. (2013) On February 7th 1943 the pilot of one of several German Dornier 217s aircraft which had been laying mines off the coast veered inland and crashed on St Martin's Down after dropping his mine on the house. It is now owned by English Heritage and is open to the public from Sundays to Fridays, 27th March to 1st November, 2013 10am to 4pm. The interesting shell of the House, which has an amazing history & English Baroque elegance, is still notable today and partly restored. The landscape, designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown is unique on the Isle of Wight. New this year are Tractor Trailer Rides around the Historic Estate and the Rare Breeds, incorporating the Estate farming history. This will be further extended to celebrate the "Capability" Brown Anniversary.
The Rt. Hon. Hans Stanley, M.P. for Southampton and William Pitt's representative in Paris at the abortive peace negotiations in 1761, bought the Steephill estate in 1770. In his The Undercliff of the Isle of Wight J. L. Whitehead quotes Hassal; '...lofty elms and ashes, which form an avenue to the house, which is of true cottage style, roofed with humble thatch.' Wyndham; '...a beautiful spring of the most transparent water before a large stone basin, in the shape of a scallop shell, perpetually full.' Albin; 'Many ravens build in the cliffs, and the falcon hawk is peculiar to them.' Englefield; '...a path leads to the sea, accompanied by the cascades of a pretty spring' and William Gilpin's somewhat different view, '...The cottage is covered, indeed, with thatch; but that makes it no more a cottage, than Ruffles make a clown a gentleman, or a meally hat would turn a laced beau into a miller. We everywhere see the appendages of junket and good living. Who would expect a fountain bubbling up under the windows of a cottage into an elegant carved shell to cool wine? The thing is beautiful, but out of place'.
O, traveller, stay thy weary feet; Drink of this fountain, pure and sweet; It flows for rich and poor the same. Then go thy way, remembering still The wayside well beneath the hill, The cup of water in His name.
The landmark is Ashey seamark. Two references have established the 'fine old seat of the Fitzmaurices.' In 1989 a faculty was granted by the Bishop for the removal of the gravestones round Newchurch church on condition that the information on the gravestones was recorded first. Hearing from the vicar that this had not been done, Clifford Webster, County Archivist, spent a week with his assistant [his wife] recording each inscription as the stones were hoisted up to be laid face down making a path down one side of the graveyard. One read 'James Gutteridge - Native of North Britain. Gardener to Hon. Thomas Fitzmaurice. d. 28. March 1770 aged 30.' The entry in the register read 'Gutteridge, the gardener at Knighton bur. 31 March 1770.' In a letter written in 1772 John Wilkes wrote that he visited the Fitzmaurices at Knighton and there met the Garricks and Sir Richard Worsley, who invited him and the Fitzmaurices to Appuldurcombe next day. There are few depictions of the beautiful house and gardens of Knighton Gorges which in 1821 was wantonly destroyed by its owner, George Maurice because his daughter married a clergyman against his wishes. This would have meant she would not have been able to inherit it. Lynn Phillips' superb painting of an imaginative reconstruction of the front view is published for the first time in this book. The name is pronounced K nighton. Gorges was added when Ralf de Gorges married the owner, Ellen de Morville in 1256.
William Amherst's house, St John's now forms part of Bishop Lovett School, named after Neville Lovett, first Bishop of Portsmouth in 1927. He built it on Troublefields, land owned by his wife, Elizabeth. His brother, Jeffrey had been chosen by Pitt, with Wolfe and Boscowen to replace the old guard in 1758. He took Montreal in 1760 ensuring the surrender of Canada by the French. In 1776 he was created Baron. When the French took St John's, Newfoundland in 1762 he sent his brother, William, who negotiated a surrender, hence the name of William's Island home. His son, William Pitt Amherst, sold his stake in 1796 to Edward Simeon, ancestor of Sir John, Tennyson's 'Prince of Courtesy' who lived at Swainston near Calbourne. The famous landscape gardener Humphrey Repton was engaged by Simeon to landscape the extensive grounds. He planted rhododendrons, of which there were few species in England at the time. The Gentleman might well have thought the Worsleys of Appuldurcombe would envy the unrivalled views across Spithead. As Lieutenant Governor of Portsmouth Amherst may well have been familiar with 'the most beautiful and compleat model of Victory. . .' which the travellers were to see two days later but which I had difficulty in locating.
The House of Industry, opened at Parkhurst in 1770, later formed part of the old St Mary's Hospital and is still in use in spite of being overshadowed by its gleaming, steel clad, new-age neighbour opened in 1991. Before 1770 each town and village had its own workhouse with little for the occupants to do. R. J. Eldridges' Newport in Bygone Days gives an excellent description. Mr Rogers' house above Cowes was Bellevue, later to be Northwood House and now often the venue for concerts and other happenings. Christopher Cockerels hovercraft, invented in Cowes, would have astonished our party of travellers and carried them more speedily across the Solent, but would they have had time to observe so much? Compare the splendid sight of sailing ships with the dull camouflage of the 1944 invasion fleet over which it has been said one could have walked to the mainland from the Island. Only the Tall Ships we only too infrequently see in the Solent can give us some small idea of those times.
In 1993 Haslar was still a naval hospital and the play they saw would have been in the Theatre Royal in the High Street. It was built in 1761 and should not be confused with the present day one. At this time the Navy was the biggest industry and employer in the country. When the Royal Sovereign had been built in 1701, the great expense of the magnificent carving all over the ship led to a reduction in the amount permitted on each ship. Many redundant woodcarvers found employment in the great country houses, for which we must now be very grateful. Scale models were made of ships to be constructed and the scale of Balchen's Victory was unusually large: 7/20 in : 1ft. I had hoped to find her at the Royal Naval Museum at Portsmouth but directed by them to the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich I spent a fascinating day there. I found not only Victory but also Britannia and the ill-fated Royal George. All were in the care of John Graves, who obviously had great pride in the collection and passed on his enthusiasm and fund of knowledge. This is a place which must be visited to study Britain's nautical history and, like Wilton House, will require much time for its full appreciation. Our Gentleman may modestly call himself an 'ignorant observer' but must have been of some standing to be shown round the Royal Dockyard and be wined and dined by the Navy on Britannia. Flying the flag of Sir John Balchen, Victory was wrecked on the Casquet Rocks, West of Alderney on October 5, 1744 with all hands - about 700 souls. Built at Portsmouth in 1737 she was the largest man-of-war built on a Royal dockyard. The model was reputedly used in the subsequent enquiry into her loss. The wreck was discovered in 2008 by the US company Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. Some 'experts' believe it may contain gold worth millions of pounds as well as 100 bronze cannon. The story of the discovery and the controversy surrounding the rights involved, particularly the fact that it is a British Naval vessel can be seen on line in an extensive article in the Heritage Daily Magazine. 2012. In Chichester Cathedral, Lambert Bernard's medallion paintings of 57 bishops, commissioned by Bishop Sherborne in 1519, are in the South transept. In the North transept is his panel of monarchs, from William the Conqueror to Edward VI. Shattered when the wall on which it was mounted collapsed as the spire fell into the Cathedral on February 21, 1861, it was meticulously restored. Eight portraits were beyond redemption, only the names being repainted above the blank roundels. Following their previous violation by the Parliamentarians during the Civil War, Tremaine restored them and it is presumed the separate panel depicting Charles II, James II, William and Mary, Anne and George I is his. In 1962 the weavers of Pinton Frères of Felletin, near Aubusson in France, saw their spectacular John Piper tapestry laid out in their square. Commissioned by the late Dean Walter Hussey and now the backdrop to the altar, the seven panels are a brilliant and thought-provoking work symbolising the Trinity; Earth, air, fire and water; and the four Evangelists. Whatever you may think of such a modern work you are asked to remember that it is to the glory of God. Basil Spence commissioned Graham Sutherland to design his Christ in Glory for his new Coventry Cathedral. This tapestry was also woven by Pinton Frères of Felletin. Sutherland had worked on it for ten years from 1952. William Walker was Vicar of St Pancras Church at Eastgate. The 'adjoining church' was possibly St Peter's, only to become separate in the 19th century. Bishop Story's wonderfully ornate Market Cross dated 1501 still survives in all its glory. The Charles I bronze was set into it after The Restoration.
The Lord Mayor of London, John Strawbridge, had been robbed by a highwayman at Turnham Green on September 6. Our travellers were more fortunate in that respect. I have assumed they were all gentlemen otherwise surely the ladies would be mentioned occasionally. (Or would they?). It's a shame they were not at the Antelope in Salisbury at the same time as John Wilkes and his party as they might then have been recorded and my final conundrum answered. Or maybe our Gentleman was a friend of John Wilkes, who recommended him to stay at the Antelope on his way to the Isle of Wight. About the time they were arriving in London, Dr Samuel Johnson was leaving Brighthelmstone (Brighton) from where he wrote to Mr Robert Levitt on October 21, that he had not been in the sea until three days before. But thought he would now probably go in daily, though 'I know not if it does me any good.' (Boswell). There were frequent changes of horses, unlike Dr Syntax, with his faithful and understandably named, Grizzle. Their's doesn't appear to have been 'a TOUR taken so they could write it', or get away from nagging wives. We must be grateful that this little book has come to the Isle of Wight and for its insight into what interested English touring gentlemen only 13 years before the French Revolution. |
Salisbury's Tourist Transport 1993
St Mary and St Melor Amesbury
Triumphal Arch & Emperor Marcus Aurelius Wilton House
The George Amesbury
Steephill Cottage Isle of Wight Undercliff
Knighton Gorges Lynne Phillip's Imaginative Reconstruction of the Front
Knighton Gorges
The Sun Inn - Benedict's Wine Shop Newport
Newport Town Hall
Appuldurcombe Isle of Wight
The Priory St Helens Isle of Wight
St John's Ryde Isle of Wight
Bernard's Monarchs Chichester Cathedral
William II Henry I Stephen Henry II
William I (pt)
Richard II Henry IV Henry V Henry VI
Model of Britannia
Model of Sir John Balchen's Victory
Dr Syntax & Grizzle Waylaid
St Thomas' Church Newport Isle of Wight
Marochetti's Effigy of Princess Elizabeth Daughter of King Charles I
Sketch map by Elizabeth Hutchings of the route taken by the Gentleman
Our Gentleman wrote a list of Inns at the end of his book.
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White Hart *
George * Lord Pembroke's Arms * Antelope * Crown dined Angel * George dined? Sun * Swan Fountain George * Swan * Spread Eagle dined White Horse * White Hart The Sun dined |
Andover
Amesbury Wilton Salisbury Lyndhurst Lymington Yarmouth Newport Ryde Cowes Portsmouth Chichester Midhurst Haslemere Guildford Kingston |
Acknowledgements
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Roger Hewitt
Derrick Ross John Medland Jane & John Owen Patricia Sibley Ronald Codrai Keith Hutchings Roy Brinton Kevin Brown David Cham Suzanne Eward Judith Giles John Graves Ivan Harwood Richard Ellis Jack Jones Mike Lister Kirsty Robinson Richard Smout Simon Dear Clifford Webster & his staff Sybil Papworth Douglas Eagleton Tim Pitcher Alison McCann Veronica Quarm Alun Williams Malcolm Rouse Bill Shephard Brian & Barry Smith Andrew Trotman Leslie Thomas Portsmouth City Record Office |
Isle of Wight History Centre
Computer & Photographic Advisor Isle of Wight Historian Appuldurcombe Original Editorial Advisor Photographic Advisor Photographic Advisor Carisbrooke Castle Museum, IOW Cultural Services Southern Vectis Omnibus Co. Librarian & Keeper of the Muniments Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Local History Library National Maritime Museum Bishop Lovett School Ryde Bishop Lovett School Ryde Author of The Royal Prisoner IOW County Reference Library IOW County Reference Library IOW County Records Office IOW County Records Office Archivist IOW County Records Office Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral Sotheby's Chichester Records Office Wilton House Wilton House Benedict's Wine Shop Isle of Wight historian Yelf Bros. Royal Naval Museum Portsmouth Royal Naval Museum Portsmouth |
Also from Elizabeth Hutchings:
Discovering Isle of Wight Sundials
The Lily Garden
Busts and Titbits
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Hunnyhill Publications available from e.hutchings90@gmail.com Telephone 01983 759090
Dickens on an Island Richard J. Hutchings £6.00 Dickens' stay at Bonchurch in 1849 with Richard's research into the originals of some of his characters. Includes a photograph and brief story of Richard's life in Ceylon, New Zealand and the Isle of Wight. Idylls of Farringford Richard J. Hutchings £3.75 The story of Queen Victoria's Poet Laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson at his home in Freshwater. Poems include The Charge of the Light Brigade, In the Garden of Swainston & Crossing the Bar. Busts & Titbits - Woolner Busts & Freshwater Fragments Elizabeth Hutchings £3.75 Story of the finding of a previously uncast bust in Calbourne Water Mill and its identification following the owners' casting. Followed by fascinating stories about Freshwater and its famous 19th & 20th century inhabitants and visitors. Three Freshwater Friends - Tennyson, Watts & Mrs Cameron Hester Thackeray Fuller £3.50 Written by Thackeray's granddaughter who lived near the famous photographer Julia Margaret Cameron's Dimbola with a foreword by her niece Belinda Thackeray Norman-Butler Marching through Georgia Fenwick Yellowley Hedley. New 250 Limited edition £15.00 A first hand account of a young man from Berwick-upon-Tweed in Sherman's army from 1861. 491 pages with 28 full page sketches. It Includes a letter from Sherman to the author. It is dedicated to Mary S. Logan All plus postage |