The New Hand-Book to Lowestoft and its Environs Part 5

To the north is Gunton, with its neat little church and churchyard, the pleasantest approach to which is by the first lane leading out from the road which skirts the common on the west. The church has been repaired and refitted under the direction of the Rev. F. C. Fowler, the present Inc.u.mbent; a fine specimen of the Norman doorway, on the north side, deserves notice.

In the vicinity of the church are the remains of Gunton Old Hall, now much altered and improved; at a short distance from which, is the new Hall, the residence of R. C. Fowler, Esq. On leaving the churchyard, a road to the right will conduct the pedestrian to the turnpike road again.

If, instead of turning off in the direction of Gunton, the rambler should pursue the road on the west of the common, he will be struck with the beauty of the new marine abode of Holland Birkett, Esq., a little beyond which, is the residence of the Rev. F. C. Fowler, both delightfully situated on the edge of the cliff. The architecture of the former is a combination of the Swiss and Elizabethan styles. The garden and grounds are tastefully laid out, and will amply repay the stranger for a visit.

Further north is the village of Corton, the church of which is a ruin; public wors.h.i.+p is, however, performed in a portion of it, which has been fitted up for that purpose. The tower is ninety feet high. To the west are the Corton Cliffs, which present a commanding view of the ocean and its s.h.i.+pping, of which latter there is usually a plentiful supply.

On return, the sandy beach and the rabbit warren under the cliff, offer a choice of walks; if the latter be chosen, it will lead past the Warren house, along a path as pleasant as any in the neighbourhood, and eventually bring the traveller out near the upper light-house.

The village of Blundeston lies to the west of the Yarmouth road; here are seen the house belonging to J. Chapman, Esq., and Blundeston House, the delightful residence of Charles Steward, Esq., which, with its grounds, was once the property of the Rev. Norton Nicholls, and a place admired and frequently visited by the poet Gray. The church at Blundeston is an old Norman erection with a circular tower; its roof has been lately covered with flakes of stone, about half or three-quarters of an inch in thickness; and its princ.i.p.al internal decoration, is a fragment of a screen on which is represented the story of St. Peter and the Angel.

Not far from Blundeston Church, to the south, Thomas Morse, Esq., has erected a substantial house in one of the most delightful situations the country affords.

From Blundeston the visiter may approach Somerleyton. Here, the princ.i.p.al object of interest is the Hall, the seat of S. M. Peto, Esq., M.P. It stands in a park of no very great extent, but well planted, possessing a stately avenue of lime trees which, in summer are surpa.s.singly beautiful. Fuller in his Worthies, vol. ii. uses these words, "Sommerley Hall, nigh Yarmouth, well answering the name thereof: for here sommer is to be seen in the depth of winter, in the pleasant walks beset on both sides with firr trees, green all the year long; besides other curiosities." This Hall was the seat of Sir John Wentworth during the civil wars; his name and place of abode occur in the histories of that period. Mr. Peto has made very extensive alterations and improvements both in the house and grounds; he has also erected a neat and commodious Chapel and a Gothic School room in this parish.

The mere, called "the wicker well," belonging to Cammant Money, Esq., is a small lake in this parish; its banks are fringed with shrubs interwoven with tall and graceful trees, producing on the whole a very pleasing effect.

At no great distance from Somerleyton is Herringfleet, the Church of which is an interesting structure, unquestionably Norman.

St. Olave's in Herringfleet was formerly a priory of black canons, founded by Roger Fitz-Ozbert, of Sommerley, to the honor of St. Mary, and St. Olave the king and the martyr, in the beginning of the reign of Henry III. The remains of this priory were chiefly taken down in 1784, but some parts of it are still left near the bridge, which superseded a ferry that existed here at a very remote period, which "before the reign of Edward I., was kept by one Sireck, a fisherman, who received for his trouble, bread, herrings, and such like things, to the value of twenty s.h.i.+llings a year;" it descended to several generations of the family. In the reign of Henry V. permission was given to Jeffery Pollerin of Yarmouth, to build a bridge 'over the water between Norfolk and Suffolk,'

which, however, was not built. The old bridge and causeway over Haddiscoe dam were constructed in the reign of Henry VII., at the sole expense of Dame Margaret, the wife of Sir James Hobart: this bridge was repaired about the year 1770, but was steep, narrow, and obstructive to the navigation of the river: it has lately given place to a beautifully designed Iron Bow Suspension Bridge, of curious mechanism, which is in every sense an ornament to the neighbourhood.

In Herringfleet on the road to Somerleyton, the Misses Leathes have erected a beautiful Villa, of which Messrs. Lucas and Son were the builders.

The visiter may enjoy a pleasant ride through Blundeston, Lound, and Belton; he will then arrive at Burgh Castle, the Garianonum of the Romans.

[Picture: N.E. View of Burgh Castle, Suffolk]

"In the construction of this camp, the Romans pursued their usual method of security in building, and practised their favourite military architecture. It formed an irregular parallelogram, the parallel sides of which were equally right lines, and equally long, but the corners were rounded. Those camps which were one third longer than they were broad, were esteemed the most beautiful; but here the proportion is as two to one.

"The princ.i.p.al wall of this station, in which is placed the Porta Praetoria, is that to the east, 14 feet high, 214 yards long, and 9 feet broad; the north and southern walls are just the same height and breadth, and just half the length; the western side has no remains of any wall, nor can we determine, with certainty, whether it ever had any; the sea might, possibly, be considered as a sufficient barrier on that side, and the steepness of the hill, as a collateral security. Four ma.s.sive round towers defend the eastern wall; the northern has one; and another, now thrown down, stood opposite on the southern. These towers were added after building the walls, and served not only to ornament and strengthen them, but as turres exploratorii; each having on the top a round hole two feet deep, and as many in diameter, evidently designed both for the erection of standards and signals, and for the admission of light temporary watch-towers, under the care, and for the use of the speculatores.

The south-west corner of the station forms the pretorium, raised by the earth taken out of a vallum which surrounds and secures it, and which is sunk eight feet lower than the common surface of the area.

Near this was placed the south tower, which being undermined some years since, by the force of the water running down the vallum after some very heavy rains, is fallen on one side near its former situation, but remains perfectly entire. The north tower having met with a similar accident, is reclined from the wall at the top about six feet, has drawn a part of it, and caused a breach near it. The whole area of the station contains four acres and two roods; and including the walls, five acres, two roods, and twenty perches.

"The mortar made use of by the Romans in this work, was composed of lime and sand, unrefined by the sieve, and incorporated with common gravel and pebbles. It was used two different ways; one cold, in the common manner now in use; the other, rendered fluid by fire and applied boiling hot. From the artful mixture of both in the same building, and from the coa.r.s.e materials of the composition, this cement is extremely hard and durable, very difficult to break, and for several days indissoluble in water. The Romans, raising the wall to a convenient height with the former sort, at the end of every day's work poured the latter upon it: which immediately filled up the interstices, and when cold, proved a most powerful adhesive. The Roman bricks made use of at Burgh are of a fine red colour and very close texture; they are about one foot and a half long, one foot broad, and an inch and an half thick. It does not, however, appear that the Romans had any exact standard for the size of their bricks: in different stations their dimensions are considerably varied. We ought, however, to observe, that either in the choice of their materials, or in their method of preparing them, they far excel those of later days, being much harder and less porous than ours; and for durableness, more resembling stone, for which they were, undoubtedly, subst.i.tuted."

Again starting from Lowestoft by the western outlet, pa.s.sing the church, and keeping to the right, along the road leading to St. Olave's bridge, Oulton High House will be presented to notice, an old manor house, some of the internal decorations of which are highly wrought and valuable: it dates from the days of Elizabeth. Between this and the church, which lies to the westward, is the Rectory, which has been recently built, the abode of the Rev. C. H. c.o.x.

The church is a curious structure, having its tower in the centre: but the objects of greatest interest are within. In the centre of the chancel floor lies the full-sized effigy of an ecclesiastic, habited in the gorgeous sacerdotal vestments of the Roman church; this is Sire Adam Bacon, presbyter. Ives supposes this to be the oldest and most magnificent sepulchral bra.s.s, placed to an ecclesiastic, now remaining in England.

On a large stone near the chancel door are the effigies of John Fastolf, Esq., and Katherine his wife, which were placed there in 1479.

Gillingwater, page 275, discovers a relations.h.i.+p between these Fastolfs and the redoubtable Knight of the "Merry wives of Windsor," and "Henry IV."

Close to the church is the Hall, now the property of George Borrow, Esq., whose pleasant and retired residence is a little to the right of it, overlooking the Oulton Broad.

On the road from Oulton church to Lowestoft is the house of E. Leathes, Esq., at Normanstone, which has a fine view of the Railway and Lake Lothing, with the parish of Kirtley in the distance.

The road to Beccles-though in some parts of it pleasing-is less attractive than others in the neighbourhood, in consequence of the marshes on one side of it; but midway between Lowestoft and Beccles is Cove Hall, the residence of William Everitt, Esq. and nearer Beccles is the beautiful seat of the Earl of Gosford, with its park and grounds.

The town of Beccles and its neighbourhood present several attractions-its fine old church with its detached tower; its nursery grounds and several gentlemen's seats; not to mention other objects worthy of notice, will all repay examination.

To the south of the harbour, and through Kirtley, is the village of Pakefield, which may be approached either by the sea-side, or by the turnpike road. The church has a double nave and is neat and carefully preserved. The font and several bra.s.ses deserve attention. Beyond Pakefield is Kessingland, and between the two villages, on the beach, is a neat and new Light-house: the walk along the cliff here is very pleasant; several coins and other curiosities have been found at different times, specimens of which may be obtained of an old man who lives close by.

Through Kessingland lies Covehithe; the ruins of its church covered with ivy, and venerable in its decay, are thus described by Davy in his architectural antiquities. "These splendid ruins attest the former wealth and populousness of a place, which now ranks among the poorest and meanest parishes in the county. All the ancient part of this once stately pile is now in complete decay; but divine service is performed in a small edifice erected within the nave of the old one, though it does not occupy one half of it. This, as appears from an inscription on a stone in the north wall, was completed in the year 1672. The three grand arches at the east, still retain their position, though much mutilated, and, for magnitude and form, may vie with the n.o.blest specimens of the kind in the county. The tower, which appears of a more ancient date than the rest of the ruined fabric, still remains as a landmark for travellers."

Miss Agnes Strickland, who resides at Reydon hall, not many miles distant, has thus sung the melancholy fate of Covehithe:-

"On gray Covehithe mild eve has cast A soft and mellow ray; But o'er its glories time has pa.s.s'd With dark destroying sway.

"All roofless now, the stately pile, And rent, the arches tall, Through which, with bright departing smile, The western sunbeams fall.

"The ivy wreaths unheeded twine In wild profusion there, And oft with summer flowers combine To crown the oriel fair.

"The choir is hush'd, and silent now The organ's thrilling sigh; Yet swells at eve, from many a bough, The linnet's lullaby.

"The gra.s.s-grown aisle all green and lone, No musing footsteps tread; And even o'er the altar stone The mantling brambles spread.

"Tradition's voice forgets to tell Whose ashes sleep below, And fancy here unchecked may swell And bid the story flow."

But we are trenching now upon the proper domain of Southwold, which is a pleasant watering place beyond Covehithe, to which, if the visiter should wish to rove, we advise that, on his return, he should take the road to Wrentham, thence proceed along the turnpike road past Benacre Hall, the seat of Sir T. S. Gooch, and so through Kessingland to Lowestoft again.

We have now performed our task, and heartily wish our readers health and happiness through the season, in the enjoyment of which they cannot fail to appreciate the pleasures afforded by the works of Him whose is the sea, for he made it; whose hand also fas.h.i.+oned the dry land.

THE END.