Warwick is situated nearly in the centre of the county. It stands on a rocky hill, having a somewhat abrupt acclivity, watered by the Avon. This town is believed to be of Saxon origin, and was formerly surrounded with walls. It has two churches, St Mary's and St Nicholas. The former has a lofty square tower, supported by piers, between which carriages may pass. The interior is richly adorned, and contains a number of ancient and handsome monuments. Beauchamp chapel, a beautiful specimen of the Gothic style, contains a monument to the memory of its founder, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, considered the most splendid in the kingdom, with the exception of that of Henry VII., in Westminster Abbey. Here is also the monument of the celebrated Earl of Leicester. The other public buildings are, the county hall, the court house, gaol, bridewell, theatre, market house, free grammar school, the county asylurn, public library and newsroom, and several meeting houses. The races are held on a plain near the west end of the town. Warwick returns two M. P. Population, 9775. Several manufactures are carried on here, particularly those of combing and spinning long wool.

Warwick Castle, the magnificent residence of the Earl of Warwick, is situated at the south-east end of the town, on a rock washed by the Avon. The date of its original erection is unknown. Cæsar's Tower, the most ancient part of the structure, is 147 feet high. Guy's Tower, 128 feet high, was erected in 1394. The approach to the grand front exhibits three stupendous towers, and the entrance is flanked with embattled walls covered with ivy. The interior is remarkable for splendour and elegance. The principal suite of apartments extends 333 feet in a straight line, and is adorned with valuable paintings and curious specimens of ancient armour. In the green-house is a beautiful antique vase, found at Tivoli, capable of containing 168 gallons. About a mile from Warwick is Guy's Cliff, the retreat of the famous Earl, and where he and his

Countess are supposed to be interred. Blacklow hill, opposite, is the spot where Piers Gaveston was beheaded in 1311.

Two miles from Warwick is LEAMINGTON, OF LEAMINGTON PRIORS, one of the most fashionable spas in the kingdom. It is pleasantly situated on the Leam, which is crossed by a handsome bridge. The waters are used, both internally and for the purpose of bathing, and are found very efficacious in many chronic disorders, in diseases of the skin, and visceral obstructions. The principal buildings are the new pump-room and baths, which are supposed to be the most elegant in Europe; the assembly-rooms, concert and ball-rooms, the reading-rooms and library, the billiard-room, the Regent Hotel, the museum and picture gallery, the theatre, &c. The Ranelagh and Priory Gardens form delightful promenades. Leamington possesses also a Gothic church, an Episcopal chapel, a meeting-house, a Roman Catholic chapel, an institution for the gratuitous supply of baths to the poor, national schools, several libraries, &c. The rides and walks in the vicinity are interesting and attractive; and very delightful excursions may be made to Warwick Castle, Kenilworth, and Guy's Cliff.

KENILWORTH is five miles distant from Leamington, and about the same distance from Warwick and from Coventry. Its name is said to have been derived from Kenulph, a Saxon King of Mercia, and his son Kenelm. In Queen Elizabeth's time it was called Killingworth ; but the original and correct designation is now restored. The ruins of its magnificent castle form one of the most splendid and picturesque remains of castellated strength to be found in the kingdom. It was founded by Geoffrey de Clinton, Lord Chamberlain and Treasurer to Henry I., but it shortly passed to the Crown. Henry III. granted the castle to the famous Simon Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and Eleanor his wife, for their respective lives; and when the Earl took up arms against the King, it was the great place of resort for the insurgent nobles. After the defeat and death of the Earl of Leicester, his eldest son, Simon de Montfort, continued to shelter himself in this fortress. He shortly afterwards withdrew to France, but his adherents held out the castle for six months against all the forces the King could bring against it, and they ultimately capitulated upon highly favourable terms. In the time of Edward I. it was the scene of a splendid and costly tournament. Edward II. was kept a prisoner in this castle before his removal to Berkeley Castle, where he was ultimately murdered. In the reign of Edward III., Kenilworth passed into the possession of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who made large additions to it. When his son, Henry Bolingbroke, became King, it again became the property of the Crown, and so continued till the reign of Elizabeth, who conferred it on her favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. This nobleman expended enormous sums in adorning and enlarging this structure. The following description of the appearance of the castle at this period is given by Sir Walter Scott in his novel of " Kenilworth :"-" The outer wall of this splendid and gigantic structure enclosed seven acres, a part of which was occupied by extensive stables, and by a pleasure-garden, with its trim arbours and par

terres, and the rest forming the large base-court or outer yard of the noble castle. The lordly structure itself, which rose near the centre of this spacious enclosure, was composed of a huge pile of magnificent castellated buildings, apparently of different ages, surrounding an inner court, and bearing, in the names attached to each portion of the magnificent mass, and in the armorial bearings which were there blazoned, the emblems of mighty chiefs who had long passed away, and whose history, could ambition have bent ear to it, might have read a lesson to the haughty favourite who had acquired, and was now augmenting, this fair domain. A large and massive keep, which formed the citadel of the castle, was of uncertain though great antiquity. It bore the name of Cæsar, probably from its resemblance to that in the Tower of London so called. * * The ex

*

ternal wall of this royal castle was, on the south and west sides, adorned and defended by a lake, partly artificial, across which Leicester had constructed a stately bridge, that Elizabeth might enter the castle by a path hitherto untrodden, instead of the usual entrance to the northward, over which he had erected a gatehouse or barbican, which still exists, and is equal in extent, and superior in architecture, to the baronial castle of many a northern chief. Beyond the lake lay an extensive chase, full of red deer, fallow deer, roes, and every species of game, and abounding with lofty trees, from amongst which the extensive front and massive towers of the castle were seen to rise in majesty and beauty."

Queen Elizabeth visited the Earl of Leicester at Kenilworth in the years 1566, 1568, and 1575. The last visit which far eclipsed in splendour any thing of the kind that had ever been known in this country, has been immortalized by the author of Waverley.

After the death of Leicester, Kenilworth was seized for the use of the crown, and was ultimately granted by Cromwell to certain officers of his army, who demolished the splendid fabric in order to make a market of its materials. After the Restoration, Charles II. gave the property to Sir Edward Hyde, whom he created Baron Kenilworth and Earl of Clarendon. For a long period the castle was left to ruin and decay; but the present Earl of Clarendon has manifested a praiseworthy anxiety to arrest the further progress of devastation.

The only part of the original fortress now remaining is the keep, popularly termed Cæsar's Tower, the walls of which are in some places sixteen feet thick. The remains of the additions made by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, are termed Lancaster buildings. In that part of the ruins termed Leicester buildings, are to be seen the relics of the great hall, a fine baronial room, 86 feet in length, and 45 feet in width. Although the erections of Leicester are of the most recent date, they have the most ancient and ruined appearance having been built of a brown friable stone, not well calculated to stand the weather. "We cannot but add," says Sir Walter Scott, "that of this lordly palace, where princes feasted and heroes fought, now in the bloody earnest of storm and siege, and now in the games of chivalry, where beauty dealt the prize which valour won, all is now desolate. The bed of the lake is now a rushy swamp, and the

massy ruins of the castie only serve to show what their splendour once was, and to impress on the musing visitor the transitory value of human possessions, and the happiness of those who enjoy a humble lot in virtuous contentment."

LXI. LONDON TO BIRMINGHAM BY ST ALBANS, DUNSTABLE, DAVENTRY,

AND COVENTRY.

St Albans is a town of very great antiquity, having derived its origin from the ruins of the Roman Verulam. An immense number and variety of antiquities have been discovered here at different times, and some vestiges of the ancient town may still be seen. Here was formerly a magnificent abbey and monastery for Benedictine monks, of which the abbey church and a large square gateway are now the only remains. The abbey was founded by Offa, King of the Mercians, in honour of St Alban. The church was made parochial in the reign of Edward VI. It has all the appearance of a cathedral, and its interior exhibits the various styles of several ages of architecture, and is adorned with numerous rich screens and monuments. The town contains three other churches, in one of which, the church of St Michael,-the monument of the great Lord Bacon may be seen. In St Albans is Holywell House, a seat of the Spencer family, built by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, who founded some alms-houses in this town. St Albans has also a new town-hall, several meeting-houses, and charitable institutions. It is famous as having been the scene of two battles fought during the wars of the Roses; the first, in 1455, when Richard Duke of York obtained a victory over Henry VI.; the second, in 1461, when Margaret of Anjou defeated the celebrated Earl of Warwick. St Albans returns two members to Parliament. Pop. 6497. Sir John Mandeville, the traveller, was a native of this town.

ON RIGHT FROM LOND.

From

Birmin.

From

London.

ON LEFT FROM LOND.

To Hatfield, 5 miles; to Luton, 104 miles.

Gorhambury, (Earl of Verulam.) In the park are the ruins of the Old House, the residence of the Lord Keeper and his illustrious son.

Rothampsted, M. Kymer, Esq.

Market Cell, Captain Moore, and 2 miles distant, Luton Hoo, Marquis of Bute.

Four miles dist is Chalgrave, the church of which is very old, and contains several monuments; and, 1 m. beyond, is the church of Toddington, in which are tombs of the Cheyne and Strafford families.

To Woburn, 44 miles. Milton Bryant, Sir R. H. Inglis, Bart., M. P.

Battlesden Park, Sir G. O. P. Turner, Bart.; and beyond, Woburn Abbey, Duke of Bedford.