With such accessories as these, wedded as they are to its own unrivalled beauty, the painter and lover of the picturesque would find it difficult to light upon a fairer field for labour or admiration, especially at this season
When woods begin to wear the crimson leaf,
and the changing foliage starting forth from the dark background of evergreen, oak, pine, and yew, lights up the dying year with a veritable blushing smile, as if it would remind us that although we are one year older, we are one year nearer the great fruition of all hope and labour. That portion of the park which was more especially called the Home Park, presents a fair, smooth slope, surrounded by elm, beech, and Spanish chestnut, some of them of a magnificent growth.[1]
The avenue (which I imagine has skirted the lower portion of the park) had two entrances, both meeting in front of the principal gateway, up to which a straight avenue bordered by Spanish chestnut trees leads. The house itself is of very ancient date, having been granted by Henry I., together with the neighbouring priory of Boxgrove, to Robert de Haia, as a royal dowry. The Staunton St. John’s obtained it, and again lost it, by marriage, Elizabeth St. John carrying it to Sir Thomas West, Lord Delaware, well known to students of the time of Bluff King Hal,—who it seems so highly appreciated the beauty of the place and the enormous outlay made by Lord Delaware, that a royal exchange was commanded, and Boxgrove and Halnaker passed to the crown. They were thus held until Elizabeth, in the twenty-ninth year of her reign, granted the estate to Sir John Morley, whose descendant, Mary Morley, in 1708, married James, Earl of Derby. At her death the estate passed to her kinsman, Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, by whom it was sold, in 1766, to the Duke of Richmond.
Boxgrove Church.
From that period the old house began to suffer decay, until about thirty years ago it was deemed advisable to pull down a portion of it, leaving only the outer walls, which now, mantled by ivy, form a most picturesque ruin.
The house itself in the days of its magnificence must have covered an immense extent of ground, the plan of which may still be traced in a great measure, though the main body of the building alone remains. This has a fine gateway, originally flanked by octangular towers, having greater corner towers at a considerable distance. The form is a square; the spacious court within was surrounded by the various portions of the dwelling,- ↑ Six of those chestnuts, forming the old avenue, measure from 18 to 19½ feet in girth, two yards from the ground. The elms and beeches are of proportionate luxuriance, and perfect studies for the artist.
