The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction

The Mirror of Literature,
Amusement, and Instruction

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Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 10,
No. 279, October 20, 1827
Author: Various
Release Date: May 30, 2005 [EBook #15945]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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* * * * *
THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND
INSTRUCTION.
VOL. X, NO. 279.] SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1827. [PRICE 2d.
* * * * *

[Illustration: Brambletye House.]

BRAMBLETYE HOUSE.
On the borders of Ashdown Forest, in the county of Sussex, stands the
above picturesque ruin of Brambletye House, whose lettered fame may
be dated from the publication of Mr. Smith's novel of that name, in
January, 1826. The ruin has since attracted scores of tourists, as we
were, on our recent visit, informed by the occupier of the adjoining
farm-house; which circumstance coupled with the high literary success
of Mr. Smith's novel, has induced us to select Brambletye House for the
illustration of our present number.
Brambletye, or, as it is termed in Doomsday Book, Brambertie House,
after the conquest, became the property of the Earl of Mortain and
Cornwall, forming part of the barony then conferred upon him, and
subsequently denominated the honour of the eagle. Passing into
possession of the Andehams, Saint Clares, and several others, it came
into the occupation of the Comptons, towards the beginning of the
seventeenth century; and from the arms of that family impaling those of
Spencer, still remaining over the principal entrance, with the date 1631
in a lozenge, it is conjectured that the old moated edifice (represented
in the annexed vignette) which had hitherto been the residence of the
proprietors, was abandoned in the reign of James I., by Sir Henry
Compton, who built the extensive and solid baronial mansion,
commonly known by the name of Brambletye House.
[Illustration]
"From their undaunted courage and inflexible loyalty to the Stuarts,"
says the novelist, "the Comptons had been heavy sufferers, both in
purse and person, during the eventful progress of the civil wars. The
Earl of Northampton, the head of the family, and nephew to Sir Henry,
the presumed builder of Brambletye, had four sons, officers under him,
whereof three charged in the field at the battle of Hopton Heath, and
the eldest, Lord Compton, was wounded. The Earl himself, refusing to
take quarter from the rascally Roundheads, as he indignantly termed
them, even when their swords were at his throat, was put to death in the
same battle; and the successor to his title, with one of his brothers,
finally accompanied the royal family in their exile. Sir John Compton,
a branch of this family, having preserved much of his property from the

committee of sequestration, displayed rather more splendour than fell
to the lot of most of the cavaliers who took an equally conspicuous part
against the parliament armies. Although never capable of any regular
defence, yet the place being hastily fortified, refused the summons of
the parliamentarian colonel, Okey, by whom it Was invested; but it was
speedily taken, when sad havoc was committed by the soldiery, all the
armorial bearings, and every symbol of rank and gentility, being
wantonly mutilated or destroyed."
In the time of the commonwealth, Brambletye was the focus of many a
cavalier conspiracy. "From its not being a place of any strength or
notice, it was imagined that Brambletye might better escape the keen
and jealous watchfulness, which kept the protector's eye ever fixed
upon the strong holds and defensible mansions of the nobility and
gentry; while its proximity to the metropolis, combined with the
seclusion of its situation, adapted it to any enterprize which required at
the same time secrecy, and an easy communication with the
metropolis."
In the novel just quoted, which is altogether a pleasant assemblage of
historical facts, aided by the imaginative garniture of the author, the
denouement is brought about by the explosion of a gunpowder vault
which destroyed part of the mansion; and on the marriage of his hero
and heroine Brambletye House was abandoned to its fate; "and the time
that has intervened since its desertion," says our author, "combining
with the casualty and violence by which it was originally shattered and
dismantled, has reduced it to its present condition of a desolate and
forlorn ruin."
A visit to Brambletye was the immediate object