To proceed on the Tour, we left the Derby road at Cromford, descending by the Cotton Mills and the Cromford Canal Wharf, then passing over the Bridge the road winds at the foot of Lea Wood, following the course of the stream till nearly reaching the Hat Manufactory, almost hid by the thick wood, where it turns northward leaving the beautiful and more open Valley of the Derwent, and passes up the narrow but richly wooded mountain break in which the Hamlet of Lea is situated. A little above this is another Manufactory for Hosiery and Merino Spinning, belonging to Mr. Smedley whose house is close by, and but a short distance beyond, higher up the Dale, is the "Cupola" or Lea Smelting* Mills belonging to Mr. Wass and Son.

Nothing can be more picturesque and beautiful than the situation of this hamlet,-the limpid mountain stream playing through it, pressed into the service of the various Manufactories which here seem not at all out of keeping with this sylvan beauty. The road literally canopied with the luxuriant foliage, and the whole environed with lofty eminences, clothed to their summits with rich hanging woods.-Passing over the small bridge we take the road leading up a long and steep hill to the Village of Holloway. On attaining which we find the hills to the north become broken, rugged, and heathy, but the views to the south and west, of the Vale of the Derwent, is commanding and beautiful-Holloway is situated under a lofty Cliff, composed of the Millstone Grit, covered with dwarf pines, gorse and underwood which bound the left as far as Crich Cliff.-From this elevated terrace the most magnificent views are obtained of Longnor Woods, the Shining Cliff, Crich Chace (stretching near to Belper), the richly wooded and watered Valley, with a fine and highly cultivated and undulating country beyond, extending as far as the eye can reach-looking backwards, Masson Low, Middle

* These are similar to those in Bonsall Hollow, already described. + Lea Hurst, the seat of Wm. Nightingale, Esq., is embosomed amongst the woods, to the right.

ton and Cromford Moors appear in all the breadth of their massive and noble outline.

About a mile from Holloway the road takes a sharp turn to the left, and we soon reach a deep and wellwooded ravine which separates the towering Limestone mass of Crich Cliff from the lesser eminences of the Millstone Grit.-This ravine is passed by a good bridge, and we come close upon the Gingler Mine to the right, and into the richest field for Lead Ore in the kingdom. -On the lofty summit is the Glory Mine, said (a short time ago) to be worth nearly forty thousand pounds per annum. This valuable Mine belongs to Alsop, Wass, and Co., and its possession was sharply contested for, between the miners of this Company and those of another in possession of a similar vein on the Cliff, and which had nearly ended in the loss of life.* It subsequently was tried before the Mineral Court, and from thence carried into the Court of Chancery, but the differences were ultimately compromised between the parties; and it still remains in the hands of the original proprietors. From the top of Crich Stand (belonging to Mr. Hurt, of Alderwasley) the most extensive prospects are obtained, embracing (it is said) a range over five counties, and from whence, on a clear day, the magnificent Cathedral of Lincoln can be seen. The Town of Crich, which is of considerable antiquity, occupies a very lofty and bleak position at the south-east end of the Cliff.+ The distance from Crich to Southwingfield is about 2 miles, over a very indifferent road, and the country becomes less romantic, but rich and cultivated, and presenting to the eastward that

* The men furiously attacked each other in the workings, after both breaking in on the same vein. Alsop's party kept possession smoking the others out with burning straw, brimstone, &c. &c., which had well nigh suffocated several of the men, who were only restored (it is said) to animation, by placing their heads, face downwards, in a hole dug for the purpose, and covered over, for a time, with turf. Here these parties set the example, which terminated so fatally at Red Soil Mine in the neighbourhood of Bakewell.

+ Crich is as celebrated for its lime pits as for its mines-lime being quarried and burnt to a great extent, and sent by canal throughout the counties of Nottingham, &c.

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fine undulating and wavy outline, not unlike some of the bolder parts of Warwickshire, which is so much admired. Here we enter the great Midland coal field," which has given birth to the immense iron-works at Butterley, Codnor Park, &c., and laid the foundation for the wealth and prosperity of those densely populated towns, Nottingham and Sheffield, both situated within its range, and which has furnished the means of enriching the whole of this once heathy and barren district, extending over an area of many square miles, and at the same time collaterally served, in connection with the lead mines, to bring the lofty mountainous tracts of the Peak into such a high and fine state of cultivation, adorning the mountain brow with the stately pine and majestic oak, and covering their valleys, and even their summits with verdure and beauty. These are the glorious results and beautiful connections which intimately subsist between all the works and ways of God, by which He purposes to improve the physical condition while He advances the moral and intellectual grandeur of his creature.

We presently discovered the noble but now deserted Towers of Wingfield Manor House, with more than ordinary interest, situated on a lofty knoll of the new red sandstone, to the right of the village, from which it is separated by a narrow dell, through which a small brook passes, washing the base of the knoll on two sides, and loftily on its brow stands this fine old ruin; its grey shattered turrets and battlements, mantled with tufts of iry, peering from amidst the luxuriant wood which invests and covers a great part of the knoll. We left our carriage at the small Inn in the village, and made our way on foot by Mr. Halton's house, situated in the meadows below the old Manor.* On passing the brook over an indifferent bridge, the road winds up the hill overhung with the pendant foliage, and on the summit we passed some ancient yews, which had once graced the fine bowers and beautiful pleasure grounds surrounding the House in its halcyon days. We entered into the The whole of the property, with the Manor House, belongs to Wingfield Halton, Esq.

south court by that portion now inhabited as a farm house, for this once princely residence, where high-born dames and courtly knights lived in luxurious ease, and held their nightly revels, is reduced to the common purposes of a farm steading. Yes! the ox and the filthy swine prowl through its roofless halls,-and the busy rustic annually rears the hay-rick and corn-stack in its spacious courts, the bat, the owl, and the crow, nestle amongst the ivy clinging to its old walls, or in the rents of its lofty turrets,-and the nettle and briar flourish abundantly among its ruins, thus exhibiting an impressive monument of the mutations of time, and how lightly the noble mansion or splendid palace is esteemed by Him who sways the destinies of our race; and "fixes the bounds of their habitations."*

Southwingfield is one of the earliest instances of those noble quadrangular mansions, which succeeded the irregular piles of mixed building that were the first deviations from the uncomfortable and gloomy castles of the ancient Barons. It was erected (according to Camden) in the reign of Henry VI. by Ralph Lord Cromwell, whose arms appear on the battlement above the doorway of the porch on the north side, which side consists of a porch and a large projecting bay, with three gothic windows, the arches slightly pointed and enriched beneath the battlements, with a fascia of quartre-foils and roses, giving evidence of the magnificence and beauty of this once stately edifice. The great hall must have been a noble apartment, measuring 72 feet by 36, but the whole is now so completely dismantled, that no accurate idea can be formed of its original grandeur. The principal and loftiest tower, on the south side of the building, alone is tolerably perfect, which we ascended, and enjoyed a most commanding view of the surrounding country. The groined roof of the cellar, under the great Hall, supported by a double row of massy pillars,

*

Sudely Castle, Winchcomb, Gloucestershire, is in a similar ruinous condition. A graceful sycamore and a few elms flourish and tower loftily from amidst the ruins of Wingfield.

is also in a good condition and of great interest, being equalled only by those at Fountains Abbey.

Long prior to the time of its possession by Lord Cromwell, it appears to have been the seat of several distinguished persons. Previous to the Norman survey it was held by Roger of Poicton, and then by William Peverel under Earl Allan, who accompanied William the Conqueror to this country. Lord Cromwell claimed it as a cousin and heir-at-law of Margaret, wife of Robert de Swyllington, Knt., to whom it descended through the families of Heriz and Bellers, who had held it from the time of compiling Doomsday Book. But as our limits will not admit of our enlarging on this point,* we must briefly notice, that it came by purchase into the possession of John Talbot, second Earl of Shrewsbury, and continued in the possession of this noble family till 1616, when it became the property of the Earl of Pembroke and other noblemen, and is at the present time in the possession of Wingfield Halton, Esq. by whose ancestors it was purchased in the reign of Charles II.

Here the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots was obliged to spend many days of her tedious and painful existence, first under the Earl of Shrewsbury, as her gaoler, and afterwards under Sir Ralph Sadler. The commencement of her imprisonment here is uncertain, but it is said she entered into a correspondence with her friends from hence, which induced Leonard Dacre to make an attempt to liberate her from her thraldom in 1569. The whole time of her confinement here was about nine years, when she was removed to Tutbury.

The Manor House suffered much in the Civil Wars. It was first garrisoned by the Parliament, and soon afterwards attacked and taken by storm by a party of the Royalists in November, 1643, under the command of the Marquis of Newcastle, then subsequently retaken

* See an admirable History of this interesting place, by T. Blore, Esq. F.S.A. for particulars.

+ His state papers and letters, which were published many years ago, by Clifford and Scott, are curious and interesting documents, as exhibiting the character and habits of that time, and the domestic establishment of the Queen of Scots.