climb and wander over. The landscape artist will be loth to leave it; both its rough bold outlines and its vivid contrasts of colour are so enticing. The course of the walk which we have suggested is indicated plainly on Walker's map of the Southampton line, which is on the ample scale of a foot to a mile. We descend the hill as we came, past the Hand and Spear inn. Two routes to the banks of the Thames are before us: one, directly north from the station, passing through the whole of the village of Weybridge; the other by the entrance to Oatlands. Both are pleasant, but, as yielding the greatest number of ob jects of interest, we prefer the first. Descending the hill we pass an old estate called Brooklands, which the Duke of York deprived of its old mansion when he was owner of Oatlands. At the end of the road and the terminus of the street of the village the road to Chertsey passes over a wooden bridge across the Wey and the Canal. It is a Entrance to Oatlands Park from favourite spot for anglers. The marshy Weybridge Common. scenery about the Wey, with St. George's Hill at the distance, the locks, the dam, the splashing water, the cattle, all well qualify it for the artist's admiration. A path by the canal leads to the mouth of the Locks over the Wey. Wey, where the lock-house is very picturesque. Returning into the "street" we soon reach the Church, a little mean patched building, with some few remnants of antiquity. There is a monumental brass or two, not very ancient, and a portrait effigy of the late Duchess of York, by Chantrey; good as a portrait, but endowed with few other merits. On the green is a columnar monument commemorative of the virtues of the late Duchess of York, who was greatly esteemed in the village. Notwithstanding an extravagant fancy for dogs (her Royal Highness had a perfect cemetery for the dear departed) her sympathies had wider and more noble aims. Abandoned by her husband, she is justly entitled to a large charitable allowance for any eccentricities. The old Inn and the park trees and palings make this point of the road picturesque. We soon pass the ruined gates of Ham House, an estate belonging to the Earl of Portmore. The house itself stood near the confluence of the Wey and the Thames, as long as St. James's, Weybridge. its materials would cling together, for, owing to a quarrel between the late possessor and his son, it was actually suffered to tumble to pieces, and it yielded the neighbourhood fire-wood for many a year. Scarcely even its site can now be traced. The fine old cedars opposite the weir have been left. They are especially noticeable for their size and grandeur, and we can well commend the spot which their branches shadow as a place for a pic-nic. The music of the dashing waters of Shepperton Weir plays during the feast. We now reach the river, and, were there time, a pleasant hour might be spent about the weir and lock of Shepperton. To enjoy the river with most luxury it should be descended from this point in a boat. One may be hired of Keane, a fisherman, (the Keanes are the aboriginal boatmen here) who should accompany the party, for the navigation down the rapids of Halliford Reach is troublesome, even dangerous, to those who are not familiar with the soundings of the river; even a crack London sculler looks foolish tugging against the current. The passing of the towing-barges does not lessen the difficulty. On the north bank, at a sharp angle of the river, is Shepperton Church: it will not repay an anchorage. It shows nothing older than the fifteenth century, and is traditionally said to have been erected in place of an earlier church swallowed up by the river. Shepperton is a chosen resort for anglers. The fishing is its only attraction. It is the feature of the place, and the marvels of the sport of each season are duly chalked inside the doors of the public houses. The rude portrait of a fish is drawn, its weight stated, and the name of the successful piscator duly recorded. A trout per day is good sport-a couple something wonderful. For our parts, inglorious anglers as we are, we prefer rather catching three dozen of gudgeon in an hour than one trout in a week, if we are obliged to fish at all. The river from Halliford to Walton Bridge is very beautiful. It winds about, presenting a new point of interest at each turn. The wellwooded hills of Oatlands Park, the clumps of trees at the water's edge, the sedges, the docks, the pride of the Thames, fringing the banks, the clear and rapid waters, the swans, the fishermen, the tow barges, the cattle, the two bridges at Walton, the elegant campanile of the Earl of Tankerville's mansion, a late work of Mr. Barry, all combine to form a series of most interesting groups. The boat of the tourist should pass beneath Walton Bridge, built in 1780, as far down the river as the clump Walton Bridges. of trees on the north bank which are known as the "Sisters," and past Lord Tankerville's grounds, the plantations of which offer many cool retreats. Protected by the shelter of the willows from the sun, it is a charming place for idling-if idling it is, to contemplate the peaceful stillness of the beautiful clear river, with the ripple of the waters only to remind you that the world is still going on. Walton Bridges-for, with the towing bridge, there are three of them-have often been painted; best of all, perhaps, by that erratic genius Turner, whose picture, executed in his younger days, is at Cashiobury, near Watford, a place and house we have not forgotten in our excursions. We must notice that this spot is called Cowey Stakes, and has the tradition of being the place where Cæsar crossed the Thames in pursuit of Cassibelaun. Bede and the old chroniclers are the authority rather than Cæsar himself, who only mentions making the passage at about 80 miles from the sea. Huge oak stakes, shod with iron, have been found in the river hereabouts, the wood very black, and hard enough to turn an axe. The We ascend the towing-path to the lower bridge, close at whose base stand the gates of Oatlands, now shut against all comers. house is rarely inhabited, and it is hardly possible to conceive what satisfaction the owner can have in curtailing the privilege of passing through the park, which has been long enjoyed by the public. Some of the trees, especially the cedars and firs, which flourish in this park, are well grown and handsome, and the walk on the high ground of the park overlooking the river used to be extremely pleasant. The house itself, which was built in the last century on the ashes of one older than Henry the Eighth's days, has no attractions. The grotto, remarkable for its size and cost, which was built in the last century, when the Duke of Newcastle was the owner, is still in existence. This Oatlands was a royal park, of which Henry the Eighth became possessed in exchange for Tandridge. The village of Walton is about five minutes' walk from the bridge. If the tourist has not already warned Mrs. Mary Copp of his advent, whose very comfortable inn stands retiringly at the top of the road leading to the bridge, let him at once order his dinner, and whilst it is preparing, he may examine the curiosities of Walton church. It is rather a spacious building. Its most remarkable objects are, John Selwyn's monumental brass, which represents him seated on the back of a stag, and plunging a knife into its throat. The story is, that, when keeper of Oatlands, he was hunting in the presence of Queen Elizabeth, and overtaking the stag, he sprung on to it from his horse and killed it. Roubiliac has a large and ostentatious monument to commemorate Richard Viscount Shannon. The female figure has a kind of unsculpturesque beauty of its own, and its execution has that exquisite finish, proper to all Roubiliac's works. In the vestry is kept what is called a scold's bridle-an old iron machine for preventing utterance by confining the tongue. William Walton Church. Scold's Bridle, in Walton Church. "Chester presents Walton with a bridle To curb women's tongues which talk idle.-A.D. 1633." Lilly, the astrologer, who lived at the adjoining village of Hersham, is buried here. We can but mention in a sentence, as objects worthy of inspection in the neighbourhood of Walton, the orangeries, and Leonardo da Vinci's small cartoon sketch for his "Last Supper," at Burnwood House-the old house at Ashley Park, said, but without any known authority, to have been a residence of Cardinal Wolsey, and the gardens at Painshill, near Cobham. All these are far south of the route we have taken, and they are not to be seen without special leave of their owners. LONDON: PUBLISHED AT THE RAILWAY CHRONICLE OFFICE, RAILWAY TRAVELLING CHARTS; Or, IRON ROAD-BOOKS, FOR PERUSAL ON THE JOURNEY: IN WHICH ARE NOTED THE TOWNS, VILLAGES, CHURCHES, MANSIONS, PARKS, STATIONS, BRIDGES, VIADUCTS, TUNNELS, CUTTINGS, GRADIENTS, &c. The Scenery and its Natural History, the Antiquities and their Historical Associations, &c. passed by the Line of Railway, WITH HUNDREDS OF ILLUSTRATIONS, CONSTITUTING A NOVEL AND COMPLETE COMPANION FOR THE RAILWAY CARRIAGE. LONDON TO KINGSTON AND HAMPTON COURT, price ld. Also publishing, PLEASURE EXCURSIONS, Being Guides for DAY'S EXCURSIONS to KINGSTON AND HAMPTON COURT, On the SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. REPRINTED FROM THE Railway Chronicle, Which is published every Saturday, in time for the Morning Mails, price 6d. stamped to go free by post. |