BURY HILL, ROOKERY, WOTTON, &c. Oh blessed summer sun! As thou art to this landscape, which were dull Be to the shadowy places around us, full B. R. PARkes. The walk which we have chosen for this day's excursion is certainly as pleasant, and contains as many features of interest as any which the tourist has yet taken. Part of the ground he has indeed already traversed, but we trust we need offer no apology for leading him over it once more. There is a great deal to be seen, and a variety of interesting information to be detailed about the localities we are now going to visit-more perhaps than the traveller will care to see or to learn in one day, but he can easily select any portion of this chapter, and use it for a guide, leaving the remainder for another opportunity. Bury-Hill, the seat of Charles Barclay, Esq., is situated on the south side of the Guildford road, about half a mile from Dorking. The park attached to it is open to the public, and on the summit of the hill which is called the Nower, a rustic temple or summer-house has been erected by Mr. Barclay for the accommodation of tourists, from which there are delightful prospects in every direction. The park is remarkably beautiful, for the undulations of the ground, the finely-grouped trees, the sandy banks which adorn some of the declivities, and the distant views which heighten the charms of the near landscape, the hand of art and the more delicate hand of nature—in short, a thousand minute particulars blend together so as to form an harmonious whole, with which the tourist, unless indeed he have no poetry in his soul, cannot fail to be charmed. But in describing the park, we have omitted to mention the way of access to it. The shortest route from Dorking is to enter at the commencement of Coldharbour Lane, taking the first path to the right. The carriage entrance to the house is from the Guildford road, and lies beyond this portion of the estate, from which it is separated by an enclosure and a gate, but either route is free to the public. The private portion of the grounds commences at the second lodge, to avoid which it is necessary to turn off to the right into the hamlet of Miltona cheerful spot, consisting of a school-house and a few pretty cottages, which lie at no great distancé from the Guildford road. From none of the points which we have mentioned can a view be obtained of Mr. Barclay's house, which is in a remarkably sheltered situation. It is well situated, and presents the appearance of a comfortable family mansion, in front of which there is a fine sheet of water, and although the scenery beyond it is by no means comparable in beauty with that which we behold from other portions of the estate, it is nevertheless calm and reposeful, and possesses a quiet charm which may perhaps compensate for the want of any more picturesque elements. Mr. Barclay is well known as the head partner in the firm of Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, & Co., the famous brewers, whose establishment in Southwark excites so strongly the curiosity of foreigners. The family are lineal descendants of the illustrious Robert Barclay, the apologist for the Quakers. As he passes through Milton street, the tourist will see upon his left, the kitchen-gardens and stables belonging to the Bury-Hill estate,* but he will be more struck by the pretty cottages, and the great taste evinced by the cottagers, whose little gardens are so pleasantly laid out, and so bright with flowers that the passer-by is gladdened in his heart, and the weary and desolate wayfarer, when "scorned by the world, and left without a home," would fain give utterance to the feelings so exquisitely expressed in Campbell's Pleasures of Hope. "Even he, at evening, should he chance to stray, . Crossing the Guildford road, we now turn into a narrow lane and then through some fields on the right hand, till we reach Milton Court, an old mansion now greatly dilapidated, which was erected in * If it suit his fancy, the rambler can cross a little wooden bridge, not far from Milton school-house, and mount the hills which lie at the back of Westcott. The views from the high ground are exceedingly fine and extensive, and Dorking itself is seen to great advantage. I all probability about the close of Queen Elizabeth's reign. The subjoined engravings will give the reader some idea of the appearance it presented in its more palmy days.* It is now the abode of a few poor families, and will, we fear, be suffered to fall into a state of ruin. As the abode of Jeremiah Markland, who "for modesty, candour, literary honesty, and courteousness to other scholars, is justly considered the model. 7 which ought to be proposed for the imitation of Quarterly Review, vol. 7, p. 442. |