I've just read the 1904 illustrated edition of Washington Irving's Bracebridge Hall (illustrated by R Caldecott published by Macmillan & Co). The first edition was in 1876, portraying a life going back in time to around the c1800s. Irving was a visitor at Aston Hall when James Watt Junior leased the Hall. Irving used it as the model for the manor portrayed in Bracebridge Hall. He also used Abraham Bracebridge, who'd lived at Aston Hall, as the model for the Squire in the written sketches.(See Bracebridge Holte family details in attached doc below)
Here are some points which I've extracted. Some may be illustrations of things witnessed by Irving while visiting the Hall, although of course they may, in part, simply be fictitious:
The Hall
An old manor house, in the old style, homage to a feudal manor. A sketch at the start of the book certainly bears a close rsemblance to Aston Hall - see images below
Visitor arriving at the Hall - front entrance shows only a passing similarity - see image below
Armour of a crusader in the hall
Jack boots of a Cavalier with thick soles and high heels !
Some poetic engravings on windows, engraved by (visiting ?) girls and men
Beamed parlour forming the main room - Irving observes " not much timber in houses these days"
A tapestry depicting a party of Cavaliers and a stately woman with double cap feathers, on horses with attendants. They have falcons
Residents, visitors
Family of ancient gentry, highly respected in local village. Devoted to old English manners and customs.
Squire described as worthy, well-meaning, kind-hearted old man, rusticated , living entirely on the estate
Squire's son, busy good humoured busy doing nothing ! Hobbies horses and falconry
Servants quiet, orderly, respectful. Housekeeper respected in village and by farmers wives. All born at the Hall.
The grounds
There was a porters lodge with a bell
A garden with flowers formally arranged in beds and Yew trees clipped into urns and peacocks. View from a panelled chamber in the house: of parterre, suggesting old-fashioned gardens - see image below
Squire had cleared a chasm a few miles away (called Squires Leap) for the purpose of hunting
A nearby farmhouse, old-fashioned, built of brick with twisted chimneys, a little distance from the road, southern exposure, looking across a soft green slope of meadow. Small garden to the front with beehives
Background on the real residents of Aston Hall
Here are some points which I've extracted. Some may be illustrations of things witnessed by Irving while visiting the Hall, although of course they may, in part, simply be fictitious:
The Hall
An old manor house, in the old style, homage to a feudal manor. A sketch at the start of the book certainly bears a close rsemblance to Aston Hall - see images below
Visitor arriving at the Hall - front entrance shows only a passing similarity - see image below
Armour of a crusader in the hall
Jack boots of a Cavalier with thick soles and high heels !
Some poetic engravings on windows, engraved by (visiting ?) girls and men
Beamed parlour forming the main room - Irving observes " not much timber in houses these days"
A tapestry depicting a party of Cavaliers and a stately woman with double cap feathers, on horses with attendants. They have falcons
Residents, visitors
Family of ancient gentry, highly respected in local village. Devoted to old English manners and customs.
Squire described as worthy, well-meaning, kind-hearted old man, rusticated , living entirely on the estate
Squire's son, busy good humoured busy doing nothing ! Hobbies horses and falconry
Servants quiet, orderly, respectful. Housekeeper respected in village and by farmers wives. All born at the Hall.
The grounds
There was a porters lodge with a bell
A garden with flowers formally arranged in beds and Yew trees clipped into urns and peacocks. View from a panelled chamber in the house: of parterre, suggesting old-fashioned gardens - see image below
Squire had cleared a chasm a few miles away (called Squires Leap) for the purpose of hunting
A nearby farmhouse, old-fashioned, built of brick with twisted chimneys, a little distance from the road, southern exposure, looking across a soft green slope of meadow. Small garden to the front with beehives
Background on the real residents of Aston Hall
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