Monday 9th August 1819
Monday August 9th Having breakfasted we started for Pooley bridge 16 miles the road was not very striking Hatton accompanying us the Inn is comfortable though small. At Pooley bridge we took some refreshment & proceeded through a very fine park to the noble residence of Ld Lowther the architect is Mr Smirke it is built in the Castle Gothic style & not yet completed the entrance
hall & staircase are very fine a balcony runs round it beautifully & incased with flowers the salon is a fine room & the whole has an appearance of great comfort but is not to be compared to Ld Grovenors the pleasure grounds are not finished but there are very pretty walks shadowed by fine trees; we next proceeded to Penrith a pretty town with an excellent Inn after dinner we walked to the ruins of the Castle built in the time of Edward the 4th Richard the 3rd resided here when Earl of Gloucester it was destroyed in the time of the Commonwealth the exterior walls only remain the entrance
is by a drawbridge; we then walked to the Church where there are some curious stones said to be Giant legs but according to Bishop Littleton’s opinion were erected to the memory of Ewain Cæsarius he being a warrior of gigantic size who reigned in the time of Athelstan
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Pooley Bridge village takes its name from a bridge over the River Eamont at the northern end of Ullswater.
2010: Pooley Bridge by Peter McDermott. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Peter McDermott and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pooley_Bridge_(geograph_1822495).jpg
The bridge, erected in 1764 and replacing an earlier bridge from the 16th century was washed away in the 6 December 2015 floods https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pooley_Bridge A YouTube video records the destruction https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=41&v=C4v7Kn0vuOU
Inns: There were three inns, the Sun and the Crown, which still exist, and the Sloop, which has disappeared. The Pooley Inn, formerly the Chalet, was much later. http://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/history-of-pooley-bridge.231990.html
Sun Inn: A photo of the Sun below, from their website, which declares: Converted from a row of cottages in the 1700’s and recently refurbished, we offer a range of ensuite accommodation options, including double, twin and single rooms. Some of our rooms are dog-friendly so your beloved four legged friend can join you on your Lake District adventures. https://suninnpooleybridge.co.uk/
Photograph from the Sun Inn website, https://suninnpooleybridge.co.uk/gallery/
Crown Inn: A photo of the Crown below, from their website, which declares: Here, in our 17th-century coaching inn you’ll find low beams, big smiles and hearty food and drink. A crackling fire. Cosy guest rooms for a rest. A sun terrace, all modern and bright and a river running past. https://www.crownpooleybridge.co.uk/explore/about-us/
From The Crown Inn Pooley Bridge website: https://www.crownpooleybridge.co.uk/gallery/
William Lowther 1st Earl of Lonsdale was about 52 years old when he built Lowther Castle. His cousin, Sir James Lowther had a rather disreputable history. He incurred a large debt to the father of William Wordsworth and refused to pay it despite numerous requests from the family. When Sir James Lowther died in 1802 and William inherited his fortune he immediately refunded the money to the Wordsworth family with interest.
circa 1830: William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale by Jacob Thompson. Image from Christies auctions http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/paintings/jacob-thompson-portrait-of-william-1st-earl-5177686-details.aspx. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Lowther_1st_Earl_of_Lonsdale.jpg
He also befriended William Wordsworth and assisted him financially. Wordsworth frequently stayed at Lowther Castle as many of his published letters are written from there. Wordsworth wrote several poems for William. Part of his verse about Lowther Castle is as follows: "Lowther! in thy majestic Pile are seen/Cathedral pomp and grace in apt accord/With the baronial castle’s sterner mien" Lady Augusta Lonsdale, William’s wife, was also a patron of the arts and she kept an album in which some of the poets visiting Lowther Castle wrote verse.
Wordsworth wrote a long poem in her honour in the album which has been included in his published works. Robert Southey was also a frequent visitor at the Castle and he too wrote in Lady Lonsdale's album. A verse he composed about Lowther Castle is as follows: "Lowther! have I beheld thy stately walls,/Thy pinnacles, and broad embattled brow,/And hospitable halls./The sun those wide spread battlements shall crest,/And silent years unharming shall go by,/Till centuries in their course invest/Thy towers with sanctity." The Earl and Countess also encouraged artists to visit Lowther Castle. The most famous of these was Joseph Turner. He painted the recently acquired work called “Lowther Castle – Evening” which hangs in the Bowes Museum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowther_Castle BELOW:
1810: Lowther Castle - Evening. Painting by JMW Turner. Source: http://artdaily.com/news/61431/J-M-W-Turner-painting--Lowther-Castle---Evening--added-to-the-Bowes-Museum-s-permanent-collection#.UtOB_SF9Kpp. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lowther_Castle_-_Evening_by_Turner_1810.jpg
Lowther Castle, then known as Lowther Hall, was rebuilt on a grand scale in the late 17th century by John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale. The current building, a castellated mansion, was built by Robert Smirke for William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale between 1806 and 1814, and it was only at that time that it was designated a "castle". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowther_Castle
2015: Lowther Castle by Richard Szwejkowski. Source https://www.flickr.com/photos/68112440@N07/21084472269/in/photolist-7UZUtT-y8ar2X- This image was originally posted to Flickr by Richard Szwejkowski at https://flickr.com/photos/68112440@N07/21084472269. It was reviewed on 22 May 2016 by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-sa-2.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LowtherCastle.jpg
Lowther Castle, from Morris's Seats, Published by Mackenzie (circa 1880) http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/22253
circa 1830: Lowther Castle & Park, Westmorland. Engraving by W. Le Petit after T. Allom. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SELowtherCastleParkTA15.jpg
Sir Robert Smirke was Lucy’s cousin through her paternal grandmother, née Barbara Smirke. A number of his works were built by Lucy’s father, Alexander Copland.
Biography extracted from Wikipedia: Smirke was born in London on 1 October 1780, the second son of the portrait painter Robert Smirke; he was one of twelve children. He attended Aspley School, Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire, where he studied Latin, Greek, French and drawing, and was made head boy at the age of 15. In May 1796 he began his study of architecture as a pupil of John Soane but left after only a few months in early 1797 due to a personality clash with his teacher. He wrote to his father: He (Soane) was on Monday morning in one of his amiable Tempers. Everything was slovenly that I was doing. My drawing was slovenly because it was too great a scale, my scale, also, being too long, and he finished saying the whole of it was excessively slovenly, and that I should draw it out again on the back not to waste another sheet about it. In 1796, he also began his studies at the Royal Academy winning the Silver Medal that year, also winning the same year the Silver Palette of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Academy in 1799 for his design for a National Museum. After leaving Soane he depended on George Dance the Younger and a surveyor called Thomas Bush for his architectural training. In 1801, accompanied by his elder brother Richard he embarked on a Grand Tour which would last until 1805. His itinerary can be followed by the series of letters he wrote: Brussels, Paris (in order to visit which the brothers had to disguise themselves as Americans as Britain was at war with France at the time), Berlin, Potsdam, Prague, Dresden, Vienna. He visited Italy, including, Florence, Venice, Padua, Genoa, Vicenza, Rome, Naples, and Sicily, then went on to Greece, seeing Corinth, Athens, Delphi, Thebes and Olympia. His experience of Athens was to influence him heavily and he became one of the leaders of the Greek Revival Architecture movement.
His first official appointment came in 1807 when he was made architect to the Royal Mint. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy on 7 November 1808, and a full Academician on 11 February 1811, his diploma work consisting of a drawing of a reconstruction of the Acropolis of Athens. He only ever exhibited five works at the Academy, the last in 1810. Smirke's relations with Soane reached a new low after the latter, who had been appointed Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy, heavily criticised Smirke's design for the Covent Garden Opera House in his fourth lecture on 29 January 1810. [His Cousin, Alexander Copland was the builder of the Covent Garden Opera House] Together with John Nash and Sir John Soane, he became an official architect to the Office of Works in 1813 (an appointment he held until 1832) at a salary of £500 per annum, thereby reaching the height of the profession. In 1819 he was made surveyor of the Inner Temple. In 1820, he was made surveyor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and also in 1820 he became treasurer to the Royal Academy. He was knighted in 1832, and received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 1853.
2014: Bust of Sir Robert Smirke, British Museum. Author Stephencdickson. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bust_of_Sir_Robert_Smirke,_British_Museum.jpg
The rapid rise of Smirke was due to political patronage. He was a Tory at a time when this party was in the ascendant. His friends at the Royal Academy such as Sir Thomas Lawrence, George Dance, Benjamin West and Joseph Farington were able to introduce him to patrons such as: John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn; Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville; Sir George Beaumont, 7th Baronet; George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen; Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford; Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst; John 'Mad Jack' Fuller and William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale. These politicians and aristocrats ensured his rapid advancement and several were to commission buildings from Smirke themselves. Thomas Leverton Donaldson described Smirke as able to please "Men whom it was proverbially impossible to please". His patron at Lowther Castle William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale said he was "ingenious, modest and gentlemanly in his manners". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Smirke_(architect)
Penrith is a market town on the Roman road from Manchester to Carlisle.
2008: The Market Square at Penrith, Cumbria, by Nick Mutton, from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Nick Mutton and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Market_Square,_Penrith.jpg
The Roman fort of Voreda occupied the site now known as Old Penrith, five miles north of the town https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrith,_Cumbria
The Crown Inn has been part of the community since 1770 and much of the building is original including the front door- http://www.thecrown-hotel.co.uk/ This is probably where Lucy stayed
Penrith Castle was built between 1399 and 1470 as a defence against Scottish raids. In 1460, Richard, Earl of Warwick, the 'Kingmaker,' inherited the Castle and Lordship, but was himself slain at the Battle of Barnet without leaving a male heir, so they reverted to the crown. They were granted in 1471 to Richard, Duke of Gloucester by King Edward IV, who used Penrith as a base whilst 'taking effectual measures' against the Scots.
1806: Penrith Castle, Artist and Engraver John Hassell, from the Hassell's Antiquities series. http://www.rareoldprints.com/z/13222
2008: Penrith Castle, Cumbria. Photograph by Clintheacock66 at the English language Wikipedia and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Penrith_Castle_2.JPG
The castle is maintained by English Heritage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrith_Castle
St. Andrew's Church, Penrith; The tower dates from the 12th and 13th centuries.
2009: The tower of St Andrew's Church Penrith, by Paul Farmer. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Paul Farmer and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_tower_of_St_Andrew%27s_Church_Penrith_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1561838.jpg
The rest of the church, together with the west doorway, was rebuilt in 1721–72, when the diagonal buttresses were added to the tower. The brass chandeliers were given to the church in 1745 by the 2nd Duke of Portland in recognition of the part the town played in the defence against the Young Pretender. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Andrew%27s_Church,_Penrith
The 'Giants Grave' is where it is believed that Owen Cæsarius, king of Cumbria between 900 and 937 AD was buried. It is a collection of ancient grave stones comprising two 11' high stone crosses and four hog-back stones. An excavation of the 'Giants Grave' showed a skeleton underneath with a sword. The four hog-back stones surrounding the grave are said to represent wild boar he killed in nearby Inglewood Forest. http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=11012
circa 1835: The Giant's Grave in the churchyard at Penrith, Cumbria, England. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Penrith1835.jpg
2006: Giants Grave. Graveyard St. Andrews Church Penrith by wfmillar. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by wfmillar and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giants_Grave._-_geograph.org.uk_-_243538.jpg
Bishop Luttleton: His opinion is quoted in Archaeologia: “Whatever, therefore this pillar (the Giant’s Thumb) may be, the Giant’s Grave is undoubtedly a sepulchral monument; but whether it is British, Roman, Saxon, or Danish is the question. That it is much too rude to be the work of the Romans, is evident; and with regard to the Saxons, I know of no monument of this kind remaining in England which was ever attributed to this people. It must then be either British or Danish”. After describing the British monuments of the neighbourhood, he says: “Its being denominated the Giant’s Grave is perhaps in circumstance which strengthens the opinion of the monument being British.” https://www.standrewspenrith.org.uk/giantsgrave.htm
Can you help us?
Transcription problems: As untrained transcribers we sometimes experience problems interpreting some of Lucy’s writing. We have a problem deciphering one section today:
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beautifully & ??*** ?? Help please! We’ve hazarded incased, but it doesn’t seem good enough
Old Regency Prints, Pictures an Coaching maps: Do you have access to any prints or pictures showing what town and country would have looked like when Lucy travelled through? Any illustrations of what she would have seen in 1819 will enliven our research.
New Pictures: Do you have any modern pictures of the streets, buildings, gardens and views that would enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought?