West Beechworth, an old mansion, standing on the site of an ancient castle, occupies an eminence on the banks of the Mole. At the General Survey, the manor belonging to it formed part of the possessions of Richard de Tonbridge, and afterwards of the Earls of Arundel. In 1377, John Fitz-Alan, second son of Richard, Earl of Arundel, who died the preceding year, having succeeded to this estate, had licence to imbattle his manor house here. A similar licence was granted in 1449, to Thomas Brown, Esq. in whose possession this estate then was; he had permission also to impark his manor, to have free warren in the same; likewise Court Leet and Court Baron, and an annual affair on Tuesday in Whitsun-week. In the family of Brown, of which Ambrose was, in 1627, created a baronet, this estate continued vested till the death of Sir Adam, in 1690, when it devolved to his sole daughter and heir, married to William Fenwick, Esq. who pulled down the greater part of the castle, and turned the remainder into a dwelling-house. It is now the property of Henry Peters, Esq. who has made great improvements, and enlarged the estate by various purchases. The park is remarkable for the noble timber with which it is adorned. The outer park is skirted with chesnut-trees of very large dimensions, and the inner, at the extremity of which the house is situated, has two fine avenues, the one of elms, the other, 350 yards in length, composed of a triple row of limes of extraordinary size and height.

The Downs, which rise to a considerable elevation from the opposite bank of the Mole, are finely chequered with yew and box trees of great antiquity, which form a scene not less venerable than pleasing. Of the latter, in particular, there was formerly such abundance, that the part of the Downs lying contiguous to the stream, and within the precinct of the manor of West Beechworth, has always been known by the name of Box Hill; it commands an extensive view into the neighbouring counties. Various have been the disquisitions concerning the antiquity of this plantation, which, for any thing that appears to the contrary, may have been coeval with the soil. The late

Sir Henry Mildmay, while in possession of this estate, sold the box upon Box Hill for 150001.; the purchaser was to be allowed fourteen years to cut it down. In 1802, forty tons were cut, and from the great quantity which has thus been brought into the market, and the limited use to which it can be applied, this wood has fallen more than fifty per cent. It will not now bring more than five or six pounds per ton.

At Dipden, south-eastward of Dorking, was an ancient mansion, formerly the residence of the Honourable Charles Howard of Greystoke, great grandfather of the present Duke of Norfolk, on whom three-fourths of the manor of Dorking devolved among other estates by the settlement of his father, the Earl of Arundel. In this spot, adapted by its solitude to study and contemplation, the ingenious proprietor, by an elegant and well-judged distribution of plantations of different kinds, created a scene of exquisite beauty and tranquillity, where he amused his leisure hours with experiments in the different branches of natural philosophy. His favourite employment was the study of chemistry, for the more commodious prosecution of which he erected laboratories, and in subterraneous grots formed for the purpose, had furnaces of different kinds, the flues of which in some places are yet to be seen. Among other works which he carried on here, was a passage through the hill, designed to open a prospect of the vale of Sussex to the south: but the earth having one morning fallen in while the labourers were absent at breakfast, the project was relinquished. He died in 1720, and was buried, as we have seen, in Dorking church. On this spot the late Duke of Norfolk erected a large and handsome house, which, in 1790, was sold by the present duke to Sir William Burrel, Bart. On his death, in 1796, this mansion devolved to his eldest son, Sir Charles, and is now by purchase the residence of Thomas Hope, Esq.

Chert Park, formerly called the Vineyard, was, in 1746, purchased by Henry Talbot, Esq. fourth son of Dr. William Talbot, Bishop of Durham, and youngest surviving brother of Lord Talbot, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, To that gentleman

this place owes the improvements under which it now appears : he enlarged the mansion, which commands a pleasant and extensive view to the south, and through the adjacent grounds, into a beautiful park. He died in 1784, when this estate devolved to his only daughter, the wife of Thomas Cornewall, Esq. That lady, who survived her husband, left this place at her decease, in 1802, to her kinsman, Sir Charles Talbot, who makes it his residence. The house, a plain white building, lies low: the park is not extensive, but the surface is strikingly diversified, and planted with great taste.

Denby's, or Denbigh's, was an ordinary farm-house when purchased in 1734, by Mr. Jonathan Tyers, the contriver of Vauxhall Gardens. It is situated on the very summit of the range of down, called Ranmer, which bounds the parish on the north-west, and commands one of the most extensive and delightful prospects that can be conceived. The improvements introduced at this place by Mr. Tyers were various and striking; but in a taste so totally different from what he had exhibited at Vauxhall, as to authorise the conjecture, that he intended this later design for a contrast to the former. Here every thing tended to impress the mind with serious thoughts: the principal scene was a wood of about eight acres, which he denominated Il Penseroso. It was intersected with many pleasing walks, and in the centre was a small temple loaded with inscriptions of the most grave and solemn kind; while a clock, concealed from the view, struck at the end of every minute, and forcibly proclaimed the rapid flight of time. At a little distance from the temple was an open building, on which were two figures as large as life, designed by Hayman, and representing a Christian and an Unbeliever in their last moments; with a statue of Truth treading on a mask, and directing the spectator's attention to those interesting objects. These grave conceits, however, were done away by the Honourable Peter King, father of the present Lord King, who, on the death of Mr. Tyers, in 1767, purchased this place, which, in 1781, he again disposed VOL. XIV.

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