(Trunk) No. 11. WINDSOR TO LONDON.

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The way into London from Kingston-on-Thames is over Putney Heath and across Putney Bridge, where it is only necessary to follow the motor omnibuses to reach Hyde Park Corner or any other central point.]

It was probably William the Conqueror who built the first fortress on the wonderfully defensive site raised above the Thames, but Henry III., the builder of Westminster Abbey and much of the Tower of London, who planned the castle on its present vast scale. Edward III., having instituted the Order of the Garter, gave up the lower ward to that distinguished body of knights, and it was he who employed William of Wykeham as his architect or surveyor. The third, and practically the last, great builder was George IV., who gave up the historic buildings, then in bad repair, to the tender mercies of Sir Jeffry Wyatville, with the results already deplored.

(The State apartments may be seen during the absence of the Court, but about a week elapses after the Royal departure before the public are admitted.)

The magnificent Chapel of St. George—one of the three finest Perpendicular chapels in the kingdom—was mainly built by Edward IV., and finished by Henry VII. and VIII. In the choir are the stalls of the Knights of the Garter, twenty-six in number, with their banners above. Edward IV., Henry VI., Henry VIII., and Jane Seymour and Charles I., were all buried in the chapel.

Windsor Park is famous for the Long Walk—three straight miles of elms, planted by Charles II.; for the beautiful artificial lake, known as Virginia Water; and for the mausoleum in the grounds of Frogmore House, where Queen Victoria and the good Prince Consort lie buried. (On one day only—December 14—every year is this open to the public.)

The road keeps near the river, and passes close to historic Magna Charta Island, where the unwilling John Lackland signed the great charter of English liberty in 1215.

STAINES

possesses an important bridge, the descendant of a wooden one which stood there in 1262. The stone bridge, put up in 1792, gave way, and its successor, built in 1803, was a bold engineering feat in the form of a single iron span of 180 feet; but this, too, had to be replaced, and in 1829 the present stone bridge was planned. It was opened in 1832 by William IV. and Queen Adelaide.

After passing the picturesque Hampton Court Green, one reaches Wolsey's magnificent red-brick palace—

HAMPTON COURT

The site had been in the possession of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, and it was from the Prior that Cardinal Wolsey obtained a lease in 1514. He demolished the manor-house, then standing, and in its place planned the stately palace, with its several courtyards entered by great gateways of red brick and stone. Here the princely ecclesiastic entertained in a manner so sumptuous that the Court of Henry VIII. was outshone by its brilliance. In 1526, the King having commented on this fact, Wolsey promptly handed over his palace to his royal master, who did not hesitate to accept a gift so pleasing. After Wolsey's death, Henry spent much time at Hampton Court, and rebuilt a large part of the palace.

To chronicle a bare summary of historic events which took place in the castle is not possible here, but in the early period of its existence Edward VI. was born there, and within these old red walls Jane Seymour died, Catherine Howard was disgraced, and Catherine Parr was married. Here, too, Charles I. spent his honeymoon, and afterwards was confined as a prisoner for three months.

KINGSTON-ON-THAMES

on the other side of the river, is a busy little town of some picturesqueness, possessing at one end of its narrowing market-place the famous Coronation Stone from which the place derives its name. The Perpendicular church, which is large and contains a monument by Chantrey, used to have a quaint custom of cracking nuts during the services on the Sunday preceding Michaelmas Eve. So great was the noise of crunching nuts that it was almost impossible to hear the voice of the clergyman.


After ascending Kingston Hill the road crosses Putney Heath, and enters the Metropolis through the now uninteresting suburb of Putney. After crossing Putney Bridge, the motor omnibuses are the best guide to follow.

A SHORT TABLE, SHOWING THE KINGS AND QUEENS OF ENGLAND SINCE ALFRED THE GREAT, THE CHIEF EVENTS OF THEIR REIGNS, AND THE STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE PREVAILING IN EACH PERIOD

Architectural
Period.
Sovereigns. Important Events.
Saxon or Pre-Norman Saxon Kings from
Alfred the Great.
 
Alfred, 871 Danish invasions
Edward the Elder, 901  
Athelstane, 925  
Edmund, 941  
Edred, 946  
Edwy, 955  
Edgar, 959  
Edward the Martyr, 975  
Ethelred the Unready, 978  
Edmund Ironside, 1016  
Danish Kings.  
Cnut, 1017  
Harold Harefoot, 1036  
Hardicanute, 1040  
Saxon Kings.  
Edward the Confessor, 1042  
Harold II. 1066 Norman Conquest
Norman and Transitional, 1066-1190 William I., 1066 Domesday compilation
William II., 1087 First Crusade, 1096
Henry I., 1100  
Stephen, 1135 Civil war with Matilda throughout reign
Henry II., 1154 Murder of Becket, 1170
Early English, 1190-1280 Richard I., 1189 Third Crusade, 1189
John, 1199 The Interdict, 1208
Magna Charta, 1215
Invasion of Louis the Dauphin, 1215
Henry III., 1216 Battle of Lewes, 1264
First Parliament, 1265
Decorated, 1280-1360 Edward I., 1272 War with Scotland
Edward II., 1307  
Edward III., 1327 The Black Death, 1349
Perpendicular, 1360-1500 Richard II., 1377 Wat Tyler's Rebellion
Henry IV., 1399  
Henry V., 1413 Battle of Agincourt
Henry VI., 1422 Wars of the Roses
Edward IV., 1461 Wars of the Roses
Printing introduced
Edward V., 1483 Murdered in the Tower
Richard III., 1483 Killed at Bosworth
Tudor, 1500-1600 Henry VII., 1485 Discovery of America, 1492
Henry VIII., 1509 Field of the Cloth of Gold, 1520
Cardinal Wolsey, 1471-1530
Dissolution of the Monasteries, 1536
Edward VI., 1547 Copy of the Bible ordered to be placed in every church
Mary, 1553 Persecution of Protestants
Elizabeth, 1558 Execution of Mary Queen of Scots, 1587
Spanish Armada, 1588
Jacobean James I., 1603 Gunpowder Plot, 1605
Charles I., 1625 Civil War began, 1642
The Commonwealth, 1649  
Charles II., 1660 The Great Plague, 1665
James II., 1685 Monmouth's Rebellion, 1685
Revolution and landing of William of Orange, 1688
Queen Anne William and Mary, 1689  
Anne, 1702 Union of England and Scotland
Georgian George I., 1714 South Sea Bubble, 1720
George II., 1727 Rebellion of 1745
Taking of Canada, 1759
George III., 1760 American War of Independence, 1775
French Revolution, 1789
George IV., 1820  
William IV., 1830 The first railway opened
Reform Act, 1832
Victorian Victoria, 1837 The Chartists, 1848
Great Exhibition, 1851
Crimean War, 1854
Indian Mutiny, 1857
Edward VII., 1901  
George V., 1910  

MOTOR-CAR SIGNS

A London
AA Southampton (C.C.)
AB Worcestershire
AC Warwickshire
AD Gloucestershire
AE Bristol
AF Cornwall
AH Norfolk
AI Meath
AJ Yorkshire (N.R.)
AK Bradford (Yorks)
AL Nottinghamshire
AM Wiltshire
AN West Ham
AO Cumberland
AP Sussex, East
AR Hertfordshire
AS Nairn
AT Kingston-on-Hull
AU Nottingham
AW Salop
AX Monmouthshire
AY Leicestershire
B Lancashire
BA Salford
BB Newcastle-on-Tyne
BC Leicester
BD Northamptonshire
BE Lindsey, Lincs
BF Dorsetshire
BH Buckinghamshire
BI Monaghan
BJ Suffolk, East
BK Portsmouth
BL Berkshire
BM Bedfordshire
BN Bolton
BO Cardiff
BP Sussex, West
BR Sunderland
BS Orkney
BT Yorkshire (E.R.)
BU Oldham
BW Oxfordshire
BX Carmarthenshire
BY Croydon
C Yorkshire (W.R.)
CA Denbighshire
CB Blackburn
CC Carnarvonshire
CD Brighton
CE Cambridgeshire
CF Suffolk, West
CH Derby
CI Queen's County
CJ Herefordshire
CK Preston
CL Norwich
CM Birkenhead
CN Gateshead
CO Plymouth
CP Halifax
CR Southampton
CT Kesteven, Lincs
CU South Shields
CW Burney
CX Huddersfield
CY Swansea
D Kent
DA Wolverhampton
DB Stockport
DC Middlesbrough
DE Pembrokeshire
DF Northampton
DH Walsall
DI Roscommon
DJ St. Helens
DK Rochdale
DL Isle of Wight
DM Flintshire
DN York
DO Holland, Lincs
DP Reading
DR Devonport
DS Peebles
DU Coventry
DW Newport (Mon.)
DX Ipswich
DY Hastings
E Staffordshire
EA West Bromwich
EB Isle of Ely
EC Westmorland
ED Warrington
EE Grimsby
EF West Hartlepool
EH Hanley
EI Sligo
EJ Cardiganshire
EK Wigan
EL Bournemouth
EM Bootle
EN Bury
EO Barrow-in-Furness
EP Montgomeryshire
ES Perth
ET Rotherham
EU Breconshire
EW Huntingdonshire
EX Great Yarmouth
EY Anglesea
F Essex
FA Burton-on-Trent
FB Bath
FC Oxford
FD Dudley
FE Lincoln
FF Merionethshire
FH Gloucester
FI Tipperary (N.R.)
FJ Exeter
FK Worcester
FL Peterborough
FM Chester
FN Canterbury
FO Radnorshire
FP Rutlandshire
G Glasgow
H Middlesex
HI Tipperary
HS Renfrew
IA Antrim
IB Armagh
IC Carlow
ID Cavan
IE Clare
IF Cork (County)
IH Donegal
IJ Down
IK Dublin
IL Fermanagh
IM Galway
IN Kerry
IO Kildare
IP Kilkenny
IR King's County
IT Leitrim
IU Limerick
IW Londonderry
IX Longford
IY Louth
IZ Mayo
J Durham
JI Tyrone
JS Ross and Cromarty
K Liverpool
KI Waterford
KS Roxburgh
L Glamorganshire
LB London
LC London
LI West Meath
LN London
LS Selkirk
M Cheshire
MI Wexford
MS Stirling
N Manchester
NI Wicklow
NS Sutherland
O Birmingham
OI Belfast
OS Wigtown
P Surrey
PI Cork
PS Shetland
R Derbyshire
RI Dublin
RS Aberdeen
S Edinburgh
SA Aberdeen (County)
SB Argyll
SD Ayr
SE Banff
SH Berwick
SJ Bute
SK Caithness
SL Clackmannan
SM Dumfries
SN Dumbarton
SO Elgin
SP Fife
SR Forfar
SS Haddington
ST Inverness
SU Kincardine
SV Kinross
SW Kirkcudbright
SX Linlithgow
SY Midlothian
T Devonshire
TI Limerick
TS Dundee
U Leeds
UI Londonderry
US Govan
V Lanark
VS Greenock
W Sheffield
WI Waterford
WS Leith
X Northumberland
XS Paisley
Y Somersetshire
YS Partick

HOTELS ON THE ROUTE

The following hotels are recommended, having been lately visited by the authors:

INDEX