in the reign of Edward IV., and received the fair domain and
broad lands upon which the edifice was raised, from his sovereign, in
reward for good service; retiring thither in the decline of life, at the
close of the Wars of the Roses, to sequestrate himself from scenes of
strife, and to consult his spiritual weal in the erection and endowment
of the neighboring church. It was of mixed architecture, and combined
the peculiarities of each successive era. Retaining some of the sterner
features of earlier days, the period ere yet the embattled manor-house
peculiar to the reigns of the later Henrys had been merged into the
graceful and peaceable hall, the residence of the Rookwoods had early
anticipated the gentler characteristics of a later day, though it could
boast little of that exuberance of external ornament, luxuriance of
design, and prodigality of beauty, which, under the sway of the Virgin
Queen, distinguished the residence of the wealthier English landowner;
and rendered the hall of Elizabeth, properly so called, the pride and
boast of our domestic architecture.

The site selected by Sir Ranulph for his habitation had been already
occupied by a vast fabric of oak, which he in part removed, though some
vestiges might still be traced of that ancient pile. A massive edifice
succeeded, with gate and tower, court and moat complete; substantial
enough, one would have thought, to have endured for centuries. But even
this ponderous structure grew into disuse, and Sir Ranulph's successors,
remodelling, repairing, almost rebuilding the whole mansion, in the end
so metamorphosed its aspect, that at last little of its original and
distinctive character remained. Still, as we said before, it was a fine
old house, though some changes had taken place for the worse, which
could not be readily pardoned by the eye of taste: as, for instance,
the deep embayed windows had dwindled into modernized casements, of
lighter construction; the wide porch, with its flight of steps leading
to the great hall of entrance, had yielded to a narrow door; and the
broad quadrangular court was succeeded by a gravel drive. Yet, despite
all these changes, the house of the Rookwoods, for an old house--and,
after all, what is like an old house?--was no undesirable or uncongenial
abode for any worshipful country gentleman "who had a great estate."

The hall was situated near the base of a gently declining hill,
terminating a noble avenue of limes, and par