Close to the village of Minsted is Malwood Lodge, Sir William Harcourt's New Forest seat. From a ridge near this there are grand views of the forest, till one comes to the Compton Arms Hotel, a completely isolated inn, near the Rufus Stone, which marks the spot where William II. fell by the arrow of Walter Tyrell.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

THE RUFUS STONE IN THE NEW FOREST.

Marking the spot where William II. fell by Walter Tyrell's arrow.]

OSBORNE HOUSE

=How to get there.=--Train from London Bridge or Victoria. London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Cowes.

=Distance from London.=--87 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 4 to 5-1/4 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 16s. 0d. 10s. 5d. 8s. 10d.

Return 27s. 10d. 18s. 2d. 16s. 4d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--Cowes--"Fountain Hotel," "The Gloster," "Royal Marine Hotel."

=Alternative Route.=--Train from Waterloo _via_ Southampton. L. and S.W. Railway.

Osborne House having been presented to the nation by King Edward, portions of the buildings and grounds are, or will be, available to the public on week days.

This stately marine residence of the late Queen Victoria is situated in the Isle of Wight, an island remarkable for the variety and beauty of its scenery. The Queen purchased the estate in 1845 from Lady Elizabeth Blachford, and the palace was finished in 1851. Since that time many additions have been made. The main gates are about three-quarters of a mile up the hill from the ferry, and the Prince of Wales's Gate further south, opposite the hotel. Osborne House has a melancholy interest attached to it, for here, on January 22, 1901, Queen Victoria breathed her last. A portion of every year was spent by the Queen at her seaside home, which had many a.s.sociations of her happy life there with her husband, the late Prince Consort, "Albert the Good." Surrounded with their children, they forgot the splendours and fatigues of Court, and devoted themselves to training their family in all that was useful and good. The Queen nearly always spoke of Osborne as "her island home." She and Prince Albert delighted in the fact that it was their own, that they could make their own plans, exercise their own taste in the laying out of the gardens, and in the building--in fact, in everything in this seaside home. The building is in the Palladian style, and was designed by Thomas Cubitt and the late Prince Consort. The grounds, covering 5000 acres, are 8 miles in extent, with a sea front of 1-1/3 miles. The terrace gardens are ornamented with statuary, and the grounds lead down to the water's edge, where there are sea baths and a private pier. The last journey of Victoria the Good from Osborne to the mausoleum at Frogmore, in the grounds of Windsor Castle, was a spectacle never to be forgotten.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

OSBORNE HOUSE.

Built by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1851.]

CARISBROOKE CASTLE

=How to get there.=--Train from Victoria or London Bridge _via_ Portsmouth and Ryde. London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Carisbrooke.

=Distance from London.=--88 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 3-1/2 to 5-1/2 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 16s. 4d. 10s. 8d. 9s. 1d.

Return 28s. 4d. 18s. 6d. 16s. 8d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Red Lion Hotel," "Waverley Hotel,"

"Eight Bells Hotel," "Castle Hotel," "Temperance Hotel," etc.

=Alternative Route.=--Train from Waterloo _via_ Cowes and Ryde.

L. and S.W. Railway.

Carisbrooke village is a charming place delightfully situated in the centre of the island. The castle (the charge for entering is 4d.) stands on a wooded hill at an elevation of 150 feet. The summit of the hill forms a level plateau about 20 acres in extent, all enclosed by the castle walls. Sir Walter Scott is said to have had this castle in his mind when writing _Marmion_. Beyond the great interest attached to the fact that it was here that Charles I. was confined, the castle does not figure very prominently in history. The fact, however, that this unfortunate monarch was imprisoned here in 1647 by the Parliament will be always sufficient to give its ancient walls and battlements a never-dying interest. When Charles was brought to the castle he was treated more as a guest than a prisoner, but after his attempted escape the king was much more closely watched and his pleasures curtailed. The story of the king attempting in vain to get through his bedroom window is known to all. Everything was in readiness, the details of rescue were all carefully prepared. Captain t.i.tus and others of the guard had been won over to a.s.sist the king, and had King Charles negotiated the narrow window, in all probability the escape would have been a success. In 1650, the year after Charles I. was beheaded, Henry Duke of Gloucester and the Princess Elizabeth were brought to the castle. Shortly after her arrival the princess, who was of a sickly const.i.tution, took a severe chill and was found one morning by her attendants lying dead on a couch.

Queen Victoria had a beautiful monument erected to her memory in Newport Church. The Well House, where the water is drawn from the depth of 150 feet by a clever donkey and draw-wheel, is an interesting feature of the castle. Princess Beatrice is the present Governor of the Island.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CARISBROOKE CASTLE.

Where Charles I. was imprisoned in 1647.]

LUTTERWORTH

THE HOME OF JOHN WYCLIFF

=How to get there.=--Train from Marylebone. Great Central Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Lutterworth.

=Distance from London.=--90 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 2-1/4 to 3 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 12s. 4d. ... 7s. 0d.

Return 24s. 0d. ... 14s. 0d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Hind Hotel," "Denbigh Arms,"

"Fox," etc.

Situated in typical English midland scenery, the quiet little country town of Lutterworth rises from the surrounding undulating pasture-land.

Here, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, when it was probably merely a fair-sized village, John Wycliff, the "Morning Star of the Reformation," and founder of the Lollards, was born. The main street slopes down the hill, beyond the houses, till it reaches the river side, where it is carried over the little river Swift on a small bridge.

A good proportion of the church, which is so closely a.s.sociated with Wycliff, dates from the fourteenth century. It is a large building, with a tower and belfry stage, and four crocketed pinnacles. The tower was formerly surmounted by a wooden belfry, but this was destroyed by the great gale of 1703. The nave is lighted by a clerestory, and the aisles are divided by high arches. The church is built in Early Perpendicular style, but there is a good decorated window at the eastern end of the south aisle, where there used to be a Lady Chapel. The lower portions of the walls date from before the time of Wycliff. At the eastern end of the chancel are an aumbry and piscina. About thirty years ago the church was restored by Sir Gilbert Scott, when much new stone was inserted.

There are three interesting frescoes in the interior: one is believed to represent Queen Philippa asking Edward III. to give the living of Lutterworth to Wycliff. The roof of the nave is formed of fine woodwork of the Perpendicular period, but the pulpit, a splendid piece of fourteenth-century oak carving, claims the chief interest, being the same from which the great reformer preached. The base has been renewed, and the rest has been much repaired, but the same pulpit has been in use for more than 500 years. A fragment of Wycliff's cope or chasuble is preserved in a gla.s.s case in the vestry, but some doubt attaches to the origin of "Wycliff's chair," which seems of considerably later date.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WYCLIFF'S PULPIT IN LUTTERWORTH CHURCH.

It is a fine piece of fourteenth-century oak carving.]

COMPTON WYNYATES

=How to get there.=--Train from Euston. London and North-Western Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Kineton (5 miles from Compton Wynyates).

=Distance from London.=--91-3/4 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 2 to 3-3/4 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 14s. 4d. 9s. 0d. 7s. 8d.