Notable Lodge Meetings.

NOTABLE LODGE MEETINGS .

2 . —CHESHUNT GREAT HOUSE . In the first of our series of articles entitled " Notable Lodge Meetings , " we gave a brief description of "Easton Lodge , " where , by the courtesy of its proprietor , Bro . Lord Brooke , M . P ., P . G . M ., the Provincial Grand Lodge of Essex was invited to hold its annual meeting on the 6 th August last . In the present

article we purpose giving a short account of Cheshunt Great House , which by a similar but more unusual act of courtesy on the part of our ' late Bro . the Rev . C . Erskine Mayo , M . A ., P . P . G . Chap , of Hertfordshire , has been the Masonic home of the Gresham Lodge , No . 86 9 , for the last 14 years , and where , so

far as it is possible to speak of the future with any degree of certainty , the members of this lodge may reasonably look forward to continuing their meetings , the relatives of the late Bro . Mayo , to whom the property belongs , having already accorded to them the necessary permission to remain , as heretofore , the

occasional occupants , for Masonic purposes , of one of the finest , if not one of the oldest halls in the United Kingdom . Cheshunt Great House is indeed one of those fine old country mansions which are so numerously scattered about our country , and of

which , by reason of their wealth of historic association , our landed gentry are naturally so proud ; and the lodge is indeed fortunate which has been permitted , not on one or two occasions , but for a long term of years , to hold its meetings and discharge its duties under its hospitable roof .

We learn from the " Historical Account of Cheshunt Great House , from the

r ourteenth Century , " by Bro . F D . Rees Cope

stick , P . M . and Treas . of the Gresham Lodge , No . 869 , P . P . G .

S . Bearer Herts , which was written in 188 4 and printed for the lodge by Bro .

George Kenning that though the house "possesses noother architectural pretension than what is

conveyed by its mere bulk , " only a part of it dating in all probability from the Tudor

period , the Manor of Andrewes and the Motte or moat ,

must at a very early date in English history have occupied an important position in the county of Hertford . " It is true there is nothing now to guide us in forming an idea of the earliest building , beyond "the crypt or vaults beneath the old banqueting hall ; " but " its extensive foundations—surrounded by a double moat , parts of which may still be seen on the south side of the public road " close by , clearly enough indicate that it must have been of vast extent . The earliest reference to this Manor which Bro .

BANQUETING HALL—CHESHUNT GREAT HOUSE .

Copestick has been able to discover " occurs in an inquisition taken at Buntingford , Co . Hertford , the 14 th April , A . D . 137 8 , " when it was ascertained "that Marie de St . Paul , late Countess of Pembroke , held at the time of her decease the Manor de-la-Motte , at Cheshunt , for life , being

jointly enfeoffed of the same with A ylmer ( otherwise Aymer ) de Valence ( son of William de Valence , Governor of Hertford Castle ) , her late husband , the reversion to the Manor being stated to belong to John , son of John de Hastings , late Earl of Pembroke , and held of the Earl of Richmond , the Abbot of

Waltham , Philip Darcy Knight , the Prior of St . Mary ' s Hospital in Bishopsgate Without , London , the heirs of John Andrew , and the Parish Church of Cheshunt , by the Annual Service of 66 s . 8 d . " From the Court Rolls of Henry VI ., A . D . 1457-8 , it

appears that in that year " Courts were held in the name of John Fray and others , " while four years later they were again held " in the name of Henry Beaufort , Cardinal of England and Bishop of Winchester ; Richard Nevill , Earl of Salisbury ( afterwards Earl of Warwick , the King Maker ) ; William de la Pole

Notable Lodge Meetings.

( afterwards Duke of Suffolk ); and others ( probably as trustees ) . " By deed , dated 22 nd December , 1479 , Richard Glyn and John Pyke , yeoman of Cheshunt , conveyed the Manor of Andrewes with its appurtenances and half the Manor of Moatlands with its appurtenances to John Walshe , his heirs , and assigns for ever .

In 1500 , this John Walshe conveyed the Manor to Sir John More , Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas , and others , by whom it was conveyed to Henry Stafford , Earl of Wiltshire , who , by deed , dated the 31 st July , 1519 , sold it to Cardinal Wolsey , " the consideration for the same being £ 333 6 s . 8 d ., viz ., £ 19 6 13 s . 4 c ! .

paid on sealing of the deed of sale , and the balance of £ 136 13 s . 4 d . to be paid within twenty clays after the said Earl should have proved the will" of the said John Walshe , of which he was the executor , all those persons interested under this will

in the property having first surrendered their rights for various money considerations , so that the title of the Cardinal to the Manor he had purchased should be in all respects clear and indefeasible .

Cardinal Wolsey , who is " said to have frequently resided at this Manor House , " did not , however , long enjoy his purchase . On falling into disgrace , his estates became confiscated to the King , who , by letters patent , dated the 13 th April , 1531 , granted the Manor to "Henry Somerset , the second Earl of Worcester , and

Elizabeth , his wife , and the life of the survivor of either of thein , to hold by fealty and the rent of ^ 4 6 s . 8 d . " A few years later , Henry granted the reversion of the manor , after the death of the

Earl and his wife , to Sir Robert Dacres , Master of Requests and Privy Councillor , in whose family it remained till the year 16 75 , when a

descendant of his , also a Sir Robert Dacres , who is described by Bro . Copestick as " one of the

band of Pensioners to King Charles II . and

King James II ., " sold it to James Cecil , third Earl of Salisbury ,

whose son , the fourth Earl , conveyed it by deed to Sir Edward

des Bouvertc , Knt ., in 1692 , under whose will it was sold by the executors to Sir John S h a w , Bart ., of Eltham , in the County of Kent . From this Sir John Shaw the property descended through successive generations to the

Mayo family , who have Shaw blood in their veins , and in whom it is still vested . The banqueting hall in which the Gresham Lodge meets , and of which we give an illustration , is a noble apartment , measuring , as Bro . Copestick himself ascertained , 40 ft . by 23 ft . It has an open timbered roof and a tesselated floor , and on its walls are

portraits by Vandyke , Sir Peter Lely , and other artists of note , one of the most conspicuous being that of the great Cardinal Wolsey himself in the panel of the chimney-piece , which , notsince

withstanding tlie great alterations the house has undergone his day , Bro . Copestick considers was not improbably " fixed there during his ownership , and consequently possesses great historic ^ interest , " while it "affords evidence of the antiquity" of tll ( j hall . Arranged around it are armour of various dates , forest all cross-bows , banners and flags of the Cromwellian period , otne taken by Lord Nelson at the battle of the Nile , sculp ture , qua ' ^ wooden chests of the 1 Gth and 17 th centuries , which , with ¦ " armorial bearings and other baronial features , " furnish abu nda ' material for the consideration of those who are inclined antiquarian study . In Bro . Copestick ' s opinion , this hall foi' - " . part of the older building , " which , judging from the character ^ the principals of the roof , resting on corbels of the same P ^ ' , j 3 he assigns " to the time of Henry VII ., or even earlier . " ^ ^ opinion he considers he is borne out "by the vaulting unden ' ^ the arches of which , forming the ribs , and the octagona I which support them with their moulded caps and bases , all 1 to the earlier portion of the 15 th century . " Be this as it