What to See in England | Page 6

the public daily, free, except on Fridays; summer, 10 to 6; winter, 10 to 4. Sundays, summer, 2 to 6; winter, 2 to 4.
[Illustration: THE EAST SIDE OF THE CLOCK TOWER, HAMPTON COURT.]

RYE HOUSE, BROXBOURNE
=How to get there.=--Train from Liverpool Street. Great Eastern Rly. =Nearest Station.=--Broxbourne (quite close to Rye House). =Distance from London.=--17 miles. =Average Time.=--50 minutes. Quickest train, 39 minutes.
1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 3s. 3d. 2s. 3d. 1s. 6d. } reduced during Return 4s. 9d. 3s. 6d. 2s. 6d. } summer months.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--Rye House has been converted into an hotel.
Rye House stands close to the banks of the river Lea, and is now perhaps more of a resort than some would wish it to be, for it has been altered from a manor-house into an hotel. It has not, however, quite lost its picturesqueness, as one will see from the illustration given here, and within one may see the fine old dining-hall and the famous "Great bed of Ware," large enough, it is said, to contain twelve people! The historical interest which attaches itself to Rye House, though well known, may be briefly given here. It was in 1683 the scene of a plot, in Charles II.'s reign, to assassinate the king and his brother the Duke of York, afterwards James II., on their way to London from Newmarket. Charles, though restored to the throne, was giving great dissatisfaction to many in the country. Though professedly a Protestant, it was well known that his leanings were towards Roman Catholicism, and his brother the Duke of York was an avowed Catholic. Then it was discovered that Charles had been receiving a pension from Louis XIV. of France, on condition that this country did not go to war with the French, an arrangement which was most humiliating to the English people. The nation was thoroughly alarmed, and at the next meeting of Parliament the Commons brought in a bill to exclude the Duke of York from ever coming to the throne. Many of the leading Whigs, including Lord William Russell, Algernon Sidney, and the Earl of Essex, formed a confederacy. It has never been proved that they ever meant the country to rise against the king, but unfortunately, just at the same time, some bolder and fiercer spirits of the Whig party determined to kill both Charles and James at the lonely Rye House belonging to Rumbolt. The plot failed from the fact that the house which the king occupied at Newmarket accidentally caught fire, and Charles was obliged to leave Newmarket a week sooner than was expected. This conspiracy as well as the meetings of the Whig party were betrayed to the king's ministers. Russell was beheaded in 1683, and Sidney shared the same fate.
[Illustration: RYE HOUSE.
The scene of the famous Rye House Plot in 1683.]

HATFIELD HOUSE, HERTS
=How to get there.=--From King's Cross. Great Northern Railway. =Nearest Station.=--Hatfield. =Distance from London.=--17-3/4 miles. =Average Time.=--35 minutes.
1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 2s. 6d. ... 1s. 5-1/2d. Return 5s. 0d. ... 2s. 11d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Red Lion Hotel," etc.
Permission to see the interior of Hatfield House can be obtained when the Marquess of Salisbury is not in residence.
After the Norman Conquest Hatfield, the Haethfield of the Saxons, became the property of the bishops of Ely, and was known as Bishops Hatfield, as indeed it is marked on many maps. There was here a magnificent palace, which at the Reformation became the property of Henry VIII., and was afterwards given to the Cecils by James I., who received Theobalds in exchange.
The town of Hatfield is a quaint, straggling place, with narrow streets and many antique houses. A steep declivity leads up to the old church, dedicated to St. Etheldreda, just outside one of the entrances to the grounds of Hatfield House. The church contains a monument to Sir Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury, also tombs of the Botelers, Brockets, and Reads of Brocket Hall.
The entrance gateway, close to the churchyard, leads to what are now the stables of Hatfield House, a fine red-brick structure, once the banqueting-hall of the Bishop's Palace. This building, with its fine open timber roof, is perhaps the only example of its kind in England used as a stable.
Hatfield House is one of the most perfect and magnificent of Elizabethan mansions in the kingdom. It was built by the first Earl of Salisbury in 1611, and is practically unaltered. The fine oak panelling and carving, the plaster ceilings, and much of the furniture, all remain as they were in the days of the great Lord Burleigh. The great hall, with its splendid timber roof, and the gallery, with a fine collection of pictures and curios, are two striking features. The staircase is magnificent in design and detail, and is furnished with gates at the bottom, placed there originally for preventing the