Holwood House, Keston
THE HOME OF WILLIAM PITT
=How to get there.=–Train from Charing Cross, Cannon Street, and
London Bridge. South-Eastern and Chatham Railway.
=Nearest Station.=–Hayes (2 miles from Keston village). About 3
miles from Holwood House.
=Distance from London.=–12 miles.
=Average Time.=–35 minutes.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=–Single 2s. 0d. 1s. 3d. 1s. 0-1/2d.
Return 3s. 3d. 2s. 4d. 1s. 10d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=–"The Fox Inn,” “The George."
=Alternative Route.=–To Orpington Station by the South-Eastern and
Chatham Railway, about 4 miles distant.
Visitors are able to pass through the park on a public footpath.
About 3 miles’ walk from Hayes Station by a pleasant road over Hayes
Common is Holwood House, a stately, classic building, for many years the
home of William Pitt, the famous statesman and son of the Earl of
Chatham. He owned the estate between 1785 and 1802, and it was during
this period that the British camp in the park suffered so severely. The
earth-works were occupied by some early British tribe before Caesar
crossed the Channel, and the place probably owed its strength to its
well-chosen position. Pitt, however, caused these fascinating remains to
be levelled to a considerable extent, in order to carry out some of his
ideas of landscape gardening. A magnificent tree growing near the house
is known as “Pitt’s Oak,” from the tradition that Pitt was specially
fond of spending long periods of quiet reading beneath its overshadowing
boughs. Another tree of more interest still stands quite near the public
footpath through the park. This is known as “Wilberforce’s Oak,” and is
easily distinguished from the surrounding trees by the stone seat
constructed in its shade. The momentous decision which makes this tree
so interesting is given in Wilberforce’s diary for the year 1788. He
writes, “At length, I well remember after a conversation with Mr. Pitt
in the open air at the root of an old tree at Holwood, just above the
steep descent into the vale of Keston, I resolved to give notice on a
fit occasion in the House of Commons of my intention to bring forward
the abolition of the slave-trade.”
With the exception of Knole Park, Holwood boasts some of the finest
beeches in the country. The present house took the place of the one
occupied by Pitt in 1825; the architect was Decimus Burton.
[Illustration: WILBERFORCE’S OR “EMANCIPATION OAK” IN HOLWOOD PARK,
KESTON.]
Continue...
Preface •
Ham House and Petersham •
Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle) •
Harrow •
Holwood House, Keston •
Chigwell, Essex •
Waltham Abbey and Cross •
Downe •
Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts •
Epping Forest •
Hampton Court •
Rye House, Broxbourne •
Hatfield House, Herts •
Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta •
The Oldest Brass in England •
St. Albans •
Stoke Poges Church, Bucks •
Windsor •
Jordans and William Penn •
Knole House and Sevenoaks •
Greenstead Church •
Chalfont St. Giles •
Westerham •
Guildford, Surrey •
Gad’s Hill •
Ightham Mote, Kent •
Penshurst •
St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion •
Rochester Cathedral •
Tunbridge Wells •
The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey •
Eversley •
Farnham, Surrey •
Hindhead, Surrey •
Shottermill •
Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex •
Chawton the Home of Jane Austen •
Selborne •
Elstow •
Lewes, Sussex •
Bodiam Castle, Sussex •
Colchester, Essex •
Layer Marney •
Battle Abbey •
Cambridge •
Arundel Castle •
Olney, Bucks •
Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great •
Canterbury and Its Cathedral •
Reculvers •
Oxford •
Midhurst •
Pevensey Castle •
Savernake Forest •
Ely Cathedral •
St. Ives, Huntingdonshire •
Winchelsea and Rye •
Blenheim Palace •
Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland •
Peterborough •
Southampton •
Helmingham Hall •
Stonehenge, Wiltshire •
Netley Abbey •
Salisbury and Its Cathedral •
Sandwich, Kent •
New Forest, Hampshire •
Osborne House •
Carisbrooke Castle •
Lutterworth •
Compton Wynyates •
Kenilworth Castle •
Belvoir Castle •
Bath •
Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers •
Warwick •
Gloucester and Its Cathedral •
Norfolk Broads •
Norwich Cathedral •
Lichfield •
Sherborne and Its Abbey Church •
Newark •
Wells and Its Cathedral •
Stratford-On-Avon •
Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk •
Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire •
Corfe Castle •
Lincoln and Its Cathedral •
Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson •
Glastonbury Abbey •
Walsingham, Norfolk •
Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset •
Newstead Abbey •
The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances •
Tintern Abbey •
Chesterfield, Derbyshire •
Dukeries •
Haddon Hall, Derbyshire •
The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor •
Raglan Castle •
Dovedale •
Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire •
Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop •
Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire •
Ludlow and Its Castle •
Shrewsbury •
Buxton and the Peak District •
Tewkesbury •
Exeter and Its Cathedral •
Market Drayton, Salop •
Chester •
Exmoor •
Knutsford •
Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset •
Cleeve Abbey, Somerset •
Hawarden •
York Minster •
Coxwold, Yorkshire •
Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey •
Knaresborough, Dripping Well •
Fountains Abbey •
Ripon Cathedral •
Dartmoor •
Haworth •
Rievaulx Abbey •
Brixham, Devon •
Conway Castle •
The Doone Valley, Exmoor •
Llandovery, South Wales •
Dartmouth, Devon •
Richmond, Yorkshire •
Tintagel •
Whitby •
Carnarvon Castle •
Plymouth •
Durham and Its Cathedral •
Raby Castle, Durham •
Snowdon •
Harlech Castle •
Grasmere and Rydal Mount •
The Lake District •
St. Davids Cathedral •
Furness Abbey, Lancashire •
Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow •
The Isle of Man •
Brantwood •
Fowey •
Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall •
The Lake District •
Keswick •
Alnwick Castle •
Lanercost Priory, Cumberland •
Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.] •
St. Ives, Cornwall •
Bamborough Castle, Northumberland
![[Buy at Amazon]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0006ADKOC.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg)