MS Plymouth and West Devon Area Record Office Acc No 308
My dear Mary
Katharine must be glad of the reprieve of her husband’s start, but I hope it is not bad for his appointment.1 How glad I am you have begun so happily at Yealmpton, but the attendance will not be easy to keep up in the dark cold days-. I have had a very pleasant time between Barrow Court – Martin Gibbs’s place, and Somerleaze.2 Wrington Hannah More’s parish lies between the two, and I saw the very beautiful old church with a tablet to her in it, and the grave of the five sisters, a flat slate with the names and a railing round it. Then we went to Barleywood which is much as when she left it, only a little addition to the house, but her bedroom, where she chiefly spent her latter time quite the same – two large rooms with bay windows opening into one another and looking over her trees to the broad flat valley, and the Mendips beyond. We could see Blagden there, the place where Mr Bere behaved so ill to her, and which she speaks of seeing and there was a big cupboard where her wicked servants are said to have hidden to listen to her talk. The cottage is on the side of one of those steep sided ridges of Somerset, above the garden it is wood, chiefly small beeches – not properly thinned – with winding walks about, summer houses at points of view and two queer urns, one to Locke, and one to Bishop Porteus. We also saw the beautiful pass of Cheddar – such rocks, one side quite perpendicular, almost over hanging, the other of more horizontal masses but still with others rising perpendicularly above them. I think we walked down a mile. There was ivy trailing down and golden rod growing up and catching the sunlight. The caves were at the bottom of the pass, but we did not go in, and were glad we decided not for we met three waggonets full of the British Association people.
The next day we went to shew Wells to two Italian Gentlemen, who had come to spend the day, one has been dispensing the Bible in an Italian translation Signor Bonghi and is a very good and learned man, but my Italian was not good enough to get on well with him. He was very much concerned about the Graves in the cloisters – as they will not allow any one to be buried so near public buildings in Italy, and he thinks there ought to be exceptions. One canons wife had been buried the day before, and there was a mass of white wreaths.
The Bishop’s garden which I had not seen before, is most beautiful, all enclosed with a moat with swans on it. I came home on Saturday getting a little peep of Mrs Moberly by the way – The garden has much recovered in my absence, and my beautiful china asters are still in perfection Alethea Bowles seems to like Barnsley.3 She has left her jackdaw at the other house, where having another, it goes by the name of Jack Bowles!
your most affectionate
C M Yonge