Dining Room, , Eridge Castle by George W. Ward. 1868. Source: Elizabeth Balch, “Glimpses of Old English Homes. IV. Eridge Castle.” Click on image to enlarge it.
Elizabeth Balch on the dining room
efore mounting the staircase which leads past the stained glass window so rich in heraldic designs, we must enter the lofty dining hall, where the oak carving of the walls was all executed by workmen on the estate, from timber grown in the park. The walls themselves are painted a dull red, relieved by carvings of the head of the Nevill bull in gilt, and the badges of the face, and eyes which in life must have looked deep behind men’s mere expressions, and read clearly their hidden meanings. This Earl of Warwick, and his father Lord Salisbury, are by all historians allowed to have been two of the most powerful nobles who ever flourished in England. . . .
There is a full length portrait of the present Marquis of Abergavenny taken when a young man, and in the uniform of the Life Guards also one of the lovely daughter of the famous Jack Robinson. These are the principal pictures of note in the dining-room. From this large apartment a door leads to the library, almost the cosiest and most comfortable room in the house. The windows reaching down to the floor open out on to the terrace, and lovely glimpses of velvety lawns, and spreading trees, the still water of the lake, and the varied beauties of the park beyond encircled by the misty Sussex hills, can be seen from them. The room is not grand and lofty, as is the ball just left, but has a low white ceiling ornamented with the portrullis and the rose, the walls are lined with books, and the impression given by the whole is best expressed by the German word freundlich.
[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. George P. Landow]
Bibliography
Balch, Elizabeth. “Glimpses of Old English Homes. IV. Eridge Castle.”. English Illustrated Magazine. (June 1888): 579-91. Hathi Trust online version of a copy in the University of California Library. Web. 5 March 2021.
Last modified 5 March 2021