lost much of the impression which we retain of the gloom and desolation
that so appropriately pervaded the unique old manor with its timbered
gatehouse and its odd little church surrounded by thickly set
gravestones.

[Illustration: STOKESAY MANOR HOUSE, NEAR LUDLOW.]

It was only by an accidental glance at our road-book that we saw
Stokesay Castle as an "object of interest" on this road about eight
miles north of Ludlow. This old house is the finest example in the
Kingdom of a fortified manor as distinguished from a castle, its
defensive feature being a great crenolated tower, evidently built as a
later addition when the manor passed from a well-to-do country gentleman
to a member of the nobility. This is actually the case, for there is on
record a license granted in 1284 to Lawrence de Ludlow permitting him to
"crenolate his house." The house itself was built nearly two hundred
years earlier and was later surrounded by a moat as a further means of
defense. Considering its age, it is in a wonderfully good state of
preservation, the original roof still being intact. We were admitted by
the keeper, who lives in the dilapidated but delightfully picturesque
half-timbered gatehouse. The most notable feature of the old house is
the banqueting hall occupying the greater portion of the first floor,
showing how, in the good old days, provision for hospitality took
precedence over nearly everything else. Some of the apartments on the
second floor retain much of their elaborate oak paneling and there are
several fine mantel-pieces. A narrow, circular stairway leads to the
tower, from which the beauty of the location is at once apparent.
Situated as the mansion is in a lovely valley, bounded by steep and
richly wooded hills at whose base the river Onny flows through luxuriant
meadows, one is compelled to admire the judgment of the ancient founder