Show MM M H t t M M-M-H- M 1 4 4 I M M t M M t H IIII M M 11 H H f I. I Battle Bauk I R libbey i Sold Soki for Tor or for or orD D I u Use Us J lis a mod modern rn Rome M I M t M H H I M I M I I M I t I M t H M M M M M I t 4 M H HM t M K-M- I I J H HWilliam I William the Conqueror 1066 I i This date is seared into the brain of ot every British schoolboy The great William began to build build Battle Abbey as a thanksgiving for gaining the crown t England immediately after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 f EverYbOdY Everybody thought a modern William W. William Vf W. W Astor would Astor would own this fa fa- fr inous estate pretended they were going to purchase it Only five f were ere bona fide bidders Astor was was S' S Sone one of the five He offered too little The auction was j t the he reat t st real estate sensation since A Adelina ellna Paul's Pauls cele celebrated rated Welsh Wels castle r f. f put up iI p a few months ago William the Conqueror was described by the 1 a medieval Dr Johnson His raid was a success anyway J lJ fl l S' S Th The 1 new rw w owner Sir Sir Augustus Frederick Walpole Webster eighth Baronet jip pedigree as long as his name has merely bought back the old home his f anc ancestors occupied years ago H He i 15 s a distinguished Free Mason 37 31 years old and a celebrated amateur When he was a Captain in the Grenadier Guards he used to be a star I traction on the stage belonging to Chelsea barracks Once he volunteered to togo Zo go 0 one better than Maskelyne and Cooke Coole on their famous box trick He had tightly cord corded up in a box with a knife and a box of matches as prop Gerties At the end of twenty minutes the box was opened Sir Augustus ought to have vanished But he He slowly emerged covered with blood and With half the hair singed off He had done a blood and barber turn turn but but not the ther v r trick i British girl aristocrats regret that the present owner of Jf f Battle Abbey is not nota r a bachelor Everybody is glad the magnificent old ruin has not passed Into the the- I possession of French monks A great many religious houses in France have have been been recently disbanded and I their monks exiled from the country Several of these religious political-religious brotherhoods brotherhoods brotherhoods broth broth- have bought some fine old English historic houses and settled down In safety Battle Abbey ran too high for their funds Sir Augustus married an heiress some few years since and determined to toI I buy the old family home at the first opportunity The death of the Du Duchess hess of Cleveland Lord Rosebery's mother gave him the chance And he paid I for it Lord Rosebery never had ad the least intention of lording larding g it ov over over- r Battle S. S Abbey Apart from horse racing Rosebery is decidedly stingy fl The Battle Abbey demesnes as the property is described In the old Norman Noran Norman Nor Nor- man an deed consists of broad acres fifty farmhouses and acres of parkland park park- land and garden f t All the ancient armor in the magnificent banqueting hall ball the priceless I tapestries heirlooms and war trophies pass to Sir Augustus ustus Web- Web I ster ester But he has to pay a further heavy price for them and does not enter into I possession of any of his property until March Owing to a curious Norman title deed the fine old chancel chance of the Parish i church is included in the bargain The owner cant can't take it away but he has I i to keep it In repair A writer years ago stated that the the- buildings around I 1 Battle Abbey were once a mile in circumference Much that now remains em ins is badly hadly dilapidated f fI I The residential portion of the Abbey was recently restored without disI disturbing dis- dis j I Curbing the antiquity of ot its architecture and is in a state of excellent j I lion tion It is said to be he haunted It includes a Beggars' Beggars Parlor where medieval mendicants were entertained with cold roast beef and ale of old England I The banqueting hall is the most magnificent feature of the Abbey A Mm- Mm Gallery GaUry stands very much nuch as It was In the eleventh century Here the 1 i touring his lay The high altar of the Abbey church now almost a complete ruin was put up on the spot where the body of luckless Harold the Saxon was found Tourists and visitors in thousands visited the historic bit bit c tf land ox on which he and his two brave brothers made their last stand for Eng Eng- land laid The Benedicts or Black Monks Monks Monks-an an order first Introduced into the United tates In iq 1846 held 1846 held the Abbey from its foundation For many centuries the most noted criminals and murderers sought sanctuary in Battle Batte Abbey Once beyond the threshold they safe were Neither the law nor the King could compel the abbot to break faith with criminals who succeeded in In reaching the chapel door doot Sir Augustus is a keen sportsman and intends to turn Battle Lo and its fine woods I and plantations into a model sporting estate J |