1.
Manor house
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A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The term is loosely applied to various country houses, frequently dating from the late medieval era. They were sometimes fortified, but this was intended more for show than for defence. Manor houses existed in most European countries where feudalism existed, where they were known as castles, palaces. Many buildings, such as schools, are named Manor, the reason behind this is because the building was or is close to a manor house. The lord of the manor may have several properties within a county or, for example in the case of a feudal baron, spread across a kingdom. A large and suitable building was required within the manor for such purpose, generally in the form of a hall. This also gave the opportunity for the manor house to be cleaned, especially important in the days of the cess-pit. Thus such non-resident lords needed to appoint a steward or seneschal to act as their deputy in such matters, the day-to-day administration was carried out by a resident official in authority at each manor, who in England was called a bailiff, or reeve. Although not typically built with strong fortifications as were castles, many manor-houses were fortified and they were often enclosed within walls or ditches which often also included agricultural buildings. The primary feature of the house was its great hall. A late 16th-century transformation produced many of the smaller Renaissance châteaux of France, the Tudor period of stability in England saw the building of the first of the unfortified great houses, for example Sutton Place in Surrey, circa 1521. During the second half of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and under her successor King James I the first mansions designed by architects not by mere masons or builders, began to make their appearance. Such houses as Burghley House, Longleat House, and Hatfield House are among the best known of this period, nearly every large mediaeval manor house had its own deer-park adjoining, emparked by royal licence, which served primarily as a store of food in the form of venison. Within these licensed parks deer could not be hunted by royalty and this gave them more privacy and space. Court was a suffix which came into use in the 16th century, the obvious origin of the suffix would appear to be that the building was the location where the manorial courts were held. True castles, when not royal castles, were generally the residences of feudal barons, the manor on which the castle was situated was termed the caput of the barony, thus every true ancient defensive castle was also the manor house of its own manor. The suffix -Park came into use in the 18th and 19th centuries, the usage is often a modern catch-all suffix for an old house on an estate, true manor or not
2.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
3.
Listed building
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A listed building or listed structure, in the United Kingdom, is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The statutory bodies maintaining the list are Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, Historic Scotland in Scotland, however, the preferred term in Ireland is protected structure. In England and Wales, an amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Owners of listed buildings are, in circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained, slightly different systems operate in each area of the United Kingdom, though the basic principles of the listing remain the same. It was the damage to caused by German bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. The listings were used as a means of determining whether a building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing. Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning Order 1972, the listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. In the UK, the process of protecting the historic environment is called ‘designation’. A heritage asset is a part of the environment that is valued because of its historic. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. However, buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest are still regarded as being a consideration in the planning process. Almost anything can be listed – it does not have to be a building, Buildings and structures of special historic interest come in a wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and these include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category. Both Historic Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners, in England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to the secretary of state, this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England. The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed, full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on the architectural, the Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, then decides whether or not to list or delist the building. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning Act 1990, Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register
4.
John Bunyan
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John Bunyan was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory The Pilgrims Progress. In addition to The Pilgrims Progress, Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, Bunyan came from the village of Elstow, near Bedford. He had some schooling and at the age of sixteen joined the Parliamentary army during the first stage of the English Civil War, after three years in the army he returned to Elstow and took up the trade of tinker, which he had learned from his father. He became interested in religion after his marriage, attending first the church and then joining the Bedford Meeting, a nonconformist group in Bedford. After the restoration of the monarch, when the freedom of nonconformists was curtailed, Bunyan was arrested, Bunyans later years, in spite of another shorter term of imprisonment, were spent in relative comfort as a popular author and preacher, and pastor of the Bedford Meeting. He died aged 59 after falling ill on a journey to London and is buried in Bunhill Fields, the Pilgrims Progress became one of the most published books in the English language,1,300 editions having been printed by 1938,250 years after the authors death. He is remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, Some other churches of the Anglican Communion, such as the Anglican Church of Australia, honour him on the day of his death. John Bunyan was born in 1628 to Thomas and Margaret Bunyan at Bunyans End in the parish of Elstow, Bunyans End is located about halfway between the hamlet of Harrowden and Elstow High Street. Bunyans date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 30 November 1628, the name Bunyan was spelt in many different ways and had its origins in the Norman-French name Buignon. There had been Bunyans in north Bedfordshire since at least 1199, Bunyans father was a brazier or tinker who travelled around the area mending pots and pans, and his grandfather had been a chapman or small trader. As a child Bunyan learned his fathers trade of tinker and was given some rudimentary schooling, in the summer of 1644 Bunyan lost both his mother and his sister Margaret. That autumn, shortly before or after his birthday, Bunyan enlisted in the Parliamentary army when an edict demanded 225 recruits from the town of Bedford. There are few details available about his service, which took place during the first stage of the English Civil War. A muster roll for the garrison of Newport Pagnell shows him as private John Bunnian, Bunyan spent nearly three years in the army, leaving in 1647 to return to Elstow and his trade as a tinker. His father had remarried and had children and Bunyan moved from Bunyans End to a cottage in Elstow High Street. Within two years of leaving the army, Bunyan married and he also recalled that, apart from these two books, the newly-weds possessed little, not having so much household-stuff as a Dish or a Spoon betwixt us both. The couples first daughter, Mary, was born in 1650 and they would have three more children, Elizabeth, Thomas and John. By his own account, Bunyan had as a youth enjoyed bell-ringing, dancing and playing games including on Sunday, thought by many to be the Sabbath, one Sunday the vicar of Elstow preached a sermon against Sabbath breaking, and Bunyan took this sermon to heart
5.
The Pilgrim's Progress
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The Pilgrims Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has translated into more than 200 languages. It has also cited as the first novel written in English. The English text comprises 108,260 words and is divided into two parts, each reading as a narrative with no chapter divisions. The first part was completed in 1677 and entered into the Stationers Register on 22 December 1677 and it was licensed and entered in the Term Catalogue on 18 February 1678, which is looked upon as the date of first publication. After the first edition of the first part in 1678, an expanded edition, the Second Part appeared in 1684. The entire book is presented as a dream sequence narrated by an omniscient narrator, the allegorys protagonist, Christian, is an everyman character, and the plot centres on his journey from his hometown, the City of Destruction, to the Celestial City atop Mount Zion. Christian is weighed down by a great knowledge of his sin—which he believed came from his reading the book in his hand. This burden, which would cause him to sink into Hell, is so unbearable that Christian must seek deliverance and he meets Evangelist as he is walking out in the fields, who directs him to the Wicket Gate for deliverance. Since Christian cannot see the Wicket Gate in the distance, Evangelist directs him to go to a shining light, Christian leaves his home, his wife, and children to save himself, he cannot persuade them to accompany him. Obstinate and Pliable go after Christian to bring him back, obstinate returns disgusted, but Pliable is persuaded to go with Christian, hoping to take advantage of the Paradise that Christian claims lies at the end of his journey. It is there in that bog where Pliable abandons Christian after getting himself out, Evangelist meets the wayward Christian as he stops before Mount Sinai on the way to Mr. Legalitys home. It hangs over the road and threatens to crush any who would pass it, in the Second Part, Goodwill is shown to be Jesus himself. To Christians query about relief from his burden, Goodwill directs him forward to the place of deliverance, Christian makes his way from there to the House of the Interpreter, where he is shown pictures and tableaux that portray or dramatize aspects of the Christian faith and life. From the House of the Interpreter, Christian finally reaches the place of deliverance, where the straps that bound Christians burden to him break and this event happens relatively early in the narrative, the immediate need of Christian at the beginning of the story being quickly remedied. After Christian is relieved of his burden, he is greeted by three angels, who give him the greeting of peace, new garments, and a scroll as a passport into the Celestial City. Encouraged by all this, Christian happily continues his journey until he comes upon three men named Simple, Sloth, and Presumption, Christian tries to help them, but they disregard his advice. Christian falls asleep at the arbor above the hill and loses his scroll, forcing him to go back, near the top of the Hill of Difficulty, he meets two weak pilgrims named Mistrust and Timorous who tell him of the great lions of the Palace Beautiful
6.
James VI and I
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James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciary, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, James succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother Mary was compelled to abdicate in his favour. Four different regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, in 1603, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known after him as the Jacobean era, until his death in 1625 at the age of 58. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England from 1603, only returning to Scotland once in 1617 and he was a major advocate of a single parliament for England and Scotland. In his reign, the Plantation of Ulster and British colonization of the Americas began, at 57 years and 246 days, Jamess reign in Scotland was longer than those of any of his predecessors. He achieved most of his aims in Scotland but faced difficulties in England, including the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. James himself was a scholar, the author of works such as Daemonologie, The True Law of Free Monarchies. He sponsored the translation of the Bible that would later be named after him, Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed the wisest fool in Christendom, an epithet associated with his character ever since. Since the latter half of the 20th century, historians have tended to revise Jamess reputation and treat him as a serious, James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were great-grandchildren of Henry VII of England through Margaret Tudor, Marys rule over Scotland was insecure, and she and her husband, being Roman Catholics, faced a rebellion by Protestant noblemen. James was born on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle, and as the eldest son and heir apparent of the monarch automatically became Duke of Rothesay and Prince and he was baptised Charles James or James Charles on 17 December 1566 in a Catholic ceremony held at Stirling Castle. His godparents were Charles IX of France, Elizabeth I of England, Mary refused to let the Archbishop of St Andrews, whom she referred to as a pocky priest, spit in the childs mouth, as was then the custom. The subsequent entertainment, devised by Frenchman Bastian Pagez, featured men dressed as satyrs and sporting tails, Jamess father, Darnley, was murdered on 10 February 1567 at Kirk o Field, Edinburgh, perhaps in revenge for Rizzios death. James inherited his fathers titles of Duke of Albany and Earl of Ross, Mary was already unpopular, and her marriage on 15 May 1567 to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of murdering Darnley, heightened widespread bad feeling towards her. In June 1567, Protestant rebels arrested Mary and imprisoned her in Loch Leven Castle and she was forced to abdicate on 24 July 1567 in favour of the infant James and to appoint her illegitimate half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray, as regent. The care of James was entrusted to the Earl and Countess of Mar, to be conserved, nursed, and upbrought in the security of Stirling Castle
7.
John Thorpe
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John Thorpe or Thorp was an English architect. In 1570 when he was five years old, he laid the stone of Kirby Hall. Thorpe joined the Office of Works as a clerk, then practised independently as a land surveyor, from 1611 he was assistant to Robert Tresswell, Surveyor-General of Woods South of the Trent. He retired in the 1630s but seems to have lived to an advanced age, Aston Hall, Aston Audley End, Essex Thornton College, Lincolnshire for Sir Vincent Skinner c1607-1610. H. M. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840 ISBN 0-300-07207-4
8.
Jacobean architecture
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The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated, at the start of James reign there was little stylistic break in architecture, as Elizabethan trends continued their development. Courtiers continued to build prodigy houses, even though James spent less time on summer progresses round his realm than Elizabeth had. The influence of Flemish and German Northern Mannerism increased, now often executed by immigrant craftsmen and artists, there continued to be very little building of new churches, though a considerable amount of modifications to old ones, but a great deal of secular building. Although the general lines of Elizabethan design remained, there was a consistent and unified application of formal design. Much use was made of columns and pilasters, round-arch arcades and these and other classical elements appeared in a free and fanciful vernacular rather than with any true classical purity. With them were mixed the prismatic rustications and ornamental detail of scrolls, straps, the style influenced furniture design and other decorative arts. In 1577, three years before the commencement of Wollaton Hall, a copybook of the orders was out in Antwerp by Hans Vredeman de Vries. Inside the house, the elaborately carved staircase demonstrates the Renaissance influence on English ornament, in 1607 and 1620, England founded her first successful colonies, Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts. This concurs with the dimensions of houses that would have been found amongst the English commoner classes as evidenced by the tax rolls of the Jacobean era. Examples of original Jacobean architecture in the Americas include Drax Hall Great House and St. Nicholas Abbey, Jacobean era Jacobean revival M. Whiffen, An Introduction to Elizabethan and Jacobean Architecture. J. Summerson, Architecture in Britain, 1530–1830 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Spiers, R. Phene
9.
Inigo Jones
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Inigo Jones was the first significant English architect in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable architect in England, Jones was the first person who introduced the classical architecture of Rome and he made major contributions to stage design by his work as theatrical designer for several dozen masques, most by royal command and many in collaboration with Ben Jonson. Beyond the fact that he was born in Smithfield, London, the son of Inigo Jones, a Welsh cloth worker, at some point before 1603 a rich patron sent him to Italy to study drawing after being impressed by the quality of his sketches. From Italy he travelled to Denmark where he worked for King Christian on the design of the palaces of Rosenborg and Frederiksborg, Jones first became famous as a designer of costumes and stage settings, especially after he brought masques to the stage. Under Queen Annes patronage he is credited with introducing movable scenery and this development suggests a second visit to Italy, circa 1606, influenced by the ambassador Henry Wotton. Jones learned to speak Italian fluently and there is evidence that he owned an Italian copy of Andrea Palladios I quattro libri dellarchitettura with marginalia that refer to Wotton and his architectural work was particularly influenced by Palladio. To a lesser extent, he held to the architectural principles of the ancient Roman writer Vitruvius. Joness first recorded architectural design is for a monument to Lady Cotton, circa 1608 and he devised a masque for the Prince and was possibly involved in some alterations to St Jamess Palace. On this trip, Jones was exposed to the architecture of Rome, Padua, Florence, Vicenza, Genoa and his surviving sketchbook shows his preoccupation with such artists as Parmigianino and Schiavone. He is also known to have met Vincenzo Scamozzi at this time and he was probably the first Englishman to study these Roman remains first hand and this was key to the new architecture Jones introduced in England. In September 1615, Jones was appointed Surveyor-General of the Kings Works, fortunately, both James I and Charles I spent lavishly on their buildings, contrasting hugely with the economical court of Elizabeth I. As the Kings Surveyor, Jones built some of his key buildings in London, in 1616, work began on the Queens House, Greenwich, for James Is wife, Anne. With the foundations laid and the first storey built, work stopped suddenly when Anne died in 1619, work resumed in 1629, but this time for Charles Is Queen, Henrietta Maria. It was finished in 1635 as the first strictly classical building in England, employing ideas found in the architecture of Palladio and this is Joness earliest surviving work. The Banqueting House was one of several projects where Jones worked with his personal assistant, the Queens Chapel, St. Jamess Palace, was built between 1623 and 1627, for Charles Is Roman Catholic wife, Henrietta Maria. Parts of the design originate in the Pantheon of ancient Rome and these buildings show the realisation of a mature architect with a confident grasp of classical principles and an intellectual understanding of how to implement them. The other project in which Jones was involved is the design of Covent Garden square and he was commissioned by the Earl of Bedford to build a residential square, which he did along the lines of the Italian piazza of Livorno. It is the first regularly planned square in London, the Earl felt obliged to provide a church and he warned Jones that he wanted to economise
10.
Classical architecture
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Different styles of classical architecture have arguably existed since the Carolingian Renaissance, and prominently since the Italian Renaissance. Although classical styles of architecture can vary greatly, they can in all be said to draw on a common vocabulary of decorative and constructive elements. The term classical architecture also applies to any mode of architecture that has evolved to a highly refined state, such as classical Chinese architecture and it can also refer to any architecture that employs classical aesthetic philosophy. The term might be used differently from traditional or vernacular architecture, for contemporary buildings following authentic classical principles, the term New Classical Architecture may be used. Classical architecture is derived from the architecture of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, with the collapse of the western part of the Roman empire, the architectural traditions of the Roman empire ceased to be practised in large parts of western Europe. In the Byzantine Empire, the ancient ways of building lived on, the first conscious efforts to bring back the disused language of form of classical antiquity into Western architecture can be traced to the Carolingian Renaissance of the late 8th and 9th centuries. In general, therefore, they are not considered classical architectural styles in a strict sense, nonetheless, the classical architecture of the Renaissance from the outset represents a highly specific interpretation of the classical ideas. Most of the styles originating in post-renaissance Europe can be described as classical architecture and this broad use of the term is employed by Sir John Summerson in The Classical Language of Architecture. The elements of architecture have been applied in radically different architectural contexts than those for which they were developed. For example, Baroque or Rococo architecture are styles which, although classical at root, during these periods, architectural theory still referred to classical ideas but rather less sincerely than during the Renaissance. Neoclassical architecture held a strong position on the architectural scene c. With the advent of Modernism during the early 20th century, classical architecture arguably almost completely ceased to be practised, as noted above, classical styles of architecture dominated Western architecture for a very long time, roughly from the Renaissance until the advent of Modernism. That is to say, that classical antiquity at least in theory was considered the source of inspiration for architectural endeavours in the West for much of Modern history. Furthermore, it can even be argued that styles of architecture not typically considered classical, like Gothic, therefore, a simple delineation of the scope of classical architecture is difficult to make. The more or less defining characteristic can still be said to be a reference to ancient Greek or Roman architecture, and the architectural rules or theories that derived from that architecture. In the grammar of architecture, the word petrification is often used when discussing the development of sacred structures, such as temples, during the Archaic and early Classical periods, the architectural forms of the earliest temples had solidified and the Doric emerged as the predominant element. And not everyone within the reach of Mediterranean civilization made this transition. Nor was it the lack of knowledge of working on their part that prevented them from making the transition from timber to dressed stone
11.
Frieze
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In architecture the frieze /ˈfriːz/ is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on a wall it lies upon the architrave and is capped by the moldings of the cornice. A frieze can be found on many Greek and Roman buildings, the Parthenon Frieze being the most famous and this style is typical for the Persians. In interiors, the frieze of a room is the section of wall above the picture rail, by extension, a frieze is a long stretch of painted, sculpted or even calligraphic decoration in such a position, normally above eye-level. Frieze decorations may depict scenes in a sequence of discrete panels, the material of which the frieze is made of may be plasterwork, carved wood or other decorative medium. In an example of a frieze on the façade of a building. A pulvinated frieze is convex in section, such friezes were features of 17th-century Northern Mannerism, especially in subsidiary friezes, and much employed in interior architecture and in furniture. The concept of a frieze has been generalized in the construction of frieze patterns. Media related to Friezes at Wikimedia Commons Frieze
12.
Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin
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Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin, 3rd Lord Bruce of Kinloss, of Houghton House in the parish of Maulden in Bedfordshire, was a Scottish nobleman. Born in Edinburgh in 1599, Thomas Bruce was the son of Edward Bruce. The family estates included Whorlton Castle and manor given to his father by James I in 1603, King James I granted the wardship of Thomas and the estates to his mother Magdalene, until he came of age at 21. In 1624 James I granted Bruce Houghton House, near Ampthill, designed by Inigo Jones and built for Mary Sidney Herbert, Dowager Countess of Pembroke it had been reverted to the King by Marys brother two years after her death in 1621. It became the Bruce familys principal residence for over a century, Charles I later granted him nearby Houghton Park to preserve game for the royal hunt but persistent hunting and hawking by the local Conquest family forced Charles subsequent intervention. During Charles Is period of Personal rule, Bruce maintained close relations with the court and he attended the King for his coronation in Scotland in 1633 and the title, Earl of Elgin, was created for him on 21 June 1633. The year after performing in Thomas Carews masque, Coelum Britannicum, Bruce was invested as a Knight in 1638 at Windsor, along with William Villiers and the Prince of Wales. He was created Baron Bruce of Whorlton, York, in the Peerage of England, in 1643 he was appointed Keeper of the Kings Park at Byfleet, a role he held until 1647. Bruce was later described by Sir Philip Warwick as a Gentleman of a good understanding, and of a pious. She was a half-sister of Sir John Chichester, 1st Baronet, anne died on 20 March 1626/27, the day after having given birth to an only child, Robert Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury, only son and heir. Secondly on 12 November 1629 he married Lady Diana Cecil a daughter of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter and widow of Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford. Thomas built in her memory the Ailesbury Mausoleum in the churchyard of St. Marys Church, Maulden, in Bedfordshire, inside the Mausoleum survives the monument to Diana and marble busts of her husband Thomas and of his grandson Edward Bruce. Sir Howard Colvin identified it as one of the first two freestanding mausoleums in England, the other being the Cabell Mausoleum in Buckfastleigh, Devon. Thomas Bruce died on 21 December 1663 at the age of 64, and was succeeded by his son and heir Robert Bruce, 2nd Earl of Elgin, 1st Earl of Ailesbury
