Autobiography Volume 2 circa 1865
at Preston and Blackburn and with brother Speakman on the th
I walked from the latter place to Whalley and visited its old Abbey
which was the largest I had ever been into. It covered several acres
of ground & was nearly in total ruins except a small portion of it
which is inhabited by a few families. The Abbey is 800 years
old and was built A.D. 1,000.
Stoneyhurst—The Jesuits College
Next day Brother Speakman and myself walked to
Stoneyhurst and went through every appartment of the Jesuits
College which was the only college of the kind in England
We inspected each department of the rare and splendid paintings
and of the library which was very extensive containing many
very ancient writings and parchment manuscripts. There
was the prayer book of Mary Queen of England and a copy
of St. Paul's Epistles one thousand years old. We went
through their museum studies lodgings chapels &c containing
many rare and curious things. There were many paintings
and figures of Christ and some of the images of the Saviour
on the cross in fine marble cost £700. We went into
the chapel of the boys educated there and also into the main
chapel one of the windows of which with the paintings of the
Twelve Apostles on it cost two thousand pounds and
the candlesticks crosses and all the furnature were very choice
and costly.
We visited each departmentpart of the gardans which wer devided
by walks bordered by the ewe tree which formed the whole into departments. This
ewe tree border was about 4 feet thick 12 feet high and from 40 to 200 feet long
varying in the departments and these borders were as straight and smooth as a
plastered wall
