But the principal object of interest at Lacock, of course, is its famous
abbey, the early fifteenth-century cloisters being, it is said, the most perfect example in England. It has been a residence since the
Dissolution, when the estate was granted by Henry VIII. to Sir William
Sherrington, the daughter of whose brother Sir Henry married a
Talbot of Salwarpe, the ancestor of the present owner, C. H. Talbot,
Esq., a learned antiquary, by whose care and skill so many points of
interest have been brought to light. The cloisters, refectory, chapter-
house,
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sacristy, etc., are in an excellent state of preservation, and there are
some fine hooded fireplaces, and among the curiosities, a great stone
tank in which fish were kept; and the nuns' cauldron, something after
the style of Guy of Warwick's porridge-pot. The groined roof of the
cloister is remarkable, the bosses showing their original colouring,
nearly two hundred or more all being of different design. The sides
facing the road are flanked by an octagonal tower of singular beauty,
ornamented with balustrades, and a staircase turret crowned with a
cupola. This contains the muniment-room, in which is preserved
Henry III.'s Magna Charta, which belonged to the foundress, Ela,
Countess of Shrewsbury, the widow of William Longespee, the son of
Henry II. and Fair Rosamond. Dugdale tells us that the site "Snaile's
Mede" was pointed out to this good lady in a vision. An epitaph to the
abbess Ela may still be seen within the cloisters.
Sir John Talbot of Lacock was a staunch Royalist, and the first
person who received the Merry Monarch in his arms at Dover upon
his landing in 1660. Both Sir John and his son Sharington Talbot
figure as duellists in the diaries of Pepys and Evelyn. The former was
one of the six combatants in that famous encounter at Barn Elms,
where Buckingham mortally wounded Francis Talbot, the eleventh
Earl of Shrewsbury. Sir John proved a better swordsman than his
antagonist Captain William Jenkins, for the latter was left dead upon
the field. The Royal pardon from Charles II. is still preserved in
Lacock Abbey. The duel between the younger Talbot and Captain
Love at Glast
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onbury, in July 1685, is mentioned by Evelyn. Both commanded a
company of militia against Monmouth at Sedgemoor, and after the
battle an argument arose as to which fought the best. The discussion
grew heated, swords were drawn, and Talbot was killed. He was the
eldest and only surviving son of the knight, and had he left issue,
upon the death of the eleventh Earl of Shrewsbury's son, the first and
only duke, the Lacock Talbots would by priority have become Earls of
Shrewsbury.