A couple of miles or so to the west is Wylde Court, another interesting
old farmhouse, much less restored, dating from Elizabeth's reign, with
numerous pinnacled gable ends and characteristic entrance porch
and oak panelled rooms. This and Pilsdon, another Tudor house a
few miles to the west, at the foot of Pilsdon Pen, belonged to the
Royalist Wyndhams, and in the troublous times they were looked
upon with suspicion, and searched on one or two occasions by the
Parliamentary soldiers. "Hellyer's Close," near Wylde Court, is so named because a Royalist commander, Colonel Hellyer, was taken
prisoner and executed here by Cromwell's soldiers. At the time that
Charles II., in 1651, attempted to get away to France from the coast
of Dorset, Pilsdon was visited by a party of Cromwellian soldiers, and
Sir Hugh Wyndham and his family secured in the hall while the house
was thoroughly searched, suspicion even falling upon one of the
ladies that she was the king in disguise.[26] Sir Hugh's monument may be seen at Silton in the extreme north corner of the county.
Chideock is a charming old-world village in the valley between
Charmouth and Bridport, snugly perched between the cone-shaped
eminence Colmer's Hill and Golden Cap, the gorse-covered
headland, said to be the highest point between Dover and the Land's
End. The castle of the De Chideocks and Arundells, a famous
stronghold built in Richard II.'s reign, long since has disappeared, but
its moat can be traced. The fine old church exteriorly is one of the most picturesque in Dorsetshire, but the inside has been much
restored and modernised. A handsome tomb of Sir John
[Pg 173]
Arundell in armour is in the south aisle.
MAPPERTON MANOR-HOUSE.
Longevity seems to be the order of the day round "Golden Cap." At Cold Harbour we chatted with a hearty old man enjoying his pipe by
his cottage door. He was close on eighty; but there was still a
generation over his head, for his father, evidently to show his son a good example, was hard at work digging potatoes in the back garden.
We solicited the honour to photograph the pair, and asked the elder
of the two if he would have a pipe. No, he didn't smoke, but he could
drink, he said; and so, of course, we took the hint, and he with equal
promptitude toddled up the lane, as digging potatoes at the age of
ninety-nine is thirsty work.