"
[Illustration: THE GRANARY, COWDRAY.]
The turreted entrance gateway is less ruinous than the remainder of the
buildings and, with the banqueting hall, is as fine a specimen of early
sixteenth-century architecture as will be found in England. Notice the
vaulted entrance to the Hall. On the north side, looking towards the
Guard House is the State Bedchamber, wherein Queen Elizabeth slept in
1591. There are several contemporary accounts of the stately
merrymakings which took place during the visit, including the "hunting"
scene in which buck deer were guided past Gloriana's bower, from which
she made dead shots at them, reminding one of the "bulls-eyes" with
which a later Queen opened the national shooting competition for her
worshipping subjects.
On St. Ann's Hill near the town may be traced the outlines of the
stronghold erected by the de Bohuns; the town and surrounding country
remained in their hands until Sir David Owen, uncle of Henry VII,
married the last of the line. Sir David sold the estate to the Earl of
Southampton, whose son left it to his half brother Sir Anthony Browne,
Standard Bearer of England; his son became the first Viscount Montague.
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