and his successors the priors, or abbots, (as they were ge nerally stiled,) used to reside; it is however clear, that all the religious buildings were situated towards the south of the house. Whilst it was inhabited by the occupier of the land, the area of the church and cloisters was used as a garden, but the cattle now range over this spot, as well as the site of the ofices; and the ruinous north wall of the church, of which the doctor drew a sketch, is much more dilapidated: but the boundaries of the whole precinct may -still be traced. This abbey was suppressed before the general dissolution of the monasteries, by the authority of a papal bull, which Wolsey had obtained for the appro priating of its revenues towards endowing the new college he had founded at Oxford. William Tiseherste, the last abbot, signed the instrument of resignation April 1, 1525, and in October following was instituted to the rectory of Horsmonden, in the diocese of Rochester. The manor of Lesnes, with the appurtenances, was, about the middle of the last century, settled by a Mr. Hawes on the hospital of St. Bartholomew, London; and that charitable corporation are now possessed of the estate.

This parish is graced with several seats, the principal of which is BELVIDERE HOUSE. The seat of LORD EARDLEY. The house occupies a beautiful situation at the distance of a mile from the Thames, Lesnes Abbey, and Erith. The heath on which it is erected is called Lesnes, vulgarly Leeson Heath; the grounds are well wooded, and on the east side is a flourishing plantation. The views are extremely rich and diversified, commanding the river Thames, and the opposite shores and country of Essex; the scenery is also constantly animated by the passage of shipping and craft on the river. The first mansion was built by George Hayley, Esq. he passed it by sale to Charles Calvert, lord Baltimore, who died in 1751; his devisee disposed of it to Sampson Gideon, Esq. who died in 1762. His son, Sir Sampson Gideon, baving married Maria Marow, daughter of Sir John Eardley Wilmot, chief justice of the court of Common Pleas, was ennobled by the title of lord Eardley

of the kingdom of Ireland. His lordship rebuilt Belvidere House, and made it his principal residence. The only apartment left of the former structure is an elegant drawing room, built by his lordship's father. The collection of pictures contains many capital productions of the greatest masters. Among them are the following: View of Venice, and ditto with the Doge marrying the Sea, its companion, CANALETTI; Time bringing Truth to Light, a sketch, RuBENS; the Alchemist, TENIERS; Portrait of Sir John Gage, HOLBEIN; a Landscape, G. PoUSSIN; Battle of the Amazons, ROTTENHAMER; the Unjust Steward, QUINTIN MATSYS; Noah's Ark, VELVET BREUGHEL; St. Catherine, LEONARDO DA VINCI; Van Tromp, FRANK HALS; Vulcan, or the Element of Fire, BASSAN; Horses, its companion, WOUVERMANS; two Insides of Churches, small, DE NEEF; a Dutch Woman and her three children, MORE; Rembrandt, painting an Old Woman, by himself; a Courtezan and her Gallant, GIORGIONE; the Golden Age, VELVET BREUGHEL; Snyders, with his Wife and Child, RUBENS; Rebecca bringing presents to Laban, DE LA HYRE; Boors at Cards, TENIERS; the Element of Earth, J. BASSAN; Marriage in Cana, P. VERONESE; two landscapes, G. POUSSIN; the Genealogy of Christ, ALBERT DURER; Beggar Boys at Cards, S. ROSA; Herod consulting the Wise Men, REмBRANDT; Marriage of St. Catherine, OLD PALMA; the Conception, for an altar-piece, MURILLO; the Flight into Egypt, its companion, Ditto; Vulcan, Venus, Cupid, and sundry figures, an emblematical subject, TINTORET; Mars and Venus, P. VERONESE; Christ among the Doctors, L. GIORDANO; Duke of Buckingham's Mistress, her three children, and a Son of Rubens, by himself; a Landscape, -CLAUD LORRAIN; Leopold's Gallery, TENIERS; Teniers's own Gallery, Ditto.

Erith has been in the possession of several noble families, by various grants from different monarchs, till it devolved in the crown in the person of Edward IV. King Henry VIII. granted it to Elizabeth, countess of Shrewsbury; it afterwards became the possession of the noble family of Comp