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here, as the facts about him and his son and grandson are
easily discoverable in the Dictionary of National Biography and the
authorities there referred to. Let it suffice if I call attention to his
portrait painted by Holbein, which is in the Louvre, whereof a copy
belongs to Lady Romney. A pendant to it, likewise probably a copy of a
better original, is the portrait of Wyatt’s favourite cat. At a later
date (prob. for George Wyatt) a picture of Sir H. Wyatt in prison was made
up out of these two pictures. Of Sir Thos. Wyatt, the poet, there exist
copies of a circular portrait, no doubt by Holbein, and agreeing with the
well-known woodcut after Holbein; on the back of this original was a
representation of Wyatt’s maze, whereof there is a copy, along with the
other family portraits belonging to Lady Romney. Another portrait of Sir
T. Wyatt is recorded by Vertue as in the Earl of Stafford’s possession;
it was inscribed on the frame:
"Anno AEta suae xxiii; (A) D MDXXVII." Where is
this picture ?
The work done by the Wyatts at Allington was very
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considerable.* (Plan No.3) To begin with, the whole place was put in order. The Early
English windows were knocked out in many places and larger Tudor windows
inserted. A fine porch was added before the entrance of the banqueting
hall, with a lady’s bower above it. An entirely new building was
erected, cutting the courtyard into two. The ground floor of this was
offices, the first floor a long gallery—an essential convenience for any
up-to-date Tudor house. All the principal rooms were panelled. New
fire-places were inserted in rooms where there had been none, and some old
Early English fireplaces were replaced by new ones of Tudor style. In the
great hall a gallery seems to have been constructed, and a doorway made on
the first floor to give access to it, whilst a staircase was recklessly
hewn out of the substance of the east wall of the hall, so that it is a
wonder how the great mass of wall above is supported on the edge of the
thin remnant below. A new kitchen with servants’ rooms over
* The Tudor and later works are coloured pink
in the "Historical Plan."
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