PANSHANGER, PRESTWOOD, STOKE PARK, SUTTONS, SCARISBRIC, TENDRING, &c.

If the entrance to a park be made from a town, or village, the gate may, with great propriety, be distinguished by an arch, as in that of HAREWOOD [fig. 85], where the approach from Weatherby, after passing along a straight road intended to be planted on each side, is terminated by a town regularly built

[Fig. 86. View of the town of Harewood, shewing the gateway to Harewood Hall at the farther end.]

of the most beautiful stone, at the end of which an arched gateway forms the entrance to one of the finest palaces in England [see fig. 86].

In determining the sort of entrance proper for BLAIZE CASTLE, the name of the place caused some difficulty; the

house to which the castle belongs, neither does nor ought to partake of any Gothic character, yet there appeared some incongruity in making the entrance in the Grecian style of architecture to accord with the house, which is nowhere seen from the road [see fig. 87], while the castle is a conspicuous feature, and gives a name to the place; I, therefore, recommended the design [fig. 88], as a proper object to attract

notice in the approach, which is one of the most interesting and romantic.*

An arched gateway at the entrance of a place is never used with so much apparent propriety as when it forms a part of a town or village, at least, it should be so flanked by lofty walls as to mark the separation between the public and the park, and increase the contrast; but when seen in contact with a low park-pale, or even an iron palisade, it appears to want connexion; it looks too ostentatious for its utility, and

After passing through a wood, the road arrives at a cottage on the side of a hill, from whence the house appears, across a deep wooded glen which was deemed impassable. However, by cutting away the face of the rock in some places, and building lofty walls in others, to support the road, and by taking advantage of the natural projections and recesses to make the necessary curvatures, carriages now pass this tremendous chasm with perfect ease and safety.

Where man resides, Nature must be conquered by art: it is only the ostentation of her triumph, and not her victory, that ought to offend the eye of taste.

I doubt whether it would not lessen the pleasure we derive from viewing the magnificent Grecian arches at Burlington House and at Blenheim, if the side-walls were lower.*

In recommending the use of an arch, I must guard against being misunderstood, by mentioning several circumstances which I deem objectionable.

1st. The arch should not be a mere aperture in a single wall, but it should have depth in proportion to its breadth.

2nd. It should have some visible and marked connexion either with a wall, or with the town to which it belongs, and not appear insulated.

3rd. It should not be placed in so low a situation, that we may rather see over it than through it.

4th. Its architecture should correspond with that of the house, in style, if not in order; that is, the Grecian and Gothic should be kept separate, although the design may not be copied from the house. And,

Lastly. Neither the house should be visible from the entrance, nor the entrance from the house, if there be sufficient distance between them to make the approach through a park, and not immediately into a court-yard; the two last general rules are equally applicable to every sort of entrance, as well as that through an arch; yet there are certain situations where the latter cannot be avoided; of this, an instance occurred in STOKE PARK, Herefordshire, where the gate and the cottage near it were disguised by the portico, represented in the following sketch [fig. 89, in p. 254]; which forms a pavilion, or covered seat, adjoining to the walk in the shrubbery.

In various situations various expedients have been adopted; thus, at ANTONY, I recommended, near the gate, a cottage, over which is a room, to command the fine view of the harbour, &c. At St. JOHN's, in the Isle of Wight, two cottages covered with flowering creepers, attract the notice of all who visit the island; and while one is a comfortable residence for a family, the other consists of a room near the road side, from whence the mind derives peculiar satisfaction

* This remark is less applicable to a Gothic entrance, because, if it is correct, it may be supposed a fragment of some more extensive building; but a Grecian arch, in this country, must be modern, and cannot properly be a ruin, except by design.

in seeing the constant succession of visitors who leave their homes in search of happiness. In some places the cottage is more conspicuous, by dividing the road to the house from the public road, as at MILTON; but, in most cases, I have endeavoured to conceal the cottage, when it is quite solitary, among the trees, only shewing the gate of entrance.

Concerning gates, it may not be improper to mention my opinion, with reasons for it.

1st. As an entrance near a town, I prefer close wooden gates, for the sake of privacy, except where the view is only into a wood, and not into the open lawn.

2nd. The gates should be of iron, or close boards, if hanging to piers of stone or brick-work; otherwise an open or common field-gate of wood appears mean, or as if only a temporary expedient.

3rd. If the gates are of iron, the posts or piers ought to be conspicuous, because an iron gate hanging to an iron pier of the same colour, is almost invisible; and the principal entrance to a park should be so marked that no one may mistake it.

4th. If the entrance-gate be wood, it should, for the same reason, be painted white, and its form should rather tend to shew its construction, than aim at fanciful ornament of Chinese, or Gothic,* for reasons to be explained, in speaking of decorations.

It is not sufficient that a building should be in just proportions with itself; it should bear some relative proportion to the objects near it. The example here given [fig. 89] is the Doric portico at STOKE PARK, in Herefordshire, where the size of the building was regulated by a large oak and a young plantation near it: had this building been more lofty, it would have overpowered the young trees, by which it is

That I may not appear too severe in my comments upon those fanciful forms called Gothic, I am not ashamed to acknowledge, that, when I first retired into the country, I began the improvements to my own residence in Norfolk, by putting a sharp-pointed window in a cottage seen from my house; and in my former work a design was inserted for a wooden-gate, which I then deemed applicable to the Gothic character, before I became better acquainted with subjects of antiquity.

surrounded, and a smaller building would have appeared diminutive so near to the neighbouring large oak; I there

[Fig 89. View of the Doric portico in Stoke Park, in which the size of the building is in harmony with the size of the adjoining trees]

fore judged, that the best rule for the dimensions of the columns was rather less than the diameter of the oak, and this,

of course, determined the whole proportion of the Doric

portico.