THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



223 



coriespondiug with Ihiit idea. But the accommodation 

 on tlie ground-floor is confined to one sitting apartment 

 joined with a wasli-house and pantry, and a wood-house 

 is some times attached. This provision is little or 

 nothing better than the old and yet prevailing pinfold, 

 or stall, in which a whole family is contained, and hud- 

 dled together without distinction of age, sex, or the 

 occasion of meeting together. A scullery and pantry 

 are filthy though necessary adjuncts, and never should 

 form an integral part of any accommodation, but merely 

 an attachment for the purpose of making more useiu^ 

 the body of the habitation. The front of the single 

 cottage extends only in the length of one room, and 

 consequently is wanting in the lively appearance which 

 is presented by the house of two rooms, and the door 

 being in a porch attached to the east or west end of the 

 cottage is deprived of the sunny warmth which is very 

 conducive both to comfort and pleasure. In most cases 

 the door in front of any house is most inviting and also 

 most agreeably convenient. A narrow front, with a 

 length backwards, does not convey an agreeable idea of 

 a house, nor does it present an aptitude of an equal de- 

 gree with the extension in front. If two rooms be so 

 placed, one behind the other, the posterior one is cold 

 and gloomy, instead of being accessible to light, and 

 hence enlivening. In large erections these positions are 

 unavoidable, but in the case of cottages the adoption of 

 an open front is easy. Mr. Weaver places one cottage 

 wholly behind another ; and the latter being only one 

 room in width in the front, gives to the group of two 

 cottages an ill-arranged appearance, besides altogether 

 immuring the posterior cottage and shutting it out from 

 heat and light. Equally unhappy is the placing to- 

 gether in an angle the doors of two distinct cottages ; 

 in the case of four being grouped together, it brings into 

 too near a contact the business of two families, the 

 mixing of which causes jars and broil§ and endless 

 quarrels and disputes. The fire-place of any house is 

 awkwardly fixed right opposite the door, as in several of 

 the present designs ; it is best placed on a different side 

 of the cottage, or has the door opening upon its site, and 

 concealing the view. 



The style of building, the Old English, is probably 

 the best for the cottages of the country ; but Mr. Wea- 

 ver's is perhaps too ornamental, and the very plainest 

 kind is most becoming for the country labourer ; and for 

 upper servants the style may be a little advanced. 

 The roof projecting at the eaves and over the gables 

 very much protects the walls, and is a good adoption. 

 A porch to the front central door is also a useful addi- 

 tion : it affords some little interior room, and breaks the 

 front line of uniform sameness. 



The cost of Mr. Weaver's cottages is high, from £^100 

 to £150 in each separate design. Our own experience 

 and extensive correspondence has found the average ex- 

 pense of a single cottage to be i,'80 to £90 ; and it 

 understands plain work and no ornaments whatever. 

 The cost of cottages should be expended in providing 

 accommodation, and not in useless devices. 



There is a very great want in the designs now noticed in 

 the total absence of any back premises, as poultry-house. 



pigstye, wash-house, and for fuel and ashes. As before 

 observed, these accommodations should not form an in- 

 tegral part of any house, but placed behind the cottage, 

 and built in a low elevation. A square area behind the 

 cottage is the most convenient arrangement, and we 

 think Mr. Weaver has very much neglected the 

 labourer's comfort in not showing these very necessary 

 appendages. 



The explanations of the designs are short and meagre; 

 the digging of the foundations, the draining of it, the 

 flooring, and the site and aspect of the cottage are little 

 noticed or altogether omitted, and the mention of a 

 garden nowhere occurs. This article is the very first 

 accommodation in providing country cottages. 



We meet Mr. Weaver's views most cordially in having 

 the sleeping apartments in three rooms, on a second 

 floor sufficiently elevated ; and we like the style of 

 building, though the cost is too large. Here our agree- 

 ment stops. We wish to see two rooms on the ground 

 floor — a sitting-apartment, with boiler and oven ; and a 

 better room ; a back area with the small accommodations, 

 and a garden attached in not less extent than one- 

 eighth of an acre in extent. There is a want of variety 

 in the designs ; all the plans are square in the shape, 

 similarly designed, and uniformly elevated. Besides 

 the square and the rectangle, there are many forms 

 which may constitute a cottage, single or grouped. 

 Variety is pleasing ; and a uniform sameness tires the 

 observation and palls the appetite of curiosity. The 

 inventive power seems wanting, which, beyond all other 

 qualities, stamps the professional aptitude. 



A book of designs for the dwellings of the labouring 

 classes has been composed by Mr. Roberts, who is hono- 

 rary architect to the Society for Improving the Condition 

 of the Labouring Classes, and published by the Society 

 at Exeter Hall. The plans have relation to buildings in 

 cities or towns, and also in the country; the former 

 being joined and largely grouped, and the latter all 

 double or two together. The same objection exists as 

 in Mr. Weaver's ground plans — in having only one 

 living-room with scullery, which latter is only a useful 

 appendage, and not a special division. The porch, open- 

 ing by an inner door into the living-room, is formed in- 

 side the house, and consequently occupies a space of the 

 apartment unnecessarly, as it can be placed outside, and 

 not interfere with the inner extent. A second-floor is 

 most justly allotted to the sleeping apartments; and 

 the size is very conformable. The style of building is 

 very neat and appropriate ; the elevation is suitable, and 

 the proportions just. But a still more uniform same- 

 ness prevails than is seen in Mr. Weaver's designs ; the 

 plans differ little or nothing in the arrangement of the 

 apartments, or in the elevations. The ground plans 

 are entirely the same throughout, in a front living-room, 

 with a scullery behind, and extending longitudinally 

 or laterally. The only difference is seen in the porches 

 being alternately placed outside and inside the dwelling, 

 and in the elevations being wholly plain, or having a 

 gabled front placed on alternate sides of the two cottages 

 that are joined together. The front of one cottage is 

 plain, and the other gabled, and in the next plan the 



