232 A Plea for the Further hivestigation of 



not help us. There is an elevation of Wollaton, which shows 

 Smithson^s building and also shows the tower^ with its quasi-Gothic 

 windows and original balustrade, and a very remarkable stack of 

 chimneys, on the top, which has now disappeared, but which is 

 shown in an old engraving, in Thoroton's Nottinghamshire, 1677. 

 These chimneys appear to have been of a spiral Gothic type, but the 

 whole stack to have been surmounted by a kind of pediment. I 

 really think the explanation of the design of these extraordinary 

 chimneys must be this : — the Elizabethan architects were fond of 

 making chimneys like columns, and, iu this case, the architect seems 

 to have gone the length of a complete portico, on a small scale, 

 running the flues through the pediment, and afterwards apparently 

 to have Gothicised the shafts. The drawings, which represent these 

 chimneys, are, however, not very distinct. I noticed, in Thorpe's 

 drawing of Wollaton, that two pilasters, one above the other, are 

 shown on the face of the tower, as if they were the suggestion of a 

 scheme of decoration, never carried out. They are drawn in ink. 

 This suggested to me the idea that, if Thorpe, as well as Smithson, 

 executed work at Wollaton, Thorpe was probably the later of the 

 two, and the design of the central tower may be his. This derives 

 some support from the fact that to one of the smaller Elizabethan 

 designs, in his book, is appended an additional upper story, sketched 

 in in pencil and showing similar quasi-Gothic windows, which do 

 not occur in the original drawing. This, however, requires further 

 investigation. All that appears to me clear is that Robert Smithson 

 is not likely to have designed the central tower at Wollaton. 



I must now revert to a point, which I suggested above, whether, 

 in comparing Longleat with Somerset House, Walpole was not 

 instituting a comparison with work at Somerset House, which was 

 not really of the time of the Protector. 



A plan of the outer court of old Somerset House, with an elevation 

 of iihQ facade next the Strand, is found in Thorpe's book of drawings, 

 and happens to be one of those drawings which are not named. It 

 was, however, recognised by Walpole, who must have been familiar 

 with what remained of the building, in his own time. It is noticeable 

 that, at the time when he made the comparison between Longleat 



