152 





lessened, till at length they nearly filled in the whole of the 

 hollow between the two hills.* 



Tlie House 



77; « principal floor 



ThcBasemenl 





w . 1«M 



The natural surface of the valley is the lower dotted line, and 



the earth has been brought and filled in to the upper dotted line, 

 making a plane, or rather an inclined-plane, sloping towards the 

 windows of the south front. If this was done under an idea of 

 giving a natural shape to the ground, the principle was a mis- 

 taken one; for had such been the original shape, we must suppose 

 a hole dug in the ground, in which the house had been placed; 

 but the fact is, that near a large house the shape of the ground 

 must be made to accord with the building, since no house, how- 

 ever large or small, can be erected without the interference of 

 art, and without disturbing the natural surface of the ground. 







* Very soon after I had buried the lower story of the House at Welbeck (as de- 

 scribed in my volume of Sketches and Hints, &c.) Mr. Holland began to do the same 

 thing at Woburn, but never proceeded further than the south front 



4 



