STEPS AND STAIRWAYS 131 



Unless an elaborate architectural composition is 

 attempted — and even this requires its proper theatre 

 — an isolated flight of steps will need great care 

 to look well. In such a position a low block of 

 masonry or brickwork, or a cube of cut yew on each 

 side, will give it an anchorage, or we must try to 

 strengthen it by a wide parapet kept low and 

 skilfully turned or built into a square of paving 

 which will bind the steps to the ground and make 

 them look as if they have grown in their present 

 position. 



Let us consider the steps which are suited to three 

 different situations : — first, the descent from a walk 

 or terrace of some size and dignity, where the 

 architectural treatment requires some elaboration. 

 Second, the descent from lawn to lawn, or from 

 one garden to another, where the difference of level 

 is not great, and where the positions for steps will 

 often vary. And third, steps in random paving, 

 and those informal and long stairways which will 

 climb the wooded glade or the slope of the wild 

 garden and the " wilderness." 



First, then, with regard to the more elaborate 

 structures. Provided there is some little depth, the 



