219. 



CHAPTER X. 



ROCKWORK, MOSS HOUSES, RUSTIC SUMMER- 

 HOUSES, RUSTIC BASKETS, AND FOUNTAINS. 



Rockwork, though composed of somewhat 

 ponderous materials, is very frequently ar- 

 ranged according to female taste ; and one of 

 the most remarkable examples in England (that 

 at Hoole House, near Chester) was designed 

 by a lady, and executed entirely under her 

 direction. There are many kinds of rockwork ; 

 but they may be all described as collections of 

 fragments of rocks, stones, flints, vitrified bricks, 

 scoria?, and similar materials, so arranged as to 

 afford a striking object in the landscape ; and, 

 at the same time, so as to form a number of 

 little nests or crevices for the reception of alpine 

 plants. The mode of arranging these materials 

 depends entirely upon taste, and, of course, 

 varies widely. The most natural kind of rock- 

 work is like that at Redleaf, near Tunbiidge 

 Wells; where the late Mr. Wells, the former 

 proprietor, taking what Mr. Loudon called the 

 key-note from the natural scenery of the neigh- 

 bourhood, made his rocks appear "to crop out" 

 of the soil, as though naturally, in such situa- 

 tions as to give the best effect to the scenery. 



