294 AVERAGE SMALLER HOUSE OF THE PERIOD 



instead of at the ends, thus giving them an opportunity to serve 

 rooms behind as well as those in the front. 



The house at Shrivenham, in Berkshire (Fig. 204), is of the 

 more ordinary type. It has a good eaves cornice, and the usual 

 two chimney-stacks : the projecting porch forms a pleasing 

 variation, and the whole house gives the impression of comfort 

 and respectability. So, too, does the house at Ely (Fig. 206) 

 which faces the green opposite the west end of the cathedral. 

 It has a chimney-stack at each end, and a pediment of unusually 

 steep pitch. Like several of the other examples, it has five 

 windows along the front ; the middle one lights the landing, and 

 the two on each side light the rooms with fireplaces. Additional 

 importance is given by the large gate-piers, and the whole effect 

 is dignified and restful, eminently in keeping with the atmos- 

 phere of an old cathedral town. The house at Petersham (Fig. 

 208) is of larger size, having seven windows along the front ; 

 the three in the middle are placed in a slight projection round 

 which the cornice breaks. This projection, together with the 

 bold cornice, the rather large front door, and the wide window 

 margins, is all there is in the way of design to give interest to 

 the house. The rectory at Church Langton, in Leicestershire 

 (Fig. 207), is of somewhat later date, probably about the beginning 

 of the nineteenth century. Here there is a decided attempt at 

 architectural effect in the ornamented pediment, the central 

 arched recess, and the low buildings at the side ; but the house 

 itself is not more commodious inside, nor has it larger rooms 

 than other houses of the same type. The adjuncts, too, are 

 added for effect rather than for use. 



Houses such as these abound in country districts. There is 

 nothing particularly notable about them, and very little effort at 

 design. But as a rule their proportions are pleasing, and the 

 very absence of any attempt to achieve striking effects is itself 

 one of their charms. They seem the natural expression of the 

 quiet, uneventful lives led by the inhabitants, who, like the Vicar 

 of Wakefield, had no adventures save by the fireside, and no 

 migrations save from the blue bed to the brown. Their interest 

 varies not so much through difference in design as by reason of 

 their surroundings, and the variety of creepers which climb up 

 their walls, and are the less objectionable in that they hide no 

 architectural detail. 



