LONDON HOUSES OF THE PERIOD 307 



from the early seventeenth century, and bearing witness to the 

 wealth of its inhabitants at that period. These are to be found 

 within a short distance of the quays, where the trade of the 

 town centred. As the town spread further out more good 

 houses were built, and there are still to be found in the outlying 

 parts of the old town such houses as that shown in Fig. 220. It 

 has a handsome, substantial front treated with more than usual 

 richness; but if the pediments over the windows and the 

 pilasters were removed, the residue would resemble one of 

 the ordinary plain brick houses of the time. That is to say, 

 the ornamental features are merely applied, and have no vital 

 connection with the structure. The house is set a little way 

 back from the street, thus leaving a narrow forecourt, which 

 is enclosed by a railing abutting at each end on a handsome 

 stone pier ; two similar piers carry a pair of elaborate iron gates 

 in the middle of the front. The piers lend an air of dignity 

 to the whole. In some instances, where a good house was built 

 in a crowded street, it was set back some sixteen or twenty 

 feet, thus forming a forecourt ; and high walls were built at 

 the sides of the court from the house up to the street, thus 

 providing screens to mask the ends of the adjoining houses, 

 which were built on the actual street front. There is such 

 a case in Eastgate, Gloucester, but the forecourt is now filled 

 with a shop, above which can be seen the front of the house and 

 the screen walls. Nearly all our old towns retain relics of 

 ancient grandeur such as this, but they are gradually disappearing 

 before the march of modern improvements. 



London, as may well be supposed, has innumerable examples 

 of late eighteenth-century houses in such districts as Blooms- 

 bury and Piccadilly. Bedford Square was built about 1780, 

 and presents to the world some inoffensive, although not very 

 excitine fronts. The central feature of one side is shown in 



o 



Fig. 221 ; there is nothing of striking originality in its design, 

 but enough to break the monotony of the general treatment, and 

 give a little interest to this rather dull though highly respectable 

 square. Contemporary with this is Finsbury Square, which was 

 laid out by George Dance, the younger, between 1777 and I79I. 1 

 A part of it is illustrated in Fig. 222. By simple expedients the 

 designer has imparted variety to his front, and has emphasised 

 the principal floor, where, according to custom, the drawing-room 

 1 " London Past and Present." 



