76 



SYDENHAM HOUSE, 

 DEVONSHIRE, 



GARDENS 

 OLD-&NEW 



THE SEAT OF 



MR. JOHN 



A"ONG the many ancient houses of beautiful Devon- 

 shire, few can rival in quaint attractiveness and 

 picturesque charm the fine old mansion which is 

 illustrated here. We describe and picture the 

 delightful mansion because it is an admirable 

 example of the exceeding charm cast by a simple garden 

 upon a house of the class. Sydenham House stands some 

 eight miles from Tavistock, and within about a mile of Coryton 

 Station, on the solid rock, by the banks of the Lyd, and in one 

 of the loveliest parts of North Devon. Those who know the 

 country homes of England, many of which are illustrated in 

 this volume, will recognise it as belonging to a well-known 

 type, with its kindred dwellings many in the land. Here is 

 the old ground plan, like a letter E the central block with 

 the porch, and the two advancing wings. The house is 

 mainly of Elizabethan aspect and date, looking out from 

 man)' mullionc'd windows over the country, but it bears the 

 evidence of the days when men yet built about a quadrangle, 

 and looked, freely and with safety, only within. The 

 sturdy men of Devon, who went out to conquer a New 

 World, and wrought such sounding deeds in the Old, came 

 from just such places as this. Mark the richness of effect, 

 in the various rectangular, rounded, and lozenge windows, 

 the rare or unique feature of cylindrical mu'lions of granite, 

 the fine character of the porch ; above all, the unusual 



elaboration of effect arising from the bold gabled structures 

 that turn inward from the advancing wings, and the fine play 

 of light and shade that results. Nothing better could be 

 wished than such a. combination, and the house and garden 

 together form a truly attractive domain. Note, moreover, 

 how the house seems to rise out of its surroundings, and how 

 lovely must be the effect of the many climbers which invest 

 it in contrast with the cool hue of the stone. The slope might 

 have suggested formal terracing, but Sydenham is a notable 

 instance of the variety of character which may be found or 

 developed in like situations. 



The house wa? built by Sir Thomas Wise, who was 

 knighted at the coronation of James I., but his structure 

 arose where an older mansion had stood, of which portions 

 are embodied, for his family had obtained Sydenham, described 

 as Sidraham in the time of the Conqueror, with the hand 

 of the heiress of the Sydenhams in the days of Henry IV. 

 The three chevronels ermine, upon a sable field, of the 

 Wises still remain in their mansion, with portraits hanging in 

 the panelled chambers. Like many other country houses, 

 Sydenham suffered in the Civil War. It was garrisoned for 

 King Charles, and taken by the Parliamentary troops under 

 Colonel Holbourn in January, 1645, and appears to have 

 suffered much. However, when the war was over, it was 

 restored, and it has remained in careful hands ever since. On 



l.ofjnglil 



THE WhSI SIDE. 



1 Cvuntry /./*.' 



