OLD-&NEW 



CONDOVER, . . 

 SHROPSHIRE, . . 



THE SEAT OF .... 



MR. R. H. CHOLMONDELEY. 



such a hous 



H this .it Con.i.iver, in 

 tlu . county f 



ft enter the gardens with expectancy, and an- nut 

 disappointed. Hew counties in l-.ngland can b<ust > 

 many fine seats anJ families of ancient lineage as Shrop- 

 shire. Go where yu will, some old castle or castellated 

 me mansion ! early time, some example 

 of the timber structures which were so notable a feature 

 of Middle England, or some stout dwelling-place of stone, 

 will attract your attention; and if you enquire, you .ire 

 as likely as not to find your village resting-place well 

 filled with history. Condover and, in a measure, its 

 formal garden are very typical of Tudor times. The house- 

 bears plainly the character of its age. and in the main 

 front there is no small resemblance to Charlecote in Warwick- 

 shire, where the old Knight dwelt whom Shakespeare satirised 

 for all time as Justice Shallow. There is the s.ime central 

 block, with its Cables and projecting porch; on each side 

 project the same wings, with similar windows, cresting, and 

 chimneys; the grouping is thus about a hollow square, an I 

 the front, if you inclu Je the porch, is somewhat upon the plan 



ot a letter H. It is certainly a massing of stm.ture that lends 

 Itsell exceedingly well to the h st c-tl lit and shade, to 



the article picturesqueness <>t sky-line, and to .ill those 

 leatuies which we are wont t ass.i iate with I udoi and 

 Jacobean turns. As we know. Iheie .ir<- s.ilid lomti-its -.\ithin 

 siK'h g-Nidly dwelling-places as tins, and often line g.ndens 

 aNiut them. 



It you look. too. at the other side of flondowi. \--.i 

 will remark .1 sjvu.-s of corrid-ir or arcade, o|H-nmg upon 

 the terrace and overlooking the grass slopes, which m.iy 

 remind you in some degree of M.itlu Id, and you rrcognis,- that 

 here should be a garden of distinction and iharacter. I he park 

 jt Condover is one of rich umbiageous Inautu-s and I- 

 green expanses, and it is sumewhat notewithy that the line 

 between tin formal gardens and their natural surroundings is 

 not strongly drawn; the character of enclosure is absent. The 

 rival schools ot gardening the natural and artificial have had 

 many a battleground, but the conflict has not been waged, and 

 will not be, over the delights of old d ndo\er. Here certainly 

 is p. .thing of the extremely fantastic, such .is y-.u will find .it 

 l.e\ens and Llvaston, but merely the cutting of tre.s to prim 

 forms, analog. .us to beel-.ivis and cylinders, and the natural 



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THE SOUTH-WEST VIEW. 



