i8o BRANDSBY SHOWS THE WAY 



Mr. Fairfax-Cholmeley was much struck by the evils 

 of this system when, after succeeding to the estate in 

 1889, ne to k up his residence at Brandsby, and he 

 began to think how they could best be met. In the 

 course of time circumstances favoured him in the in- 

 creasing difficulty in procuring farm-labour, and he then 

 built a few cottages near the farmhouses, as an experi- 

 ment in the way of settling married couples in their 

 own dwellings, instead of depending on ' farm lads,' as 

 they were called, living on the farm premises. He was 

 the more induced to adopt this course by the fact that 

 one or two existing cottages were occupied by men who 

 had worked on certain farms for over ten years without 

 changing places ; and he believed that by judicious 

 management it would be possible to get into cottages, 

 in course of time, a permanent resident population of 

 agricultural labourers. 



The immediate outcome of this experiment has been 

 the construction on the estate of eight cottages, of 

 which one stands by itself, four are in pairs, and three 

 are in a row. In designing these cottages Mr. Fairfax- 

 Cholmeley paid particular regard to appearances and 

 appropriateness to the surrounding countryside a con- 

 sideration, I may add, to which he has especially done full 

 justice in his own most picturesque dwelling at Brandsby. 

 In order, however, to secure economy as well, it was 

 necessary, in the case of the cottages, to adhere to great 

 simplicity and even severity of treatment. But here 

 Mr. Fairfax-Cholmeley had the advice and assistance 

 in architectural treatment of, at one time, Mr. Detmar 

 Blow, and, subsequently, of Mr. Alfred H. Powell, both 

 of whom are well known for their sympathetic applica- 

 tion of the best spirit and traditions of English rural 

 architecture tomodern estate buildings. Though certain 

 details which are too often considered to add to the 



