ENTRANCES AND CARRIAGE COURTS. 



Laying out 



more adaptable to an unsymmetrical plan and wing walls of unequal length. Where the 

 entrance is at the end of a street, as in the accompanying sketch plan (111. No. 38), 

 and the residence is of sufficient importance, the outer pillars are effective if in a line 

 with the outside width of the street, the wing walls, being concave, describing a quarter 

 of a circle ; or frequently a good effect may be obtained without 

 placing back the line of the gate, by simply arranging the gate piers 

 in a line with the boundary fences. 



The most difficult entrances to set out with satisfactory lines 

 are those which are of irregular shape, i.e., with unequal wing walls. 

 Nothing could be more deceptive to the uninitiated than the effect 

 of curves. Somehow, even when they have had much careful planning, 

 they lose that easy flow of line which on paper looks so pleasing, for 

 there is all the difference between a flat scale drawing and the lines as 

 laid down and viewed in perspective. When dealing with a long 



FIG. 37. 



Carriage 

 courts. 



'Jttje 



curved wing curved wing wall to an entrance as in illustration No. 20, a good method is to have 

 walls. the ground roughly graded and a rope line laid down along the proposed curve. For 



this purpose, obtain an old cart rope, or any rope or long garden line, free from stiffening ; 

 tie one end to a peg fixed at the point where the wing wall is to strike the pillar, and 

 fix a second peg at the extremity of the curve ; having thrown out the line between these 

 two points, walk from the first peg along the proposed line of fence with rope in hand, 

 allowing it to pass lightly through the half-closed fingers, repeating the operation until 

 the line is pleasing to the eye. Having fixed the curve, place ranging poles at regular 

 distances along it, and imagine the inter-spaces 

 brick or stone wall, when the result will generally 

 be to make the line longer or flatter by carrying the 

 first peg further along the road. Curved lines always 

 appear more full and rounded when viewed in 

 perspective. If some architectural character and 

 dignity are desired, then from these actual lines 

 make a survey, and thereupon design the elevations. 

 The carriage entrance, if sufficiently important, 

 should be provided with side gates for pedestrians on 

 one or both sides ; these may be any width from 

 three to five feet, and the parapet or sidewalks, 

 where these exist, with proper kerb and channel 

 terminating against the pillars. The opening for a 

 carriage gateway is usually 12 feet, but if the gate 

 pillars and general arrangement are on a large scale, 

 14 feet is not too wide ; but these dimensions cannot 



as a rule be exceeded with satisfactory results. FIG. 38. 



Where wrought iron is used and a very open effect 



is aimed at, fixed side panels with strongly braced and strutted hanging bars may 

 be adopted. 



In the old examples of carriage courts or turns, the shape and size are decided 

 by the plan of the house, of which they were really a part. The house was sometimes 

 arranged as a square, with a court in the middle, or as an " E," " H," or " L," shaped 

 block of buildings, with the court in one of the recessed parts. In an " E " shaped 

 plan, as No. 39, the central wing often consisted of the entrance porch only, leaving the 

 end wings to project a long distance beyond. In the " H " plan the recess at one end was 

 often used as the carriage court, and the one at the other end as kitchen court. In the 

 "L" plan the court was protected on one side only. At Blicking Hall, Norfolk, there 



48 



