ENTRANCES AND CARRIAGE COURTS. 



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FIG. 46. 



grounds being one of the regular functions of the carriage court. Where space permits, 

 nothing looks better than a combination of grass and gravel as in Nos. 42 and 47, a treat- 

 ment seen to perfection in the carriage courts to many of the stately homes of England. 

 Secondly : the courts or turns should be level, or with slope only sufficient to throw 



off surface water. What has been 

 said elsewhere with reference to 

 the necessity for giving the house 

 a level base to stand upon by 

 means of terracing, bears with equal 

 force on the planning of carriage 

 courts. Indeed what is done for 

 the garden front of the mansion 

 by the former, is accomplished for 

 the entrance facade by the latter, 

 and, even though giving the 

 carriage court a level base should 

 FIG ., make it necessary to curtail its 



dimensions, this rule should be 



strictly enforced. In emphasizing this necessity, I am, of course, 

 referring to the whole of the area or plateau occupied by the 

 court. That the gravelled area for traffic must be flat, or almost 

 so, goes without saying, for a steep cross fall would be extremely 

 dangerous to carriages turning round to leave the court. Thirdly : 

 Recognizing that many country houses are centres of social life 

 and activities which make considerable demand on a late service 

 of motors and carriages, the comfort of chauffeurs and drivers 



should be considered by arranging ample shelter. This may 

 often be secured most simply by porters' lodges, such as 

 were proposed for Holker, and illustrated in Nos. 43 and 44. 

 Where there are projecting buildings or high walls, archi- 

 tecturally treated recesses may be inserted there. These 

 recesses are usually sufficient, but in very exposed positions they 

 should be supplemented by masses of plantation, not high 

 enough to give the house a buried appearance, but still effective 

 in screening carriages and the porch. That provision for 

 the shelter of drivers while waiting or in charge of restive 

 animals which cannot be left for a moment, has not been 

 more often seized upon as a factor possessing almost 

 unbounded aesthetic possibilities, is remarkable. They would 

 be particularly useful in this connection : in cases where 

 the court is enclosed by long blank walls which need the relief which this insertion would 

 provide, or where there is an awkward corner which seems to defy artistic treatment. 



Residences are often built with entrances in such positions as to necessitate carriage 

 turns which have steep banks falling away from them. Wherever this is so, even though 

 wind screens may not be required, protection should be provided, as nervous horses are 

 apt to be affected with a feeling of insecurity unless something is done to prevent this. 

 At Capernwray Hall a yew hedge three feet thick and five feet high was to be planted, 

 cut square, with shaped yew pillars every twenty feet, on the top of the slope which 

 runs the full length and across one end of the gravelled carriage turn (111. No. 45). 

 This simple addition is all that is required to make this ample though exposed and 

 dangerous-looking carriage space perfectly safe. 



FIG. 47. 



