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CHAPTER V. 



In this chapter it is proposed to discuss the planning and design of those gates and 

 fences which could not be included in the previous chapter dealing with entrances and 

 carriage courts. These are two features which offer endless possibilities for effective 

 treatment, and it is not too much to say that whatever the material employed, there is 

 no case where either a gate or a fence is required about the estate which will not allow 

 of the exercise of taste in its design and arrangement. 



While in large gardens attached to historic mansions care is usually exercised in these 

 matters, in other cases it is more often the rule than the exception to find that the 

 necessary fences and gates have been placed anywhere convenient and selected from the 

 wholesale manufacturer's catalogue, without any conception of the fact that, without 

 impairing their usefulness in the least, they may be so arranged as to enhance the beauty 

 of the grounds they enclose or partition. Gates also have the further advantage that 

 they may mark the end of a vista or, by a judicious use of open panels, may half 

 reveal and half conceal the beauties of the garden beyond, and so tempt to further 

 exploration. Fences, on the other hand, may support festoons of climbing roses or other 

 greenery, may be part of a terrace scheme or pergola, or may lead the eye forward 

 along a vista, or otherwise help the composition of the scene as a whole. 



In the old examples, both gates and fences were made to serve as ornaments to the 

 gardens they graced, and the skilful design and clever craftmanship expended upon them 

 were doubly pleasing because legitimately applied to utilitarian objects. In making new 

 gardens, although they may not be in the same styles as the old work, it is equally 

 desirable to give character and distinction to such details by attention to their design and 

 placing. This does not mean that they should be overloaded with needless ornamentation, 

 but that their necessary parts should be so designed as to harmonize with one another 

 and with their surroundings. 



The almost infinite variety of fences of all sorts, wood, stone, brick or iron, or a 

 combination of any two of these which is obtainable, should help to make the choice of 

 one suitable for every position very easy, besides which there are hedges of many kinds 

 and the sunk fence or ha-ha for occasional use in very special circumstances. 



Local conditions will often determine the character of a fence, especially in the smaller 

 garden or the more remote portions of larger ones, and its character, whether elaborately 

 finished or rustic, will depend on its relation to the residence and the purpose it is to 

 serve. Too much can scarcely be said in favour of the old-fashioned hedgerows in 

 districts where they thrive and, in well-wooded localities where stone is plentiful, for 

 stone walls or, where the conditions are favourable, for a combination of the two, stone 

 dykes for example surmounted by hedges, or hedges planted in the open, with walls where 

 there are overhanging trees, or in other positions detrimental to the former fence. 



Msthetic 

 possibilities 

 f gates and 

 ! ences - 



55 



