TERRACES AND TERRACE GARDENS. 



Construc- 

 tion of 

 steps. 



Surfaces of 

 terraces. 



direction, here (No. 125) is a plan and elevation of a terrace scheme on a mountain 

 side, the total drop of twelve feet being divided into twenty-six steps. A second drawing 

 (No. 126) shows the solution of a similar problem but with a rise of only nine feet, 

 while the third (No. 124) gives another arrangement where a sense of ease is secured 

 by spreading out the steps. Here the rise is about six feet six inches. 



Steps may be constructed in a variety of ways with different materials to harmonize 

 with different styles of architecture. We have already spoken of those cut from solid 

 blocks of stone and 

 those built up of 

 flags. Others may 

 have the tread of 

 flags and the risers 

 built in rough local 

 stone or brick, or, 

 where an even freer 

 treatment is called 

 for, the flag may be 

 a narrow strip along 

 the front of the step 

 and the back be 

 filled in with cobble 

 paving. Where the 

 architecture of the 

 house and terrace 

 walls is of brick, 

 especially where a 

 wooden balustrade 

 is added as described 

 above, effective steps 

 may be made to 

 match, with a strip 

 of English oak about 

 four inches wide and 

 three inches deep 

 along the front of 

 each step, the tread 

 at the back and the 

 riser below the oak 

 being built of rich 

 brown-red brick. 



Terraces may 

 have their surfaces 

 finished in many 



ways, and those not immediately before the house will form gardens of various kinds. 

 That which is right under the windows of the principal rooms and which is usually a 

 comparatively narrow outlook promenade from which the rest of the grounds and the 

 prospect are viewed, will, however, need special treatment. If it is to fulfil its purpose 

 it must usually be available for promenading at all seasons of the year, and this means 

 that, to provide a dry path underfoot in the Winter, it must be flagged or paved in 

 some manner. It is not necessary, of course, that it should be paved all over. Sometimes 

 panel-shaped flower-beds will be cut out of the paving, in others there will be a paved 



FIG. 127. PLAN OF GARDENS AT THE GRANGE, WRAYSBURY. 



IOO 



