EXAMPLES OF GARDEN DESIGN. 



The whole extent of the estate is some four-and-a-half acres, of which, however, A large 

 one-and-a-half acres are detached and are used as a cricket ground, leaving three acres town 

 for the area shown on the plan, including the portion covered by the house and its garden. 

 extended side wings. This area is, of course, still further curtailed by the small portion 

 unavoidably given up to the carriage approach and that occupied by the stables, so that 

 a glance at the accompanying photographs will show at once that the very most has 

 been made of the remaining portion which could be devoted to the pleasure grounds after 

 the further deductions necessary to provide for the frame ground and glass houses. As 

 before explained, however, these latter have been arranged very economically as regards 

 space. 



It has been difficult, in the very restricted space which could be devoted to this 

 garden, to illustrate the grounds as fully as one would have wished, but the four accom- 

 panying photographs have been selected as giving the best general idea obtainable without 

 exceeding the space at our disposal. Of these, two, as already hinted, look along the 

 main axial line through the grounds, No. 388 looking away from, and No. 389 towards 

 the house. The first of these shows very clearly the general design of the pergola, as 

 well as the lily pond which has been mentioned in the chapter devoted to water in the 

 garden, with its stepping stones for reaching the lilies .nd its central fountain, which is a 

 piece of clever modelling by Mr. Derwent Wood which has attracted considerable interest. 

 It is finished in lead. 



The other illustration on the same page shows the small details of the pergola design 

 more distinctly, and also the central flight of steps leading from the lower terrace to the 

 upper ; and behind these is seen the verandah, of which nearer views have been given 

 (111. Nos. 171 and 172). 



The two remaining illustrations (Nos. 390 and 391) give general views which, when 

 examined together with the plan, will give a very fair idea of the general appearance of 

 the gardens. In No. 391 the fine timber trees, which are such an asset to the scheme, 

 are to be seen with oak seats encircling their boles, while in No. 390 the extreme end- of 

 the pergola shown in the first two illustrations described is visible, with the domed rose- 

 temple which finishes it. Another of these domed temples is placed at the corner of the 

 lawn, where the best view over Harrow can be obtained. This last photograph was 

 taken soon after the steps were completed, and before the greenery which covers them in 

 the other view had had time to develop. It, however, shows the more clearly for 

 this that the difference of level between the two terraces has been disposed in two 

 grass banks with a broad grass walk between them. As the boughs of the large elm 

 and other trees sweep out over this walk, it is a most successful feature. 



* 



GROUNDS TO A NEW COUNTRY SEAT. 



It is a very real cause for lament that the modern spirit of change reaches so 

 often the old country seats which are the pride of every Englishman who loves his own 

 rural countryside. Next, therefore, to assisting in the preservation and enrichment of the 

 old (as in the concluding example of this series), the Writer has had no more agreeable 

 or fascinating task than when he has been called in to create a new domain which, 

 while it is modern, will still fulfil all the functions in the future of the old ancestral 

 home of the past. He has liked even to feel that, if his work can reach the high 

 level he would wish by the help of a sympathetic and artistic proprietor, it may even- 

 tually attain to that mellow beauty which is at present the prerogative of the old 

 examples. 



There was an exceptional opportunity for this at Dunchurch Lodge, which is illus- 

 trated in the accompanying photographs. The name " Dunchurch " is associated in the 

 minds of most people with the immortal Mr. Pickwick returning in the pouring rain 



343 



