418 Brittoji's Ilhistrations of Toddinglon. 



REVIEWS. 



Art. I. Graphic Illustrations, with Historical and Descriptive Ac- 

 counts, of Toddington, Gloucestershire, the Seat of Lord Siideley. 

 By John Britton, F.S.A., Honorary Member of the Royal Institute 

 of British Architects, and of several other English and Foreign 

 Societies ; Author of " The Cathedral and Architectural Antiqui- 

 ties," &c. 4to, pp. 46, 29 plates and 3 woodcuts. London, 

 1841. 



(Continued from p. 369.) 



Chap. ii. contains remarks on the scenery and features of a country with 

 reference to domestic architecture and landscape-gardening, and on the old 

 house and garden at Toddington. We quote the greater part of the chapter. 



" The natural forms and features of every tract of country in which a gen- 

 tleman's seat is placed are positive and permanent. They are either moun- 

 tainous, as in Scotland and Wales; bold, or slightly undulating with, hill and 

 dale, as at Toddington ; level, or nearly so, as in Middlesex and parts of 

 Essex ; abounding with woods and enclosures, as parts of Kent ; bare and 

 open, as the plains of Salisbury and Marlborough ; or wild, uncultivated, and 

 abounding with heath, furze, and brush-wood, as parts of Surrey and Sussex. 

 Each of these districts exhibits its own exclusive and peculiar characteristic 

 features and expression ; and it should be the study of its manorial lord to 

 adapt the style and external forms of his mansion to harmonise with, and 

 make part of, the local scene. Common sense and good taste will dictate this ; 

 but we occasionally see glaring incongruities in the adaptation of buildings 

 to their respective localities, as well as violations of all the principles of 

 common sense and taste. Art may adorn and improve all places, either by 

 taking away old woods, or by adding new plantations ; by enlarging and 

 varying the boundaries of waters ; by forming and planting the courses of 

 roads, and by other means which the skilful landscape-gardener has at his 

 command. He is, however, rarely consulted in the selection of a site for a 

 house, or, indeed, till the proprietor has committed many errors in laying out 

 roads, plantations, water, &c. 



" The castles and the monastic buildings of the middle age constitute the 

 principal, if not the only, specimens of ancient domestic architecture in 

 England. These are numerous, and of various dates, and are contra-dis- 

 tinguished from each other by several dissimilarities in general design, in plan, 

 and in subordinate parts. Destined, however, as each was, for its respective 

 inhabitants ; adapted as each was to the peculiar customs and manners of its 

 warlike or religious occupants, they had but little analogy to each other, and 

 were ill-suited to the domestic habits of a refined and luxurious community. 

 Hence, both the castle and the monastery have been deserteil, and are now 

 only to be seen in ruin, whilst the emancipated lords of the soil have erected 

 for themselves new mansions on their respective estates ; and we find that 

 these have commonly been designed in accordance with a particular and 

 prevalent fashion. During the reigns of the later Henries, the monastic ar- 

 chitects were employed to erect a few mansions and castles, which still 

 remain to characterise their age and origin. Under Elizabeth, James, and the 

 Charleses, a successive variety was introduced in the styles and features of 

 domestic architecture ; but each dynasty is distinguished by its own and de- 

 cided class. In our own times architecture seems emancipated from the 

 trammels of fashion, and all tiie formulae of schools, whilst architects and 

 their employers give full latiludc to fancy and imagination. Hence we have 

 imitations of Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Grecian, Roman, and Gothic, with 

 designs that aim at originality by a departure fron) all precedent, or by 

 blending a heterogeneous mixture of two or more of the ancient styles. If 



