V THE COURTS, TERRACES, WALKS loi 



courts ; at Newnham Paddox there were three 

 such courts with gateways leading from one to 

 the other. At Orchard Portman there was an 

 outer fore court separated from the inner fore 

 court by a wall and two -storey gatehouse. 

 Kip's view of the old gardens at Longleat 

 shows a very remarkable fore court. The outer 

 court was only separated from the park by a 

 fence, with a wrought-iron gateway leading to 

 the fore court proper. A broad flagged causeway 

 led from the gates to the front door, with flights 

 of fifteen steps leading to a lower terrace on 

 either side in front of the house. The sides of 

 this causeway were formed apparently with grass 

 slopes ; on either side of it were grass lawns. at a 

 lower level than the terrace, with circular basins 

 and fountains in the centre. The efl^ect of such 

 an arrangement must have been quite magnifi- 

 cent. The whole of it was swept away by 

 Capability Brown ; and the utter insignificance of 

 the present approach shows the full capacity for 

 mischief of the landscape system. At old Eaton 

 Hall the outer court was formed by a semi- 

 circular wall, extending beyond the full width 

 of the inner fore court sufficiently far to admit 

 of gateways into the base courts on either side 

 of the inner fore court. This is a simple and 

 masterly plan. The fore court at Westwood, in 

 Worcestershire, was laid out lozenge-wise, with 

 a gatehouse in the centre and three-storey 

 pavilions at the two angles. These instances 



