208 GARDENS: THEIR FORM AND DESIGN 



A very charming form of stairway is one which can 

 easily be made of turf. Its beauty lies in the shape of the 

 steps. A grass circle is upon a level, and two buttresses 

 of stone or earth banks, as the case may be, and about 

 three feet high, form a retaining wall upon either side. 

 From the grass circle eight or nine concave-shaped 

 circular steps ascend the hill, and likewise below it, a 

 similar number of steps, but convex in shape, descend to 

 the terrace below. In both cases the height of each step 

 is very small. The beauty of the whole lies in this and 

 the complete circle formed by the two flights of stairs. 



In old Elizabethan gardens we often find these same 

 circular-shaped steps made with bricks, and no doubt they 

 follow the design suggested by a workman from Italy. 



The actual tread is about a foot wide, and the bricks, 

 those curious long narrow ones made about that 

 time, are laid sideways, so that the narrowest part forms 

 the tread. The circles are rather narrow and confined, 

 and this gives a quaint old look, but is sufficiently 

 comfortable to lead to the raised terrace-walks that were 

 often made, where only one or two were supposed to walk 

 and overlook the knots and parterres of the rest of the 

 garden. 



In dealing with straight flights of steps, not round or 

 oval ones, it adds to the dignity to increase the width of 

 the whole flight as it approaches the terrace below. This 

 carries out the line usually taken by a balustrade, which 

 runs out to left and right as it approaches the bottom of 

 the flight of stairs. 



In Spanish gardens we find an ingenious and pic- 

 turesque way of conveying water down a brick-paved con- 

 duit or open gutter upon either side of steps. When the 

 last one is reached, this small cascade flows into a cement 

 pool, and from thence is carried underground to the next 

 flight of steps, when another small waterfall is thus con- 



