Chatsworth, 



313 



The conservative wall which separates the lawn from the park on the north 

 is a most delightful scene, and confirms the observations of our correspondent 

 in p. 23., " that a conservative wall is a very superior source of enjoyment to 

 either a green-house or a conservatory." It is 340 ft. in length, and the direc- 

 tion being up a sloping surface, it is divided into panels about 27 ft. in length, 

 and about 18 ft. high, rising above one another, with stone piers between each. 

 The wall is flued and covered with a wooden trellis. It has a coping which 

 projects about 1 ft. in front, with a rod under it on which the rings of curtains 

 run. Piers are built every 27 ft. apart, which determine the length of the 

 curtain rods , and half the curtain draws up against each pier, as in the case 

 of a common window. The curtains are of stout hempen cloth, striped with 

 blue ; and in order to provide for the contraction and expansion, and also to 

 keep the curtains tight when let down, the lower edge of the curtain is fur- 

 nished with rings, which are put over hooks fixed on the edge of a board 

 which lies flat on the border at the distance of i3i in. from the wall. The 

 other edge of this board, which is 1 li in, wide, is hinged to a rail 4i in. broad, 

 which is made fast to stakes driven into the ground, and sawn off" level with 

 the surface. In consequence of this arrangement, when wet weather contracts 

 the curtain, instead of shrinking up, and exposing a part of the wall to the 

 weather, it merely lifts up the inner edge of the board, which sinks down 

 again to its place with the return of dry weather. The edges of the curtain 

 next the piers are made fast to slips of wood fixed to the wall, and the edges 

 where the curtains join in the middle overlap each other, as in common window 

 or bed curtains. Nothing is planted against the piers but dahlias during sum- 

 mer, and thus, by leaving these naked, they preserve the architectural dignity 

 of the wall by contrast with the covered parts. With a view to this end, and 

 also to the effect of the flowers on the plants in the panels, even the dahlias, 

 in our opinion, would be better omitted. 



63 



Fig. 63. is an elevation of part of the wall showing the piers (the one rising 

 higher than the other, as the wall ascends a sloping surface), and the curtains 

 drawn aside. 



Fig. 64. is a ground plan of the same portion of the wall ; in which a is the 

 dug border, b the rising and falhng board, c fixed boards opposite the piers, 

 d a border of turf, e a gravel walk 6 ft. wide, and / the lawn. 



Fig. 65. is a section of the wall, the wooden coping, the curtain, and the 

 rising and falling board. 



Fig. 66. is a section of the lower part of the wall, the rising and falling 

 board, and the ground rail to which it is hinged, on a larger scale. 



The following list of the plants now growing against this wall has been, at 



? p 3 



