538 Notices of some Gardens and Counhy Seats 



perfect level, it would be one of the loveliest drives in the world, 

 from the abundance of wood and the great beauty of the valley 

 of the Dart, the water of which expands so as to resemble a 

 winding lake. The narrow lane alluded to is two or three miles 

 in length ; and the approach road, after leaving the lodge, ex- 

 tends upwards of a mile. We passed many fine old trees, and 

 among others the most magnificent Cornish elm that we ever 

 beheld. By a rude measurement, we found the trunk to be 15 ft. 

 in diameter ; the diameter of the space covered by the branches to 

 be 136 ft. ; and the height 80ft. The house is very well placed 

 on a projecting platform, which forms, as it were, the corner 

 between the valley of the Dart and another valley, which may be 

 called that of Sharpham. Here the " sufficient reason " for choos- 

 ing the situation is obvious at a glance. There is much natural 

 beauty at this place, and many fine woods and trees ; but it is 

 in a state of sad neglect, nothing having been done to it for 

 several years. It appears, indeed, never to have been com- 

 pleted ; for the walls of the kitchen-garden have not been built, 

 and there are the rafters of a vinery, under which vines are trained, 

 but for which, we were informed, the sashes were never made. 

 The feeling of melancholy which such a place as this produces 

 is so mixed up with misery, that it affords no pleasure; whereas, 

 an old neglected place, where there is no evidence of the neglect 

 being the result of want of means, fills the mind with a feeling 

 of veneration and respect, as well as sadness. Ayoung or new place 

 in a state of neglect or disorder affords an example of melan- 

 choly and misery; while an old full-grown place, uninhabited, 

 in which nothing seems to be doing but keeping the place in 

 tolerable order, is an example of melancholy and grandeur. To 

 remove the idea of hopeless melancholy from an old place, there 

 ought to be signs of life and improvement, if it were nothing 

 more than the planting here and there of young trees where the 

 old ones have been cut down. An old place, with nothing but 

 old trees, leaves the mind without hope. There is nothing to look 

 forward to but their decay ; but an old place, with both old and 

 young trees, more especially if it has been long in possession of 

 the same family, and that family have children, is, we think, 

 better calculated to give a feeling of perpetual existence to the 

 proprietor for the time being, than any other state of things that 

 we can conceive, unless it be that of a hereditary sovereign. One 

 of the finest things at Sharpham is a broad walk from the house, 

 along the side of a steep valley, to the head of that valley, where 

 it crosses over by the gardener's cottage to a similar walk on the 

 opposite side ; the walk all the while winding much in direction, 

 but being always nearly on a level. We were informed that it 

 is continued through the woods towards the sea, exhibiting many 

 fine views of the Dart and its opposite banks. 



