in Sussex, visited in October, 1842. 615 



modious and very handsome gardener's house, in a situation that 

 overlooks both the garden and the farm. It must be recollected, 

 in this and in all similar cases, that our suggestions are made 

 after first, and we may say momentary, impressions, without time 

 to test them by reflection and reasoning. 



Rose Hill ; A. E. Fuller, Esq., M. P. The grounds are of 

 great extent, varied by hill and dale; and there are some effec- 

 tive masses of wood, with, however, too many unconnected 

 clumps, and a great want of scattered trees throughout. The 

 house has no pretensions, but there is a large and excellent 

 kitchen-garden, and much glass, the whole kept in the highest 

 order by Mr. Ogle, who has formed near it some beautiful 

 ornamental scenery. On a knoll in the park there is a hand- 

 some temple, like that at Croome ; and exterior to it, on the 

 summit of a hill, there is a large observatory, conspicuous for 

 many miles round, very substantial and commodious within, and 

 containing some very superior astronomical instruments. The 

 woods and plantations in this property appeared to us in a state 

 of sad neglect, much too thick ; and the trunks, particularly of 

 the pines and firs, studded over with the stumps of decayed 

 branches. There are some extensive and delightful shady and 

 open walks, but we saw the place in far too great a hurry to 

 be able to say much about it. 



October 16.- — Eridge Castle; Earl of Abergavenny. This is 

 an immense place, being, as the Guide to Tunbridge Wells in- 

 forms us, seven miles from north to south, and five miles from 

 east to west. The house stands on a widely extending knoll in 

 a park containing above 3000 acres, and it is surrounded by a 

 demesne of 10,000 acres. The drives through the plantations 

 measure fifty-four miles, and there is a lake of twenty acres. The 

 plantations have been entirely made by the present earl; they 

 have thriven in a most extraordinary degree, and they are kept 

 in far better order than is generally the case. We have already 

 noticed the numerous handsome lodges and cottages on the 

 estate. The house is in the castle style, remarkable for the 

 profusion of ornament with which it is covered, both externally 

 and within. We were in all the principal rooms, and found the 

 ceilings every where covered with carved work, generally oak, 

 or an imitation of it. A peculiarity in all of the rooms is, that 

 there are no curtains; the backs of the shutters, when they are 

 closed, showing the same finish and ornaments as the walls of the 

 room. The ornaments which are placed on the exterior of the 

 house are chiefly portions of the quarterings of the Abergavenny 

 arms, one of which is a portcullis, and another a St. Andrew's 

 cross, and both these are used not only on the house, but in 

 the grounds, on a large scale, as wicket-gates. The walls of the 

 castle exteriorly are painted of a French grey, and the orna- 



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