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Principles of Landscape- Gardening 



or terrace can seldom or never be formed, without incurring a degree of de- 

 secration that would be unjustifiable. Still, in a majority of cases, a space 

 round the walls of the church might be 

 cleared away to the width of 2 or 3 feet, 

 and of such a depth as to be at least 6 in. 

 below the level of the floor of the church. 

 This space ought to be carried com- 

 pletely round the church on a perfect 

 level, or with merely a very gentle in- 

 clination from the middle of the building 

 to each end, for the purpose of carrying 

 off surface water. Under this space 

 there should be a tile-drain within a few 

 inches of the surface to carry oiF rain 

 water, or a deep drain if the subsoil re- 

 quires it. The ground round this narrow 

 level platform should either be supported 

 by brickwork or sloped down with turf, 

 according as the graves are nearer or 

 more distant; and both the width of the 

 platform and the angle of the slope may 

 be irregular, if circumstances should 

 require it. The grand essential object is 

 to get a level base for the walls to rise 

 from, the surface of which shall be 6 in. 

 lower than the surface of the floor of 

 the church. The walk to the church 

 door will require to descend to this plat- 

 form by an inclined plane, and there will 

 of course be one step of ascent to the 

 porch of the church. 



It is unnecessary to state that the walls and roof of the church should be 

 kept in good repair, and that in many cases ivy and the Virginian creeper 

 might be planted against it ; but we cannot recommend roses and other plants 

 requiring dug soil at the roots, on account of the injury they would do to the 

 platform, and the expense that would be incurred in training. It is always 

 much better not to attempt to do more than can be done well. 



Perhaps it would greatly facilitate the improvement of churchyards, the 

 erection of handsome monuments, and the economy of burial to the poor, if 

 the fees of the clergymen from the church and churchyard were commuted 

 for a fixed sum to be raised annually by a general rate on the parish ; but this 

 is a part of the subject not within our province. 



Laying out and planting a new Churchyard. — Churchyards, like every other 

 description of yard or garden, ought to' be laid out, planted, and managed, 

 with reference to their use ; and the scenery produced should, in its ex- 

 pression and general effect, indicate what that use is, or, at all events, be in 

 accordance with it, A churchyard ought not to be laid out so as to be mis- 

 taken for a pleasure-ground, a shrubbery, or a flower-garden ; neither, on the 

 other hand, ought it to be left in a state of utter neglect, without regular 

 walks, and overgrown with weeds and rank grass. The uses of tlie churchyard 

 are, as a place of burial, as an enclosure and pi'otection to the church, as a 

 place sacred to the memory of the dead, as a place of weekly meeting for 

 solemn purposes, and as an approach to the church. All its uses are of a 

 serious and important nature, and it is therefore to be considered as a grave 

 and solemn scene. Now, the question to be solved in laying out a church- 

 yard is, what trees, what treatment of the surface of the ground, the grass, 

 walks, graves, gravestones, and tombs, will be most conducive to solemnity of 

 effect. The expression of the exterior of the church is grave and solemn, by 

 its long-established association with our religious feelings ; and it therefore 



6ikUil L 



Fig. 105. Monument to Mr.Hood,jun., in 

 Dumfries Churchyard. 



