Introduction. 



XIX. 



In the arrangement of any site the natural conditions of the place should first 

 be studied. If they are emphatic, or in any way distinct, they should be carefully 

 maintained and fostered. It is grievous to see, in a place that has some well-defined 

 natural character, that character destroyed or stultified, for it is just that quality 

 that is the most precious. Many a hillside site has been vulgarised by a conven- 

 tionally commonplace treatment, when it presented infinite possibilities to both the 

 formal and natural schools of design. Among the notable examples of little hillside 

 gardens treated in formal fashion, none is more delightful than that of Owlpen 

 Manor, Gloucestershire. Its plan and sections appear in Figs. v. and vi. A 

 bird's-eye view (Fig. viii.) has been prepared to supplement the photographs, 

 which in the nature of things cannot give a fair idea of the wealth of incident 

 crowded into an area of little more than half an acre. Fig. vii. shows indeed with 

 what modesty the house nestles against the hillside and seeks to hide itself amidst 

 regiments of yews. Great skill has been shown in their planting, for they emphasise 

 the drops between the succeeding levels of the terrace, even though they partly veil 

 them. The great square yew parlour is an unusual feature, the outcome of very 

 many years of growth and of patient tending. 



FIG. IV. — HILLSIDE GARDEN Al OWLPEN MANOR: VIEW FROM SOUTH-WEST FROM POINT C 



(see plan FIG. V.) 



