GARDEN WALKS AND ROADS. 



81 



■veuieDt. One of the most effective carriage-sweeps 

 kno\sTi to the writer is sixty yards long by thirty 

 wide, and six feet above the surrounding ground. 

 The proportion of the length, double the breadth, 

 looks well, and is found most convenient. Fig. 4 is 

 one of the largest carriage-sweeps that can be re- 

 quired for private residences. Were it found, how- 

 ever, too limited for the congestion that might occur 

 in the traffic at the sharp bend leading into the 

 stable-yard, the carriage-road could be led right 

 through the quadrangle on the line of the garden gate, 

 and swept back to the stable-yard under the retaining 

 wall, thus affording sufficient space for the traffic of 



piece of gravel constituting the carriage front, 

 whatever its size or form, but more especially if 

 square or oblong, forms a sort of secondary base tc 

 the house, and must therefore be treated with the 

 mathematical precision of architectural, rather than 

 the freer erratic irregularity of picturesque prin- 

 ciples. It is well to bear this in mind, as during the 

 period of sudden re^nilsion from overdone art to 

 more natural methods of gardening, it was no un- 

 common thing to find magnificent mansions rising 

 out of, rather than safely built upon, parks degraded 

 into wild-looking commons, with furze, bramble, and 

 wild bracken looking in at the drawing-room win- 



StRhle Shrubbery 

 Yard 



Carriage Sweep 



RetcLining Wall crowned with Vases 



Fvj;. 4.— La£GE Rectaxgtjlab Sweep. 



a royal palace. As at present arranged, however, a 

 block has never occurred, though at balls and public 

 treats many hundreds of caniages have come and 

 gone on a single day or night. On such occasions, 

 however, not a few of these return, after depositing 

 their fares, or are ranged on either side of the 

 carriage-road at some considerable distance from the 

 house. No doubt the sharp bend into the stable-yard 

 is objectionable, and could easily be avoided by 

 leading the road straight off the quadrangle of gi^avel 

 into the yard. But the shrubbery is held in gi^eat 

 veneration, as completely shutting out the staples 

 from the house, and hence the sharpening of the bend 

 into the yard. 



Semi- circular, and circular, elliptical, and other 

 forms look well, and one or two are given as samples, 

 as w^ll as to illustrate the best points of entering 

 and leaving the carriage front. This should in- 

 v.-riably be either in the centre, directly at right 

 angles with the front door, or at either end. The 

 6 



dows, and cattle, sheep, and deer browsing right ny 

 to the front door. This was nature dominating art 

 with a vengeance. Proper carriage fi'onts and ap- 

 proach roads not only enable art to modify- natiire' 

 in t"he immediate vicinity of the house, but also 

 impart that sense of safety and seclusion which is 

 not one of the least charms of every home, whether 

 in town or country. Both, however, are overdone 

 when the carriage front is shut in with gates and 

 bars within sight of the house, giving the latter 

 more the appearance of a workhouse, asylum, or 

 prison than a home. Not only are gates and bars 

 in such positions objectionable on the ground of 

 taste and sentiment, but likewise from the incon- 

 venience and danger they involve. Starting with 

 spirited horses, it is no easy matter to pull up almost 

 directly to open or close gates. So far as possible^ 

 therefore, not only carriage-sweeps, but carriage- 

 roads should be kept free from such constant sources ct 

 friction, hindrance, and danger as gates across them. 



