The  late  Joseph  Shuttleworth. 
275 
into  absolute  possession  until  three  years  after  entering  upon 
ownership,  soon  after  completing  the  purchase  he  altered  and 
enlarged  one  of  the  farm-houses,  and  thither  he  repaired  when- 
ever his  numerous  engagements  permitted.  Here  it  was  that 
he  settled  in  his  mind  the  whole  scheme  for  the  mansion 
which  he  subsequently  erected,  and  for  the  development  of 
the  entire  property.  Amongst  other  things,  he  built  a new 
village  school,  improving  here  and  enlarging  there  the  cottages 
on  the  estate. 
The  appended  statement  by  one  who  had  a close  acquaintance 
with  Mr.  Shuttleworth,  will  be  read  with  interest  as  giving  a 
further  insight  into  his  character  : — 
“ On  coming  into  possession  of  the  house  and  gardens  he  at 
once  had  the  buildings  razed  to  the  ground,  and  proceeded  to 
erect  on  the  same  site  a princely  mansion.  Throughout  the 
-work,  even  to  the  minutest  parts,  he  never  failed  to  cause  the 
very  best  materials  and  workmanship  to  be  selected : it  was 
characteristic  of  him  to  be  thorough  in  all  he  undertook.  Nothing 
was  too  trivial  to  engage  his  attention.  Whatever  the  cost  might 
be,  he  would  invariably  select  whatever  he  considered  best 
adapted  for  the  object  in  view. 
“ He  had  a great  love  for  building,  and  for  improving  every- 
thing about  him,  and  he  either  entirely  rebuilt  or  remodelled 
every  homestead,  as  well  as  replaced  with  model  cottages  of  the 
most  approved  and  picturesque  design  most  of  the  old  tenements 
for  the  labourers. 
“ Mr.  Shuttleworth  had  great  taste  and  knowledge  of  architec- 
tural details  ; some  of  the  old  cottages  in  the  village  were  of  an 
Old  English  style,  though  greatly  dilapidated  ; he  had  many  of 
these  entirely  cased  with  half  timber-work,  feeling,  as  he  often 
said,  that  though  they  were  costly,  he  had  as  much  pleasure  in 
looking  at  them  as  at  some  favourite  picture  on  his  walls. 
“ He  had  a great  love  for  pleasure-gardens,  and  a most  culti- 
vated acquaintance  with  landscape-gardening.  His  gardens  were 
very  extensive,  and  were  so  planted  and  arranged  that  the  trees 
and  shrubberies  were  cheerful  and  effective  all  the  year  round. 
He  held  that  great  sanctity  attached  to  a tree,  and  would  never 
consent  to  the  felling  of  any  tree  unless  it  injured  another,  and 
then  it  was  a grief  to  him  to  order  it  to  be  cut  down.  He  was 
continually  improving  and  enlarging  the  shrubberies,  and  would 
have  everything  kept  in  the  most  complete  and  orderly  manner 
all  the  year  round.  No  part  of  the  buildings  or  grounds  was 
ever  permitted  to  be  untidy,  all  must  at  all  times  be  kept  fresh 
and  bright. 
“ It  was  a characteristic  of  Mr.  Shuttleworth  that  he  would 
never  consent  to  patch  up  or  repair  anything  unless  it  could  be 
T 2 
