HISTORICAL & DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS 
OF THE SUBJECTS ILLUSTRATED. 
MONTACUTE, SOMERSETSHIRE. 
PLATES i, 2. 3, 4, 5. 
ONTACUTE possesses a character and charm, both in the house itself and in the 
gardens which surround it, hardly to be excelled in England. It lies in one of 
the most beautiful parts of Somersetshire, some four miles to the west of Yeovil, 
under the shadow of Ham Hill, whose famous quarries yielded the stone used 
throughout the building and in the gardens. Built between 1580 and 1601, it 
remains to-day in a practically unaltered state, and is still the seat of a descendant 
of the original builder, Sir Edward Phelips, then Speaker of the House of Commons. 
The great size of the house gives evidence of the hospitality that prevailed in Queen Elizabeth’s 
days, aptly illustrated in the two inscriptions, one on the front entrance, “ And yours my friends ,” 
and another over the garden porch, “ Through this wide often gate , none come too early , none return 
too late!' The house is built upon a simple plan, in the form of the letter H, a main block with two 
projecting wings. The entrance court is on the north-west side, and has an approach with an avenue 
extending nearly half a mile. The original entrance forecourt was on the opposite or south-east side 
of the house, whence it was approached by a drive through the park. This court, now diverted from 
its original purpose, is enclosed on all sides ; but formerly it had wing walls extending beyond the 
garden-house into the park. These have now been placed at right angles to the garden-houses. The 
enclosing balustrade walls are about seven feet high, with piers spaced at short intervals supporting 
obelisks. Midway between the main building and the garden-houses the continuity of the wall is 
broken by small circular stone pavilions, each consisting of six stone pillars supporting an ornamental 
soffite, with open cupola above, formed of three stone ribs joining at the top ; this is again surmounted 
by a finial of intersecting stone circles. 
The garden-houses at either angle of the forecourt are charming conceptions; they are shown in 
elevation on Plate 2 and in the view on Plate 3. They are square on plan, with small circular shaped 
bay-windows on every side. 
On the south-west side of the forecourt is the upper garden, an oblong enclosure some 350 feet 
long by 150 wide. At the further end is a yew tunnel in process of formation, and a stone arched 
summer-house. On the opposite, or north-east side, the forecourt is bounded by a broad terrace 
overlooking the lower garden, round which it extends on all four sides. On the side next the house it 
B 
