Smithells Hall 
plants, and are raised some six inches or so 
by means of wide turf borders. The walls 
themselves are planted with several varieties 
of ivy. At the west end of the terrace walk is 
a raised mound, approached by three Rights 
of steps, and forming a kind of view point. 
The outer wall of the garden is continued 
round this mound, which it has been suggested 
may have been the site of an ancient keep. 
However this may be, it forms a very strik¬ 
ing and happy feature in the lay-out of the 
grounds. It is some too feet to the west of 
the building, and the terrace having been ex¬ 
tended so far gives a large expanse of lawn at 
this end of the house. Three large lime-trees 
crown the top of this mound, the view from 
which in all directions is very fine. The 
illustration of the south front of the Hall here 
reproduced (page 60) is taken from this point, 
and at the end of this article another view is 
given looking along the terrace toward the 
view point. 
The extreme simplicity of the lines in the 
laying out of the grounds at Smithells is 
perhaps the chief reason why the result is so 
good. Strictly speaking it is not formal gar¬ 
dening that we see here, though the straight 
lines of the terraces on the two sides of the 
house show an indication of that style. But 
there is an entire freedom from the strange 
vagaries that formal gardening sometimes 
runs into, and the further we get from the 
house the more the straight and hard lines 
are relinquished. The stone balls to the 
steps and at the angles of the terrace walls 
give the required touch that saves the whole 
scheme from an otherwise possible flatness. 
The terrace walk itself is five feet above 
the level of the park, and is separated from 
it by a stone wall similar to that between 
the terrace and the house. The whole width 
of the garden along the south front, from the 
house itself to the outside wall bounding the 
park, is about ioo feet. This terrace arrange¬ 
ment is more or less followed out on the east 
side of the house, the grounds, however, 
THE EAST END SMITHELLS HALL 
Showing the Ancient Portion 
66 
