House and Garden 
cipal substance of East Anglian buildings, 
and has been in use ever since the middle 
of the fifteenth century. It was not until a 
century later that brick came into general 
use in other parts 
of England. 
Houses were also 
constructed of tim¬ 
ber, which was 
plentiful, but the 
timber domestic 
architecture is of 
a more simple na¬ 
ture than in many 
parts of England, 
and the woodwork 
is often concealed 
beneath plaster. 
In the south¬ 
eastern district, 
timber is exten¬ 
sively used, oak 
being the favorite 
tree for house 
building. The 
plaster has a yel¬ 
low hue, and the 
appearance of the 
houses differs from 
that of the black 
and white of Lan¬ 
cashire and Che¬ 
shire homesteads. 
Some think that this yellow color is an 
improvement, but as a North-countryman I 
may be forgiven for preferring the Northern 
style. Some of the finest timber work in the 
country is found in the western English 
counties, which are famous for their half- 
timbered domestic architecture. Cheshire, 
Shropshire and Hereford possess a beautiful, 
soft, warm, sandstone which has produced 
a peculiar style in church architecture, and 
houses built of this stone are very beautiful 
and harmonize well with the surrounding 
scenery. In the region of Cumberland and 
Westmoreland we find little timber, and slate 
and granite very abundant. In that region 
of lofty hills and 
crags and rugged 
fells the cottages 
are well built of 
stone, though their 
appearance is not 
so picturesque as 
that of southern 
homesteads. These 
lonely moorside 
dwellings look 
rather desolate, but 
within there is an 
air of old-fash- 
ioned c o m f o r t, 
with the cheeses 
piled up in the 
“ rannel balk," i. e., 
the beam running 
across the kitchen, 
the old settle by 
the chimney-nook, 
the press and clock 
of black oak, 
the high-backed 
chairs, and plates 
and trenchers. 
It will be gath- 
e r e d fro m the 
above that there is endless variety in the 
style of English cottage architecture, which 
characteristic is one of its chief charms. 
I he individual builder introduced variety in 
bis use of the traditional style of his own 
district. The geological formation of par¬ 
ticular neighborhoods, the materials which 
Nature provided, caused a vast difference 
in methods of construction and in the appear¬ 
ance of the cottage homes of England, which 
it is our delight to study. 
A COTTAGE ENTRANCE AT BROADWAY 
97 
