Picturesque English Cottages and Their Doorway Gardens 
KENT COTTAGES 
English rural scenery. In old cottages we 
often find so-called oriel windows in the 
upper storey, windows that jut out from the 
wall, supported by corbels or brackets. They 
have a very pretty effect, break the surface 
of the walls, and are altogether quaint and 
pleasing. Many of them have been des¬ 
troyed, and ordinary lights, flush with the 
wall, substituted for them. The ordinary 
bay window as depicted in the Broadway cot¬ 
tage is usually an addition of much later 
date, but there are many old examples which 
swing out from the first floor or are 
carried up from the ground. The 
old glass may be detected by ob¬ 
serving its dull green color, which 
is produced by the action of time 
and defies imitation. 
The lead glazing is usually in¬ 
serted into iron casements. Much 
skill and ingenuity is expended on 
the construction of the uprights 
and handles, which are often of 
very beautiful design. 
Architects are sometimes very 
successful in imitating the old de¬ 
signs of cottages, and especially in 
regard to picturesque windows. I 
am enabled by the artist’s skill 
to give examples of modern cot¬ 
tages at Merrow in the outskirts 1 
of Guildford, which certainly can 
claim their title to pic¬ 
turesqueness. One is 
planned after the mod¬ 
el of the half-timbered 
building with a project¬ 
ing upper storey, oriel 
window and tiled roof; 
the other is weather- 
tiled, and the arrange¬ 
ment of the upper win¬ 
dows is not ungraceful. 
In order to see good 
doorways, we must 
travel to the regions 
of good building stone, 
to the counties that 
lie along the great bed 
of oolite which ex¬ 
tends from Somerset 
to Yorkshire. In these 
parts of England, we 
find the tradition of Gothic architecture pre¬ 
served in many of the doorways. The per¬ 
pendicular arch is seen in the porch of many 
a small farmhouse or rural cottage, with 
moulded sides and overhanging hood-mould¬ 
ing. Frequently in Cheshire and Lanca¬ 
shire the lintel is formed of a large stone 
shaped in the form of a triangle with the 
angles cut flat. The stables at Marple Hall 
are a good example of this. The sides and edge 
of the lintel are moulded. A good stout door of 
solid oak shuts out intruders. The cottage door 
LAYWELL, WILTS 
214 
