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Presented  to  the 
LIBRARY  of  the 

UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO 
h 

Francis  W. 
Mavor  Moore 


OLD 

ENGLISH 
CO  U  NTRY 

COTTAGES 


SPECIAL 
WINTER 
NUMBER 
OF 'THE 
STUDIO 


PRICE  FIVE  SHILLINGS  NET 


SPECIALISTS  IN 
FINE  ART  PRINTING. 


CHARIVARI,  TOHBRIDCE. 

rsLSftfONSS: 


No.  9  T«H»RIDOI. 


Braaburp, 


The  Printers  of 


" 


Co.,  £t<t 


10,  BOUVERIE  STREET,  WHITEFRIARS, 
LONDON,  E.G.,  AND  THE  WHITE- 
FRIARS  PRESS,  TONBRIDGE,  KENT. 


Special  appointment. 


fistablisbeD  over  too 


NEWMAN, 

MANUFACTURING    ARTISTS'   COLOURMAN. 


EVERY   REQUISITE  for  the  ARTIST  of  the   FINEST    QUALITY, 


Ulatcr,  Oil  ana  Fresco  Colours. 

MATERIALS    for  TEMPERA    and    MINIATURE    PAINTING. 


" 


HOG  HAIR  and  SA'BLE  "BRUSHES  of  Every  Description. 
SLOW    DRYING"  WATER   COLOURS  for  HOT   CLIMATES, 


a*l.l.»«.    Fr~. 


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24  SOHO  SQUARE,  LONDON,  W. 


SOLID  OAK 
PANELLING 


FINISHED   TO 
ANY    SHADE 

FROM 

1/6 


A     SQUARE 
FOOT     FIXED 

DESIGNS 
POST       FREE 


LIBERTY.  CO 


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LONDON 


VI).     I 


FITTINGS- 

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Art  Wall  Papers 


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.  PATENT  . 


COPPER  TOP  TABLES 

in  great  variety  of  pattern  of  top  and 
style  of  frame. 


SPECIALLY    SUITABLE    FOR 
YOUR   COUNTRY  COTTAGE. 

Full  particulars  from  any  Ironmongery  or  Furnishing 
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Telegrams:  SANKEV,  BILSTON.  Telephone:  &  BILSTON. 


AD.    II 


A    CHARMING    FEATURE 

among 

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of  advanced  Character 

is  the  introduction  of 

QUAINT    AND    UNIQUE 
ENAMELS 


Pendant  in  beaten  Silver 
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setting  with  Turquoise 

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with   beautiful   enamel  in   centre 


Above    Designs  are 
the  property  of  and 
manufactured  by 
MURRLE, 
BENNETT 
AND  Co.,  LIMITED 
13  CHARTERHOUSE  ST. 
LONDON,  E.G. 


Avoid    Machine-made    Jewelry,    it    lacks    originality. 


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Decorative 

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Horticultural 
Buildings 


No.  6  •  Catalogue 
on  •  application 


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55,  Lionel •  Street,  Birmingham  &  0 


AD.    IV 


COTTAGE  FURNITURE 


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A   SIMPLE    LIVING-ROOM 
IN  A  COUNTRY  COTTAGE 

A  Cheap  Set  of   Plain  OaK    Furniture  made  by  Hand 

6   0    Oak  Table   .   £2:10:0         Oak  Chair     .    .     .     12  6 
4'  6       „     Dresser    £6:15:0  ,     Armchair    .     .    22  6 

WRITE    FOR    No.   133    ILLUSTRATED    BOOKLET 


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COPYRIGHT  AND  REGISTERED  DESIGN. 

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ESTIMATED  COST  TO  BUILD,  ABOUT  £300. 

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ROAD  w 

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and   more    Picturesque 

than   Brick. 


Descriptive  Catalogue.  34  pp.. 
post 'free,  3d. 


THE 

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108  Queen  Victoria  Street, 
London,  E.G. 


AD.    VI 


THE  CAMERA 


Is  the  NeW 

No.  4a      * 


FOLDING  KODAK 


This  splendid  Camera  is  a  triumph  in 
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printing.  The  No.  43.  Folding  Kodak 
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Other  Kodaks  from  5/-  to  £8. 
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house  have  met  with  a  greater  appreciation  even  than  I  have 
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Bratt,  Colbran  &  Co. 

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is  made  for  customary  use  as  WILSONS',  for 
they  use  better  yarns  than  other  Manufacturers. 
They  employ  the  most  skilled  Hand  Loom  Weavers 
in  Ireland,  and  they  bleach  on  the  grass.  0  0 
Their  designs  are  by  CaValier  W.  Crane, 
LeWis  Day,  R.  Anning  Be//,  Dr.  Dresser, 
etc.  ft  They  offer  over  50  of  these,  all  artistic. 
As  there  is  only  one  profit,  they  sell  at  a  low  price. 
Illustrated  Lists  and  Samples  post  free,  and 
0000  enquiries  welcomed.  0000 


188  REGENTS? 


THE  PICKED  PROD- 
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AND  YORKSHIRE 

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AD.    VIII 


MAPLE  &  CO 

THE    FINEST    SELECTION    OF 

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A  Characteristic  Example  of  a  French  Chimneypiece  at 

MAPLE    &    GO'S    GALLERIES 
TOTTENHAM        COURT        ROAD        LONDON 


AD.    IX 


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"THE  STUDIO"  YEAR-BOOK 
OF  DECORATIVE  ART,  1907 

^  :        TO    ARCHITECTS,   DESIGNERS, 
.    CRAFTSMEN,      AND      OTHERS 

The  Editor  wishes  to  remind  those  who  are 
submitting  designs  for  this  volume  that  all 
Drawings,  Photographs,  etc.,  should  be  in  his 

hands  by   NoVember  3rd. 


AD.    X 


MR.    MURRAY'S    BOOKS. 


THE    SHORES    OF   THE    ADRIATIC. 

An  Architectural  and  ArcKcological  Pilgrimage.  The 
Italian  Side.  By  F.  HAMILTON  JACKSON.  With 
numerous  Illustrations  from  Drawings  by  the  AUTHOR. 
Medium  8vo. 

FIVE     ITALIAN     SHRINES.      With   an 

Essay  on  Karly  Tuscan  Sculptors.  S.  Augustine  at 
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Milan ;  The  Tabernacolo  at  Florence ;  S.  Donato  at 
Arezzo.  Hy  W.  G.  WATERS,  Translator  and  Editor  of 
Montaigne's  "Travels  in  Italy,"  etc.  With  numerous 
Illustrations. 

A  NEW  EDITION  of  CROWE  and  CAVALCASHI.I.H'S 

HISTORY    OF    PAINTING    in    Italy, 

Umbria,  Florence,  and  Siena,  from  the  2nd  to  the 
i6th  Century.  With  Editorial  Notes  by  LANGTON 
DOUGLAS.  Six  Volumes.  With  upwards  of  200  Illustra- 
tions. Square  Demy  8vo.  2is.  net  each  Vol. 

Vol.     I.—  Early  Christian  Art. 

Vol.  II.     Giotto  and  the  diottesques. 


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2is.  net. 


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A  HOUSE 


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"  '  Til.  8maU  Hooie  '  within  th> 
at  tn.  UUi-pan  I.  not  exactly  a  work 
mm'i  cotUgi.  ft  U  one  dultntd  for  (entle 
folk.  How  r«ry  charming  and  dtalrable 
•uch  a  house,  may  b.  maa.  it  shown  by 
some  of  th.  UHutratlons  that  accompany 
th«  volume"  (GLASGOW  HERALD  I 
"Th.  whole  book  a«  far  a<  w.  ar.  able 
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(SPECTATOR  I 


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NEW  BOOK.  .  . 


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READY   SHORTLY    ....    7/6 


In  this  volume  the  author  record*  hii 
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month,  much  Information  as  to  the  ways 
of  bird!  and  b  aito  being  therein  con 
talned  The  lUuitratloni  ar.  devoted 
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FICTION 


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CASSELL    ti    Co..    Ltd..   London.  E.C. 


AD.    XI 


Readers  of  "The  Studio"  who  desire  to  enhance  the 

Comfort  and  Distinction 

of    their  rooms  by  the  addition  of  notably  tasteful  and  interesting 

Furniture,  Carpets,  Curtains, 

-  At    the    most   competitive   London    prices  - 

are  specially  invited  to  write  for  HAMPTONS'  Illustrated  Catalogues, 

which    may    be    had    post    free,    together    with    specially    prepared 

furnishing  schemes,  etc.,  on  receipt  of  particulars 

of  the  applicants'  requirements. 


AP.  xii 


Hampton's  No.  C  2056  6  ft.  Sideboard  in  Mahogany,  adapted  by 
Hamptons  from  an  old  Chippendale  Model. 

For  many  other  Examples  of  Best  Current  Values  in  Dining 
Room   Furniture,  see  Catalogue   No.  C  329  sent  post  free. 

HAMPTONS 

Pall  Mall   East,  Trafalgar   Square,    London,    S.W. 


OLD  ENGLISH 
COUNTRY  COTTAGES 


EDITED  BY  CHARLES  HOLME 


OFFICES  OF  (THE  STUDIO,'  LONDON 
PARIS,  AND  NEW  YORK          MCMVI 


pr^RARvC 

VJ-A       FEB    /£./ 


PREFATORY    NOTE. 

"  Would  it  look  well  in  a  painting  ? "  is  a  test  question  which  it 
has  been  recommended  should  be  considered  when  the  enquirer  is 
in  doubt  as  to  the  artistic  value  of  some  structural  or  ornamental 
object.  A  favourable  answer  is  by  no  means  an  infallible  guide  to 
the  principles  of  Art  ;  but  the  enquiry  is,  nevertheless,  sufficiently 
useful  to  warrant  it  being  made  upon  many  occasions.  When  we 
consider  it  in  relation  to  the  rustic  dwellings  with  which  our 
English  country  landscape  is  dotted,  we  find  the  answer  to  be  over- 
whelmingly in  favour  of  those  of  ancient  build.  The  modern  ones 
with  their  yellow  bricks,  slate  roofs,  tarred  weather  boards  and 
corrugated  iron,  are  entirely  opposed  to  all  ideas  of  the  beautiful. 
The  ancient  cottage  harmonises  with  its  surroundings,  the  modern 
one  is  at  variance  with  them.  The  mere  age  of  the  former  may 
add  an  element  of  beauty  to  it,  but  to  the  latter  even  the  weathering 
of  the  years  will  have  no  very  kindly  influence.  To  preserve 
some  record  of  these  fast  disappearing  old  buildings  has  been  the 
object  of  the  Editor  in  the  preparation  of  this  volume.  He,  how- 
ever, makes  no  claim  to  have  exhausted  the  subject.  To  do  so 
within  the  compass  of  a  single  volume,  or,  indeed,  of  many,  would 
be  impossible.  But  he  trusts  that  the  material  which  has  here  been 
accumulated  may  be  of  interest  and  service  both  to  present  and 
future  students  of  the  subject.  He  desires  especially  to  record  his 
thanks  to  Mrs.  Lionel  Beddington,  Mrs.  Bolton,  Mr.  R.  L. 
Gunther,  Mr.  W.  F.  Unsworth,  Mr.  Herbert  Alexander,  A.R.W.S., 
Mr.  Wilfrid  Ball,  R.E.,  Mr.  E.  A.  Chadwick,  Mrs.  Stanhope 
Forbes,  A.R.W.S.,  Mr.  Wilmot  Pilsbury,  R.W.S.,  Mrs.  M.. 
Stormont  and  Mr.  Grosvenor  Thomas,  for  their  kindly  loan  of  the 
paintings  reproduced  in  colours  herein.  Also  to  Sir  Benjamin 
Stone,  M.P.,  and  Mr.  T.  A.  Cossins,  for  the  valuable  assistance 
they  rendered  Mr.  Sydney  R.  Jones  in  the  preparation  of  his 
drawings  which  illustrate  this  volume,  by  placing  at  his  disposal 
their  wide  knowledge  of  the  subject. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    IN    COLOUR 


Mrs.  Allingham,  R.W.S. 
Herbert  Alexander,  A. R.W.S. 
Mrs.  Allingham,  R.W.S. 
Mrs.  M.  Stormont 
Walter  Tyndale 

E.  A.  Chadwick 
Wilfrid  Ball,  R.E. 

Wilmot  Pilsbury,  R.W.S. 
Wilfrid  Ball,  R.E. 


E.  A.  Chadwick  

Wilmot  Pilsbury,  R.W.S. 

Grosvenor  Thomas 

Mrs.     E.      Stanhope      Forbes, 

A.R.W.S 

Miss  Rosa  Wallis 


"  Hollingbourne,  Kent "       ...  ...  Frontispiece 

"  Cranbrook,  Kent  "...          ...     Opposite  page  9 

"  Haslemere,  Surrey "            ...  „  „  36 

"Witley,  Surrey"     „  „  38 

"  Steep,     Hampshire "      (two 

drawings)           ...          ...  „  „  40 

"Whitbourne,  Herefordshire"  „  „  61 
"  Long    Wittenham,    Oxford- 
shire"   ,  8l 

<J 

"Tewkesbury,  Gloucester- 
shire"    „  „  88 

"  Welford-on-Avon,    Glouces- 
tershire "            „  „  98 

"Long    Wittenham,    Oxford- 
shire"   ...          ...          ...  „  „  102 

"Suckley,  Worcestershire "...  „  „  115 

"  Pershore,  Worcestershire "...  „  „  120 

"  Lustleigh,  Devonshire "     ...  „  „  141 

"  Landewednack,  Cornwall "...  „  „  144 

"  A  Cottage  Garden "            ...  „  „  157 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


INTRODUCTION  .................         .........  i 

I.  —  KENT,  SUSSEX,  SURREY  AND  HAMPSHIRE          ............  9 

WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS    OF— 

Biddenden,    Kent            ...  I2 

Canterbury        „                ...  !5>  :9 

Cranbrook        „               .........          •••  J3i  :4 

Goudhurst        „  .........  ...    16,  i?,  l8 

Penshurst  „  ......  ...  •••   2O,  21,  22 

Sandwich  „  ...............  •••   23,24,26 

Tonbridge        „               ...          ...          •••          •••          •••          •••          •••  IJ 

Upper  Deal      „              .........  15 

Byworth,         Sussex       ...............  28,  29 

Crawley               „            ...                      •••          •••                                   •••  35 

Fittleworth          „  3°>  3  ' 

Little  Dixter       „            ...                      ...  27 

North  Chapel      „            ...............                       ...          ...  36 

Northiam             „            ..................  27,  34 

Petworth              „            ......                                   .........  32,  33 

Rye                      „  3° 

Chiddingfold,         Surrey  ......          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  37 

Guildford  Castle       „      ........................  37 

Witley                        „      ...  38 

Greywell,             Hampshire        .....................  41 

Upton  Grey                  „               ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  39,  40 

Weston-Patrick            „               ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  42,  43 

II.  —  SUFFOLK  AND  NORFOLK        .....................  45 

WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS    OF— 

Kessingland,  Suffolk        ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  52 

Lowestoft          „              ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  51 

Southwold          „              ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  50 

Walberswick      „              ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  50,  53 

Weston  „  ...  47,  48,  49 

Filby  Broad,  Norfolk        ......          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  54 

Yarmouth  „  ...  .........  55,  56,  57 

III.  —  CHESHIRE,  SHROPSHIRE  AND  HEREFORDSHIRE  ............  61 

WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS    OF— 

Alderley  Edge,  Cheshire              ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  65,  66 

Chester                       „                     .....................  64 

Congleton                  „                     .....................  66 

Nether  Alderley        „                     .....................  63 

vi 


PAGE 

Prestbury,  Cheshire          ...          ...          ...          ...          •••          •••          •••          •••  67 

Sandbach           „               °7 

Bromfield,          Shropshire            ...  7°,  72 
Craven  Arms            „ 
Culmington              „ 

Harton                       „                    ...          •••          •••          •••          •••          •••          •••  74 

Much  Wenlock                                          68>  69 


Fardisland,  Herefordshire            ...          ...          ...  80,  81 

Ledbury                 „                     76 

Ley                       „  75 

Orleton                   „                      79 

Pembridge               „                      77,  78 

IV. — GLOUCESTERSHIRE,    OXFORDSHIRE,    DERBYSHIRE,    AND  NORTH- 
AMPTONSHIRE         83 

WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF— 

Arlington,         Gloucestershire    ...          ...          ...          ...  10° 

Bibury                          „                96>  97 

Campden                      „                 92«  93 

Ebrington                    „                 ...          ...          ...  IO1 

Northleach                  „                99 


Sranton                         „                 ...          ...                                   ...  •••                9° 

Upper  Guiting            „                ...          ...          ...          ...  94 

Upper  Swell  „ 

Welford-on-Avon       „                ...  85,86,87,88,89,90 

Weston  sub-Edge       „                9°.  91 

VVillersey                     „                95 

Burford,  Oxfordshire      !°4 

Ducklington      „             ...         ...         ...          ...         ...  IO3 

Alport,  Derbyshire          no,  in,  112 

Bakewell         „                 •••      108,  109 

Haddon            „                107 

Taddington     „                 .........  113 

Youlgreave     „                 ......  HO 

Oundle,  Northamptonshiie         ...          ...  •••              105 

Rothwell              „                      106 

V. — WORCESTERSHIRE  AND  WARWICKSHIRE ...           115 

WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS    OF— 

Atch  Lench,  Worcestershire      ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  126 

Broadway                   „                  "/,  119.  I2O>  I21 

Chaddesley  Corbett  „                  118 

Cleeve  Prior  „  127 

vii 


PAGE 

Cropthorne,  Worcestershire        ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  125 

Ripple  M  ...  123 

Yardley  Wood          „  ......  124 

Alveston,  Warwickshire     ......          ...          ...          ...                       ...  137 

Charlecote  „  .....................  135 

Hampton-in-Arden       „  ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  130 

Hampton  Lucy  „  ......                     ...  138 

Hill  Wooton  „  ............                                   ...      132,  133 

Knowle  „  ..................  136 

Lapworth  „  ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  140 

Leek  Wooton  „  .....................      132,134 

Ludington  „  ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  13! 

Mill  Street  „  ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  129 

Shottery  „  ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  139 

Solihull  „  .....................  135 

Warwick  „  .....................  128 

VI.  —  DEVONSHIRE  AND  WEST  SOMERSETSHIRE       ............  141 

WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS    OF— 

Dawlish,  Devonshire      ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...      143,  144 

Thurlestone       „  ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  145 

Combe  Florey,  Somersetshire     ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  154 

Crowcombe  ,,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  152 

Dulverton  „  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  153 

Minehead  „  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  148,  149,  150 

Norton  Fitzwarren  „  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  146,156 

Selworthy  „  ..  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  147,  151 

Williton  „  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  155 

CONCLUSION       ........................  ...  I57 

ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    ARCHITECTURAL    AND    OTHER    DETAILS  :  - 

Casement  Fittings  ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...        58,  122 

Chimneys  ...  ...  15,  25,  50,  135,  148 

Door  Handles,  Knockers,  Latches  and  Lock  Plates      ...          ...          ...          ...      159,  .166 

Doorheads,  Doorways  and  Entrances      ...       16,  30,  32,  36,  47,  66,  72,  75,  96,  106,  108, 

no,  126,  132,  146,  151,  154,  156,  160,  162 
Exterior  Decoration        ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...     163,  165 

Fireplaces  and  Accessories         ...          27,  34,  42,  43,  48,  66,  86,  92,  98,  no,  161,  163 
Gardens  and  Trees         ......    18,  80,  81,  87,  89,  107,  120,  121,  124,  127,  135,  140 

Metal  Work         ...............       43,  58,  122,  159,  161,  163,  166,  167 

Stonework  ...........................      j6o,  165 

Windows  and  Glazing   ...............      15,19,30,128,160,163,164 


Wood  Brackets 


Vlll 


INTRODUCTION 


HOLLINGBOURNE,  KENT.    FROM  A  WATER-COLOUR  DRAWING  BY  MRS.  ALLINGHAM,  R.W.S. 

(By  Permission  of   Mrs.   Lionel   Beddington.) 


INTRODUCTION 


HERE  is  pn.  inch  a  natural 

part  of  the  English  lami 
such  a  direct  appeal  to  thu 
tion,  as  the  old  coin 
of  England, 
of  the  town,   in   th 
the    lonely     moor,    t\r. 
beautiful    witnesses    to 
ie     of    the     vi 

to     district 

the    wonder    grows    at  DMA]     tv}>i>,    and 

that  half  a  day's  journey   from    cottajr  lierc    arc    cottages    of 

thatch.     To  i   fully  the  of  these  changes 

to   realise    t  divide*1.  geological    provinces, 

'   their  inhabit  r  always  sprung  from  the  same  stock. 

ts  came  dir.  'uence  of  the    alien,  and  others 

;    of  the  tov  remote  parts  developed    in   the 

hood  of  the  •< 
liters    of    tli 
y  were  brought  into 
igain  probably  durinj: 
.or  the  guilds,  the  chi 
uality  and  charm  of  t 
.raftsmen, 

pment  of  a  the 

from  the  soil, 
-.e  are  constant. 
•  on   of   inspiration 
•nd.     Scholarship, 
-e  understood 
ile  to  conceive  of 
.  n  artist.     Content  to 
the  traditions  of  the   locality    in 
•    expression,  but 
•ban    his   fell< 
• 

.rried   t!. 
little  behind,  but  the  v 

uig    on    of  w! 

-e  before  them.  f  his  b 

;  workmanship,  using  th  that  were 

well,  sometimes  badly,  but 
itural    is  rhev   were 

(•ntiallv  :th  them  the  t> 

mcth'  heir 


INMOURNE,  KENT.    FROM  A 


HAM,  R.W.S. 


INTRODUCTION 

^ — -JZ>  HERE  is  probably  no  object  so  much  a  natural 
£      i  part  of  the  English  landscape,  nor  which  makes 

:  _         f  such  a  direct  appeal  to  the  heart  and  imagina- 

\^^S  tion,  as  the  old  country  cottage.     In  every  part 

of  England,  in  the  village  and  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  town,  in  the  hamlet  and  standing  on 
the  lonely  moor,  there  still  remain  these 
beautiful  witnesses  to  the  vitality,  freshness, 
and  pride  of  the  village  mason  and  car- 
penter. Passing  from  district  to  district 
the  wonder  grows  at  the  many  types,  and 

that  half  a  day's  journey  from  cottages  of  stone  there  are  cottages  of 
cob  and  thatch.  To  understand  fully  the  significance  of  these  changes 
one  has  to  realise  that  England  is  divided  into  geological  provinces, 
and  that  their  inhabitants  have  not  always  sprung  from  the  same  stock. 
Some  parts  came  directly  under  the  influence  of  the  alien,  and  others 
under  that  of  the  towns,  while  those  in  remote  parts  developed  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  church  and  the  manor. 

The  members  of  the  town  guilds  were  possibly  another  influence 
when  they  were  brought  into  contact  with  the  village  craftsmen  at  fair 
time,  and  again  probably  during  the  building  of  the  church  ;  but  neither 
the  towns  nor  the  guilds,  the  church  nor  the  alien,  are  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  individuality  and  charm  of  the  country  cottage.  The  appearance 
of  a  travelling  body  of  craftsmen,  if  there  were  such,  may  have  given 
an  impetus  to  the  development  of  a  district  or  particular  locality,  but  the 
real  permanent  and  abiding  influence  was  that  which  came  from  the  soil. 
The  configuration  of  the  land,  the  materials,  the  climate — these  are  constant. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  striking  illustration  of  inspiration 
through  the  soil  than  in  these  cottages  throughout  England.  Scholarship, 
learning,  and  a  knowledge  of  building  and  art,  in  the  sense  understood 
by  us  to-day,  are  seldom  seen,  and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive  of 
the  local  mason  or  carpenter  regarding  himself  as  an  artist.  Content  to 
carry  on  from  generation  to  generation  the  traditions  of  the  locality  in 
which  they  were  born,  work  varied  little  in  expression,  but  much  in 
detail.  The  craftsman  with  more  imagination  than  his  fellows  gave  a 
new  turn  to  the  mouldings,  finished  a  gable  with  a  finial  of  a  fresh 
pattern,  or  added  another  variety  of  walling  ;  one  carried  through  his 
work  a  little  in  advance,  and  one  remained  a  little  behind,  but  the  work 
as  a  whole  was  customary  and  usual,  and  the  following  on  of  what 
their  fathers  had  done  before  them.  Each  gave  of  his  best,  his  quota 
of  simple  and  direct  workmanship,  using  the  materials  that  were  to  hand, 
sometimes  wisely  and  well,  sometimes  badly,  but  always  inspired  with  a 
fancy  and  invention  as  natural  as  they  were  unconscious.  The  way  they 
built  and  the  way  we  build  are  essentially  different.  With  them  the  tendency 
was  to  add  gradually  new  methods  of  doing  things,  slowly  increasing  their 


store  of  ideas,  from  which  they  drew,  as  they  drew  water  from  the  well 
on  the  village  green.  The  source  of  inspiration  for  all  of  them  was  the 
same.  With  us  the  tendency  is  to  reduce  the  many  ways  to  as  few  as 
possible,  and  in  the  place  of  local  materials  to  substitute  a  manufactured 
one  that  can  be  applied  universally.  If  an  inventive  genius  like 
Mr.  Barrie's  sentimental  Tommy  "  finds  a  way  "  to  place  upon  the  markets 
of  the  world  a  material  that  fulfils  the  function  of  a  wall,  roof,  floor,  and 
foundation,  indeed  all  that  is  generally  required  in  a  modern  cottage,  he 
will  earn  the  gratitude  of  those  well-meaning  philanthropists  who  want 
"  cheap  "  cottages.  The  links  are  broken  in  the  old  building  traditions  of 
the  country  side,  not  merely  through  the  exodus  of  the  rural  population 
and  the  change  in  social  conditions,  but  by  the  almost  complete  abandonment 
of  the  old  conceptions  of  life  and  work.  The  cottages  of  the  past  were 
built  for  use  by  the  villager,  whereas  the  new  are  built  for  cheapness  and 
profit  or  by  philanthropists,  a  distinction  perhaps  without  a  great 
difference.  To  build  once  more  in  the  same  spirit  must  mean  a  return  to 
their  traditions,  the  reopening  of  local  quarries,  the  revival  and  encourage- 
ment of  local  industries,  methods  of  work,  pride  in  craftsmanship  and  the 
total  abolition  of  "  cheapness  "  as  a  standard  for  approval.  And  this  will 
come  to  pass  just  as  surely  as  the  day  follows  the  night  and  spring  the  winter, 
and  in  due  season  will  blossom  work  as  beautiful  as  that  done  by  the  men  who 
laid  stone  to  stone  on  the  Cotswold  Hills,  or  of  those  who  thatched  the 
barns  and  hayricks  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk.  No  aspect  of  English  building 
is  so  full  of  surprises  as  the  study  of  countryside  architecture.  One 
village  is  mediaeval  and  another  classic  in  spirit,  while  again  others  have 
the  characteristics  of  both.  At  one  side  of  a  county  are  cottages  of  brick, 
at  the  other,  of  stone  ;  galleting  in  Kent  differs  from  galleting  in  Surrey. 
Brick  walls  are  as  varied  in  bond  as  the  courses  of  the  masonry.  Neatness, 
order,  and  well-kept  hedges  and  gardens  in  one  district,  the  reverse  in  the 
next.  These  expressions,  local  and  particular,  noticeable  everywhere,  have 
given  to  our  villages  their  individual  stamp.  A  natural  conservatism 
and  narrowness  of  outlook,  an  absence  of  easy  means  of  communication 
between  districts  lying  apart,  have  helped  to  foster  and  encourage  the  local 
methods  of  work.  Alterations  and  new  fashions  in  detail  came  so  slowly, 
and  fresh  methods  of  building  once  perhaps  during  a  generation,  that  even 
in  the  districts  where  it  is  possible  to  trace  the  foreign  influence,  the  native 
workmen  have  moulded  afresh  the  ideas  of  the  foreigner,  adding  local 
character  in  the  course  of  transmutation.  In  the  treatment  of  surfaces  the 
villager  was  a  master.  "  What,"  says  the  late  J.  D.  Sedding,  "  was  roughish, 
tool-marked  freestone  in  the  old  building,  is  smooth,  machine-dressed  bath- 
stone  in  the  new.  What  was  built  of  many-tinted,  thin,  uneven-shaped 
bricks  in  the  old  place,  is  built  of  regular  shaped  and  of  hard,  monotonous 
colour  in  the  new  ;  what  was  of  coarse  plaster  in  the  old,  is  smooth, 
speckless  stucco  in  the  new.  What  was  rough-burnt  tile  or  hand-shaped 
timber,or  hand-cast  plaster, or  hand-wrought  iron  in  the  old,  is  machine-made, 
dead,  textureless  in  the  new."  The  use  of  contrasting  materials  was  common, 
sometimes  deliberately  adopted,  and  sometimes,  we  suspect,  owing  to  a 
limited  supply  of  a  material.  Comparatively  smooth  stone  was  introduced 

4 


into  rough  brick,  flint  intermingled  with  brick,  stones  projected  from  wall 
faces,  joints  were  galleted  and  geometrical  patterns  were  stamped  in  plaster, 
and  the  simpler  device  of  leaving  the  trowel  marks  or  dotting  with  marks, 
not  unlike  those  made  by  the  gouge  in  woodwork,  were  among  the 
methods  used  by  the  plasterer.  There  are  cottages  between  districts 
which  have  methods  common  to  both,  tile-hung  dwellings  with  stone  slates 
and  rough-cast  walls  jostling  those  of  stone. 

In  the  arrangement  of  materials,  whether  of  one  or  of  many,  the  village 
workman  displayed  a  happy  knack  of  doing  the  right  thing  in  the  right 
place,  but  in  putting  them  together  he  was  not  always  so  successful,  and 
seldom  satisfactory  from  the  sanitary  expert's  point  of  view.  The  rain  was 
allowed  to  drop  from  the  eaves  without  any  means  to  collect  it,  the  water 
to  sink  into  the  foundations,  and  walls  were  sometimes  badly  built  ;  but 
in  spite  of  these  drawbacks,  and  possibly  partly  owing  to  them,  the  appeal 
of  the  country  cottage  is  universal.  To  the  painter  they  are  a  subject  for 
the  brush  ;  to  the  pen-and-ink  artist,  a  study  in  black  and  white  ;  and  to 
the  architect,  a  temptation  to  crib.  The  old  cottage  appears  to  have 
always  exercised  an  uncanny  power  over  the  mind  of  the  painter,  for  there 
is  a  singular  unanimity  amongst  them  to  paint  it  in  a  state  of  collapse,  with 
pigs  in  the  foreground,  a  ragged  cottager  at  the  door,  and  sometimes  a 
ladder  leaning  against  it,  like  a  flying  buttress,  as  if  the  painter  felt  that 
without  this  support  it  would  never  stand  up  at  all.  Nor  is  it  only  to  the 
professional  person  that  they  appeal.  The  saying,  "  Love  in  a  cottage," 
still  has  its  significance  for  all  simple  and  homely  people,  and  in  the  last 
generation  our  fathers  and  mothers  regarded  the  cottage  as  the 
ideal  home ;  the  drawing-books  of  their  children  were  not  thought 
complete  without  an  example  of  "The  Country  Cottage "  set  before 
them  as  the  crowning  achievement  and  completion  of  their  education 
with  pencil  and  pen. 

The  plan  seems  to  have  had  an  origin  quite  distinct  from  that  of  the  circular 
hut.  At  first  it  was  merely  a  copy  of  the  simple  rectangular  structures 
erected  for  the  housing  of  the  oxen.  It  was  built  in  bays  to  accom- 
modate what  was  called  a  long  yoke  of  oxen,  that  is  four  abreast,  and 
the  bays  divided  by  two  pairs  of  bent  trees,  in  form  resembling  the  lancet- 
shaped  arches  of  a  Gothic  church,  and  placed  at  i6-feet  intervals.  These 
were  set  upon  the  ground,  united  at  their  apex  by  a  ridge  tree,  and  the 
framework  strengthened  by  two  tie-beams  and  four  wind  braces,  and 
fastened  together  by  wooden  pegs.  The  couples  or  trusses  were  usually 
known  as  "  forks,"  and  curved  for  the  object  of  giving  more  head  room.1 
There  is  a  cottage  at  Crudgington,  in  Shropshire,  in  which  the  main 
timbers  follow  the  principle  of  this  construction.  The  angle  posts  at  the 
corners  of  the  gable  ends  spring  from  the  ground  and  curve  more  or  less 
towards  the  ridge,  and  at  the  eaves'  level  the  timbers  correspond  to  the 
cross-piece  in  the  construction  of  the  old  barn  ;  the  rest  of  the  timbering 
fills  in  the  space  between  in  the  usual  way.  During  the  first  stages  of 
cottage  building  this  was  undoubtedly  the  architectural  unit,  the  length  of 

1  "  Evolution  of  the  English  House,"  by  Sidney  O.  Addy,  M.A. 


the  dwelling  determined  by  the  number  of  bays  or  half  bays  and  the  rooms 
required.  In  a  later  development  it  was  increased  in  width  by  the 
addition  of  outshoots  at  the  side,  like  the  transept  of  a  church,  much  in 
the  same  manner  that  the  outhouses  are  tacked  on  to  a  modern  dwelling. 
In  this  simple  fashion  developed  the  plan  of  the  ancient  cottage,  any 
variations  of  it  arising  from  some  special  requirements.  Although  this 
plan  persisted  for  so  many  generations,  modifications  crept  in  owing  to  the 
nature  of  the  materials.  The  cob  walls  of  a  Somersetshire  or  Devonshire 
cottage  were  nearly  always  built  with  rounded  angles,  and  in  instances 
which  have  come  directly  under  the  observation  of  the  writer,  cottages  at 
the  corners  of  two  roads  were  planned  to  follow  semi-circular  lines.  Of 
this  influence  of  material  upon  the  form  the  general  appearance  of  the 
cottages  in  other  districts  afford  examples.  For  instance,  when  stone  slabs 
of  a  large  size  were  used  for  covering  the  roof,  the  pitch  was  flat,  as  at 
Horsham  and  the  surrounding  neighbourhood,  and  in  other  parts  the 
pitch  of  the  roof  for  tiles  was  something  between  thatch  and  the  heavy 
stone  roofs.  Returning  once  more  to  the  plan,  a  comparison  of  districts 
tends  to  show  that  originally  all  were  based  on  the  same  simple  parallelo- 
gram, with  or  without  outshoots  on  one  side,  or  by  the  addition  of  other 
bays  when  more  accommodation  was  required.  In  some  cases  the  cottages 
were  only  one  bay,  that  is  sixteen  feet,  with  perhaps  an  outshoot  on  one 
side  and  the  oven  projecting  beyond.  In  a  Surrey  cottage  showing 
additions  to  the  old  portion,  the  original  structure  measures  exactly  sixteen 
feet,  but  in  the  new  part  the  principle  of  the  "  bay  "  was  not  observed. 
Occasionally  the  additions  were  made  on  the  long  side,  and  the  roof 
continued  down  over  the  new  part.  As  long  as  the  cottage  was  built  with 
"  forks "  as  couples  and  wattle  and  daub  as  filling-in,  it  was  not  unreasonable 
to  expect  a  more  or  less  close  adherence  to  the  architectural  unit  ;  but  it 
appears  to  have  been  followed  when  the  construction  was  of  stone.  Many 
of  the  Cotswold  plans  are  either  multiples  of  the  "  bay  "  (sixteen  feet)  or 
the  "half  bay"  (eight  feet).  This  may  be  a  coincidence,  but  the 
survival  in  one  material  of  the  old  method  formerly  used  in  another  has 
often  been  noticed  by  writers  on  architecture.  The  width  of  the  cottages 
in  both  Surrey  and  Gloucestershire  was  generally  from  sixteen  to  eighteen 
feet.  Another  example  of  the  influence  of  material  upon  planning  is  the 
position  of  the  fireplace  and  oven.  In  cottages  of  wood  construction  and 
plaster  filling-in  they  were  nearly  always  kept  on  the  outside  walls,  and  were 
of  great  bulk,  while  in  the  stone  examples  this  was  only  done  to  a  limited 
extent,  the  fireplace  in  many  instances,  probably  the  majority,  being  built 
inside  the  main  structure.  Wherever  the  fireplace  is  placed  on  the  cross 
walls,  the  stairs  almost  invariably  adjoin  it,  the  limited  space  necessitating 
winders  both  at  the  beginning  and  the  end.  The  fireplace  and  chimney- 
stack  were  often  preserved  when  all  else  had  been  pulled  down.  In  Kent,  for 
instance,  chimney  stacks  are  frequently  built  in  English  bond,  the  rest  having 
been  rebuilt  in  Flemish.  As  a  general  rule  in  the  early  cottages  the  bricks 
are  laid  English  bond,  while  Flemish  is  adopted  in  those  of  a  later  date. 
Although  the  plan  remains  much  the  same  all  over  England,  except  for 
such  relatively  unimportant  points  as  have  been  noted,  the  difference  in  the 
6 


types  of  buildings  is  remarkable.  A  comparison  of  a  Cotswold  and  a  Somer- 
setshire cottage  shows  how  the  material  has  affected  the  result.  Nor  is 
there  so  much  variety,  skill,  and  thought  in  the  Southern  as  in  the  Northern 
examples.  The  neatness  and  order  found  in  Gloucestershire,  and  the  care 
in  thatching,  are  missing  in  the  Somersetshire  and  Devonshire  cottages. 
There  is  a  want  of  tidiness  in  the  methods  of  the  latter.  A  hard-and-fast 
classification  of  these  types  is  unnecessary — and,  indeed,  would  be  difficult 
to  arrange  satisfactorily — but  certain  counties  may  be  grouped  and  localised 
by  the  materials  commonly  used  in  the  neighbourhood.  In  Suffolk  and 
Norfolk  flint  and  brick  walls  and  pantiles  are  the  chief  materials  for  cottages, 
while  the  long  barns  characteristic  of  this  part  are  of  tarred  weather- 
boarding,  with  wonderful  steep-pitched  thatched  roofs.  Somersetshire  and 
Devonshire  build  cob  and  slatey  stone  walls,  plastered  and  whitewashed, 
and  roofed  with  thatch.  Half-timber  and  brick,  brick  and  plaster  walls, 
with  tiles  and  thatched  roofs,  were  general  in  Warwickshire  and  Worcester- 
shire ;  and  in  Kent,  Sussex,  and  Surrey  brick  and  timber,  plaster,  weather- 
boarding  and  weather-tiling  were  used  for  the  walls,  and  tiles  for  the  roofs. 
Gloucestershire  and  Oxfordshire  depended  chiefly  on  stone ;  and  Cheshire, 
Shropshire,  and  Herefordshire,  like  the  Midland  counties,  used  half-timber 
and  brick,  and  brick  and  plaster  for  the  walls,  and  stone  slates  for  the  roofs 
in  Cheshire,  and  tiles  in  the  other  two  counties.  Derbyshire  used  stone, 
like  the  Cotswold  district. 

Some  of  the  most  interesting  villages  are  more  or  less  characteristic  of  two 
districts.  Mickleton,  in  Gloucestershire,  although  some  little  distance  south, 
after  the  Warwickshire  border  has  been  crossed,  supplies  an  instance  of 
this  mingling  of  two  types.  There  are  cottages  of  whitewashed  brick,  that 
have  thatched  roofs,  walls  of  rough-cast  with  stone  slate  roofs  and  dormers, 
arranged  like  those  in  Warwickshire  ;  cottages  of  brick  and  timber,  the 
brick  whitewashed,  and  the  whole  erected  on  a  stone  base  covered  with 
stone  slate  roofs,  and  others  of  brick  and  timber  with  thatched  roofs.  The 
mixture  of  brick  and  stone  is  common.  The  workmanship  in  the  masonry 
is  as  careful,  and  the  reverse,  as  in  more  typical  Gloucestershire  villages  ; 
in  some  cases  it  is  coursed  and  in  others  partly  coursed  and  partly  irregular. 
In  the  same  village  there  are  the  characteristic  stepped  brick  verges  usual 
in  Warwickshire  and  Worcestershire.  Ebrington,  two  or  three  miles  to 
the  east  of  Chipping  Campden,  in  the  district  of  stone  walls,  mullioned 
windows,  and  stone  slates,  is  a  village  of  cottages  built  of  stone  walls,  very 
few  mullioned  windows,  with  roofs  of  thatch,  a  few  only  being  of  stone. 
While  Mickleton  is  well  within  the  borders  of  Gloucestershire,  and 
Ebrington  is  close  to  thfe  finest  examples  of  stone  cottages,  Broadway, 
in  Worcestershire,  is  almost  entirely  characteristic  of  the  Gloucestershire 
type.  At  Welford-on-Avon,  in  Gloucestershire,  and  close  to  the  boundaries 
of  Warwickshire,  the  cottages  are  more  characteristic  of  the  last-named 
county.  They  have  the  same  frieze-like  scheme  of  walling  over  the 
ground-floor  windows,  obtained  by  the  sills  of  the  dormers  ranging  with 
the  eaves.  This  is  a  strongly-marked  feature  of  Warwickshire,  and  it  is 
also  found  in  the  borderland  cottages,  while  the  tradition  survives  in  stone 
in  some  of  the  Cotswold  villages. 


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DIVISION    I 


KENT,    SUSSEX,    SURREY, 
HAMPSHIRE 


I.— KENT,  SUSSEX,  SURREY,  AND 

HAMPSHIRE 

ENT,  Sussex,  and  Surrey  are  three  of  the  most 
delightful  counties  in  England,  and  three  of  the 
richest  in  cottages  that  depend  for  their  dis- 
tinctive character  upon  the  effective  use  of 
three,  four,  and  even  five  materials.  A  certain 
number  of  them  are  on  somewhat  similar  lines 
to  those  in  Shropshire  and  Herefordshire ;  but 
it  is  proposed  here  to  consider  more  especially 
the  examples  of  brick  and  timber,  weather- 
boarding,  tile -hanging,  and  tile  roofs  in  West 
Kent  and  Surrey  ;  those  roofed  with  stone  at 
Horsham  and  the  surrounding  neighbourhood  ;  those  of  stone  roofed  with 
thatch,  found  in  Sussex  ;  those  of  flint  and  stone  roofed  with  tile,  to  the 
east  of  Kent ;  and 
some  of  those  in 
Hampshire  with  tile- 
hanging  and  tile 
roofs.  Roughly  and 
briefly,  the  general 
character  of  the  early 
ones  is  mediaeval  both 
in  construction  and 
feeling,  while  that  of 
those  later  in  date  is 
classic  in  spirit,  re- 
taining much  the 
same  method  of  con- 
struction and  work- 
manship. This  classic 
—or,  to  be  more  ac- 
curate, Georgian  — 
spirit  which  pervades 
so  many  of  them 
asserts  itself  in  the 
proportions,  the  un- 
broken eaves,  the 
absence  of  dormers, 
and  the  subordination 
of  the  gables  that 
generally  break  out 
of  the  roof  at  a  low 
level,  leaving  the 
main  roof  uninter- 
rupted between  the  TONBRIDGE,  KENT 

1 1 


large  chimneys  flanking  the  gable  ends,  or  divided  by  one  large  stack  in 
the  middle.  At  Hollingbourne  (see  frontispiece)  and  at  Witley  (opposite 
page  38)  is  seen  this  horizontal  character,  and  also  in  the  cottage  at 
Penshurst  (page  20)  and  those  in  the  foreground  of  the  drawing  of 
Goudhurst  (page  17).  A  comparison  of  the  roof  coverings  in  these 
counties  with  those  of  the  Cotswold  district  shows  what  great  differences 
may  arise  in  the  use  of  two  dissimilar  materials.  In  the  Cotswold  we  have 
narrow  spans,  steep  stone-slated  roofs,  with  an  almost  universal  gable  treat- 
ment ;  in  the  above  counties  wider  spans  and  a  general  tendency, 
particularly  in  later  work,  to  lower-pitched  roofs,  hipped  at  both  ends. 
The  only  district  where  stone-slated  roofs  were  hipped  was  in  the  heart  of 
the  tile  counties.  Here  there  are  a  number,  the  builders  merely  following 
the  tradition  of  tile-roofing.  In  one  example  near  Crawley,  North  Sussex, 
(page  35),  and  in  another  just  over  the  border,  at  Chiddingfold,  Surrey 
(page  37),  the  hipped  ends  have  the  same  little  gablets  that  occur  in  so 
many  of  the  Surrey  cottages,  and  less  often  in  Kent  and  Hampshire.  These 
grew  out  of  the  manner  of  constructing  the  hipped  ends.  As  no  ridge-board 
was  used,  "  it  was  therefore  obviously  inconvenient  to  run  the  hip-rafters 
together  to  a  point,  and  they  were  therefore  run  each  to  about  nine  inches 
below  the  junction  of  the  pair  of  rafters.  This  of  course  caused  the  little 
gablet,"1  and  gave  a  piquant  effect  to  the  ends,  as  seen  in  the  drawings 

1  "Old  Cottage  and  Domestic  Architecture,  South-West  Surrey,"  Ralph  Nevill,  F.S.A.,  F.R.I.B.A. 


BIDDENDEN,    KENT 
12 


CRANBROOK,    KENT 


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facing  page  40.  It  is  worth  noticing,  as 
an  illustration  of  the  conservatism  of  these 
cottage  builders  and  their  tenacity  in 
keeping  to  the  old  ways,  that  the  form 
of  roof  adopted  to  take  the  chief  roofing 
material  of  a  district  was  followed  when 
a  sudden  change  in  the  geological  forma- 
tion of  the  county  compelled  them  to 
use  another.  For  instance,  when  heavy 
stone  slabs  were  used  for  the  roof  in  the 
middle  of  a  tile  district  the  hipped  ends 
were  retained,  although  the  pitch  of  the 
roof  was  made  flatter,  as  in  the  cottage 
illustrated  on  page  35.  Or,  again,  if 
thatch  was  used  in  Sussex,  the  tile  roof  of 
hipped  form  still  persisted  (see  drawing 
on  page  31);  and  in  the  Cotswold  district, 
if  thatch  took  the  place  of  stone  slates, 
the  roofs  were  gabled,  as  in  the  cottage 


CANTERBURY,  KENT 


UPPER  DEAL,  KENT 

illustrated  on  page  85  ;  even 
the  stone-coped  gables  were 
retained  in  some  cases  with 
the  thatched  roof. 
There  is  a  rather  picturesque 
method  of  treating  the  walls 
in  Surrey.  Small  pieces  of 
ironstone  are  inserted  in  the 
joints  of  the  brickwork  ;  if  a 
stone  wall  and  the  blocks  do 
not  hold  up  to  the  corners, 
these  are  also  filled  in  as  well 
as  the  joints  :  this  forms  a 
kind  of  mosaic  and  gives 
colour  and  variety  to  the  wall. 
In  Kent  another  method  is 
adopted  for  the  coursed  rag 

15 


masonry  ;  in  this  case  small  pieces  of  flint  are  placed  in  the  joints 
close  together  and  in  a  sloping  direction,  giving  an  effect  like  a 
conventional  rope  pattern.  The  use  of  brick  in  these  counties  varies  con- 
siderably. The  chimneys  of  the  cottage  at  Penshurst,  in  Kent  (page  21), 
show  two  or  three  methods.  For  instance,  the  set-offs  of  the  buttresses  are 
obtained  by  laying  the  bricks  at  right  angles  to  the  slopes,  and  just  under 
the  base  they  are  laid  on  the  flat.  This  chimney,  flanking  the  side  wall  of 
the  cottage,  with  the  lower  part  of  stone  and  brick,  and  above  the 
base  all  in  brick,  is  a  charming  example  of  a  well-proportioned  Kent 
chimney.  The  whole  cottage  shows  an  exceptional  and  effective  use  of  brick 
and  timber,  plaster  and  tiles  and  weather-boarding  in  the  gable  end.  These 
chimney  shafts  throughout  this  county  are  of  extraordinary  beauty  and 
proportions.  Every  village,  one  might  say  almost  every  cottage,  shows 
some  individuality,  either  in  the  plan  of  the  flues  or  in  the  oversailing  of 
the  brick  caps  ;  and  yet  withal  it  is  impossible  to  mistake  a  Kent  chimney 
for  one  of  any  other  district.  Near  Newenden  (page  25),  the  panels  are 
plastered  between  the  end  pilasters ;  and  occasionally  the  contrast  between 
the  plaster  and  brick  is 
reversed,  the  piers  being 
plastered  and  the  panels 
of  brick.  The  cap  is 
formed  by  two  slightly 
projecting  courses  of 
brick,  one  beyond  the 
other,  two  more  courses 
above  to  form  another 
set-off,  and  a  necking 
two  or  three  courses 
below.  At  Petworth, 
in  Sussex  (page  25),  the 
long  sides  are  broken 
by  the  projecting  withes 
of  brickwork  that  pro- 
bably divide  the  flue, 
and  the  cornice  is  car- 
ried round  it,  formed, 
in  the  way  already  de- 
scribed, by  courses  of 
brick.  Byworth,  in 
Sussex  (page  25),  is 
another  interesting  ex- 
ample, much  the  same, 
only  with  two  project- 
ing withes  close  to- 
gether, and  the  top 
courses  forming  the  cap 
of  another  profile.  At 
Northiam,  to  the  east  of 
16 


GOUDHURST,    KENT 


GOUDHURST,    KENT 
'7 


GOUDHURST,    KENT 

18 


Sussex  and  on  the  borders  ot  Kent  (page  25),  the  plan  of  the  stack 
is  again  somewhat  different,  the  cornice  is  without  necking  and  the 
arrangement  of  the  set-offs  changed.  A  rather  unusual  type  occurs 
at  Sandhurst  Green  (page  25),  in  Kent;  four  octagon-shaped  shafts  rise 
from  a  square  base  with  a  space  between  each.  Most  of  them  rise 

out  of  the  roof  without  any  base 
except  for  the  projecting  course, 
forming  a  kind  of  drip  above  the 
tiles.  The  width  of  these  chimneys 
does  not  alter  very  much,  the  great 
majority  being  i  foot  10^  inches, 
that  is  two-and-a-half  bricks,  and 
occasionally  three  bricks  wide. 
It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that 
the  brickwork  in  the  earlier  cottages 
is  of  English  bond,  and  of  Flemish  in 
the  later  examples.  The  number 
of  courses  in  a  given  height  is  also 
different,  the  former  taking  five 
courses  to  eleven-and-a-half  inches, 
and  the  latter  four  or  thereabouts  ; 
the  joints,  too,  in  English  bond  are 


wider;  and  in  Flemish  bond  flared 
headers  are  almost  invariably  used. 
Another  method  of  bricklaying  is 
to  place  the  bricks  on  end,  with 
stretchers  also  placed  on  end,  but 


WOOD    BRACKETS    IN    KENT 

parallel  instead  of  at  right 
angles  to  the  wall  face,  the 
courses  then  being  4^  inches 
deep  instead  of  2^  inches. 
Between  half-  timber  work 
they  are  laid  in  courses  or 
stretchers  or  herring  -  bone 
fashion.  In  other  walls  the 
bricks  are  occasionally  laid 
one  header  to  three  stretchers, 
and  in  Sussex,  in  the  stone 
district,  bands  of  stone  are 


WINDOW  IN  WOOD  AND  PLASTER 
CANTERBURY,  KENT 


sometimes  introduced  in  brick  walls  of  English  bond.  Brick  dentil 
courses,  the  dentil  the  width  of  a  header,  are  common  in  Sussex,  under 
the  tile-hanging  of  the  first  floor,  and  dentils  the  width  of  a  small  closer, 
with  the  same  space  between,  were  noticed  at  Chiddingfold,  Surrey. 
The  cottage  near  Crawley,  in  Sussex  (page  35),  close  to  the  borders  of 
Surrey,  is  a  typical  example  of  the  curious  mixture  of  stone-slate  roofs,  tile- 
hung  first  storey,  with  timber  and  brick  on  the  ground  floor.  Hipped  at 
one  end  like  a  tile  roof  and  gabled  on  the  return,  which  juts  out  at  the  further 
side  in  a  picturesque  fashion,  it  illustrates  one  of  those  rare  examples  of 
ornamental  and  plain  tiling  used  successfully.  The  iron  stays  supporting 
the  gutter  are  brought  in  most  effectively.  Altogether,  this  is  a  charming 
cottage,  charmingly  drawn.  At  Goudhurst,  probably  the  most  beautiful 
village  in  Kent  (pages  16  and  17),  some  of  the  cottages  have  a  distinctly 
Georgian  feeling,  while  others  are  of  an  earlier  type.  In  the  foreground 
of  the  larger  drawing  the  open  wooden  loggia  on  the  right  shows  a  favourite 
way  of  treating  a  shop.  In  the  middle  distance  are  examples  of  weather- 
boarded  cottages  ;  and  up  the  street,  at  the  far  end,  tile-hung  fronts. 
Another  characteristic  village  is  Cranbrook  (page  13),  and  the  cottage 
(page  14)  shows  a  combination  of  wood  and  brick  and  wood  and  plaster, 
with  pierced  and  carved  barge  boards  on  the  overhanging  gable  ends  ;  in 
the  later  examples  these  are  often  placed  directly  on  the  wall  face,  as  at 
Wilsley  House  (opposite  page  9),  a  good  type  of  the  half-timber  dwellings 
in  and  around  this  village.  Most  of  the  early  cottages  are  of  timber 
framing  and  plaster.  The  timber,  in  nearly  every  case,  is  of  oak,  and 


PENSHURST,    KENT 
20 


PENSHURST,    KENT 
21 


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"  the  panel  is  formed  by  fixing  upright  hazel  rods  in  grooves  cut  in  top 
and  bottom,  and  by  then  twisting  thinner  hazel  wands  hurdlewise  round 
them.  The  panel  is  then  rilled  up  solid  with  a  plaster  of  marly  clay  and 
chopped  straw,  and  finished  with  a  thin  coat  of  lime  plaster."1 
One  of  the  features  of  the  Surrey  cottage,  indeed  of  all  those  counties  where 
tile  was  the  principal  roofing  material,  is  the  skill  with  which  the  tiling  is 
adapted  to  its  purpose.  It  covers  the  slopes  of  the  buttresses  and  the 
gathering  in  of  the  big  chimneys;  it  covers  the  roof  and  first-floor  walls, 
works  round  the  valleys  and  hips,  and  while  never  attaining  to  the  freedom 
of  Continental  work  of  the  same  kind,  suggests  the  possibilities  of  further 
development  in  its  use.  This  art  of  covering  surfaces  with  tiles  was 
thoroughly  understood  by  these  cottage  builders.  They  also  used  tiles  in 
the  cornices  of  the  chimneys,  introduced  them  into  stone  walling  to  make 
good,  and  sometimes  covered  their  brick  copings.  The  cottages  at  Witley 

(page  38)  and  those  at  the  entrance  to  Guildford  Castle  (page  37),  both 
in  Surrey,  show  the  usual  use  of  this  material,  the  first-floor  storey  of  the 
gableend  in  theexample 

at     Witley     projecting 

over    the    bay    on    the 

ground   floor.      In   the 

tile-hanging,  the  lifting 

forward    of   the    lower 

courses  was  assisted  by 

projecting   a  course  of 

brick    about    an    inch- 

and-a-half,  the  edge  of 

the  lowest  and   double 

course     covering     part 

of  the   brickwork   that 

jutted  out. 

At  Goudhurst   this 

outward    curve    is    ex- 
aggerated into  a  hood 

extending     the     whole 

length  of  a  row  of  cot- 
tages,   projecting     two 

feet  from  the  wall  faces 

and  supported  by  wood 

brackets  placed  at  regu- 
lar intervals  to  take  the 

plate  and    ends  of   the 

tiling.     At  Haslemere, 

in     Surrey,    the    soffit 

of   a    similar     arrange- 
ment takes  the  form  of 


1  "  Old  Cottage  and  Domestic 
Architecture,  S.-W.  Surrey,"  R. 
Nevill,  F.S.A.,  F.R.I.B.A. 


SANDWICH,    KENT 
23 


SANDWICH,    KENT 
24 


a  cove,  the  tiling  being  very  cunningly  hipped  at  the  ends  and  joined 
up  with  the  lean-to  roof.  At  Tuesley,  in  Surrey,  the  same  thing  occurs 
without  the  plaster  cove,  the  brackets  jutting  out  like  struts.  Cottages 
where  weather-boarding  takes  the  place  of  tile-hanging,  or  hides  the 
timbers  and  plaster  of  older  fronts,  are  often  covered  with  it  entirely, 
with  the  exception  of  the  base.  When  the  lower  edge  of  the  boarding 
is  left  square,  about  five  inches  show  with  three-quarters  of  an  inch 
projection  beyond  the  one  below.  It  is  stopped  at  each  end  by  small 
strips  the  whole  height  of  the  building,  the  narrow  width  facing  out- 
wards. The  finish  at  the  brick  base  or  at  the  first-floor  level  is  flat, 
and  not  tilted  outwards  as  in  tile-hanging.  Sometimes  the  boarding 
has  an  ovolo  on  the  bottom  edge  ;  the  vertical  joints  are  over  one  another 
in  many  cases,  but  generally  come  in  the  most  haphazard  fashion.  In 
the  timber  and  brick  and  timber  and  plaster  fronts,  the  sizes  of  the 
timbers  do  not  appear  to  keep  to  any  particular  scantling,  the  intermediate 
and  the  horizontal  pieces  often  being  of  comparatively  small  dimensions 

and  varying  from  4^ 
ins.  to  6  ins.,  and  when 
less  it  appears  as  if  the 
carpenter  had  deliber- 
ately placed  them  on 
the  flat,  with  the 
narrow  width  of  the 
timber  exposed.  The 
corner  posts  are  from 
9  ins.  to  12  ins.,  and 
the  braces  larger.  In 
one  instance  a  careful 
afterthought  was 
noticed.  On  the  first 
floor  the  curved  braces 
springing  from  the  cill 
beam  to  the  outside 
parts  were  tenoned  and 
pinned  direct  into  the 
upright,  while  on  the 
floor  above  a  splayed 
piece  or  thickening 
out  near  the  top  of 
the  corner  post  was 
introduced  to  give  an 
additional  thickness 
and  strength  where  it 
received  the  curved 
brace. 

Another  use  of  tile, 
particularly  noticeable 
in  parts  of  Surrey  and 

25 


"•  I 


h 
z 


K 
U 


Q 
Z 


26 


Kent,  is  found  in  the  copings  and  cornices  of  brick,  where  a  fillet  of  one  or  two 
tiles  is  introduced  to  form  a  member.  An  instance  of  this  occurs  at  Wingham 
in  Kent,  at  Godalming  and  Farnham  in  Surrey,  and  at  Sandwich  in  Kent 
(pages  23  and  24).  In  this  last  county  generally  there  are  some  interesting 
examples  of  brick  and  stone  treatment.  Evidently  inspired  by  Dutch 
methods,  they  yet  show  an  unmistakable  English  character  in  their  direct 
and  simple  construction  and  good  decorative  effects.  The  fronts  of  the 
buildings  are  panelled  out  in  brick,  and  the  panels  formed  by  the  projecting 
strips  or  pilasters  of  the  same  material.  These  projections  vary  from  i  in. 
to  ii  in.,  and  in  some  cases  2^  ins.  Simple  geometrical  patterns,  such 
as  squares  and  circles,  connected  by  strips  with  bands  above  and  below, 
toothed  strips,  and  dressings  of  brickwork  to  the  windows  projecting  in 
the  same  way,  diamond  and  elliptical  shapes  raised  on  brick  courses,  and 
brick  corbel  courses,  are  all  characteristics  of  this  work.  In  the  cornices  of 
a  few  of  the  chimneys  a  member  is  sometimes  formed  of  two  or  three 
bricks  in  depth.  Another  simple  way  of  using  brick  is  on  the  coped  gables. 
A  course  of  brick  is  carried  beyond  the  face  of  the  wall  below,  then  come 
two  bricks  leaning  towards  each  other,  these  being  finished  with  others 
laid  longways  on.  In  Surrey  and  Kent  the  mediaeval  spirit  continues  more 
in  construction  than  in  the  general  form.  The  feeling  for  horizontal  lines 
is  noticed,  for  the  cornice  running  from  end  to  end  of  the  unbroken  eaves  of 
even  the  simplest  work  soon  became  dominant  after  the  early  decades  of  the 


LITTLE    DIXTER,    NORTHIAM,    SUSSEX 

27 


Renaissance.  Hawkhurst,  in  Kent,  and  the  Cockshot  cottages  between  the 
same  village  and  Highgate,  in  Kent,  both  illustrate  this  tendency ;  and 
frequently  in  these  cases  where  gables  occur,  the  horizontal  feeling  is 
retained  by  the  line  and  shadow  caused  by  the  projection  of  the  gable 
beyond  the  face  of  the  work  beneath.  Probably  one  of  the  reasons  for 
the  classic  character  of  these  cottages  was  due  to  their  being  near  London 
and  the  larger  towns  that  came  more  directly  under  the  influence  of  the 
Renaissance  revival.  It  is  possible  that  the  examples,  and  they  are  many, 
which  have  projecting  wings  at  either  end  and  a  recessed  hall,  are  a  develop- 
ment of  the  classic  tradition.  It  is  a  usual  form  with  the  old  farm-houses 
in  these  districts.  There  is  one  at  Compton,  in  Surrey,  and  at  Goudhurst,  in 
Kent.  In  Surrey  it  is  tile-hung,  and  in  Kent  timber  and  plaster  are  used  on 
the  ground  and  first  floors.  In  the  details  of  the  woodwork  and  in  some  of 
the  metal  fittings  there  is  a  curious  mingling  of  classic  detail  with  mediaeval 
peculiarities  ot  construction  and  methods  of  working.  The  doorway  at 
the  Post  Office,  Wickhambreaux,  is  constructed  on  mediaeval  principles, 
the  jambs  are  chamfered,  and  the  mouldings  cut  out  of  the  solid  ;  but, 
instead  of  stopping  on  a  splayed  rail,  they  return  all  round  the  panel. 


BYWORTH,    SUSSEX 

28 


;  - 


BYWORTH,    SUSSEX 
29 


The  scroll-work  too  in  the 
tympanum  is  of  Classic 
character.  Or  take  again 
the  barge  board  at  Wing- 
ham,  Kent  ;  it  is  essen- 
tially Gothic  in  its  pierced 
work,  but  the  moulding 
under  the  tiles  has  a  hint 
of  Classic  feeling  ;  and  so 
also  has  the  window  head 
of  the  bay  windows  at 
Canterbury  (pages  1 5  and 
19).  In  the  stairs  at  Stone- 
hurst,  Surrey,  there  is  also 
this  combination  of  Classic 
mouldings  with  Gothic 
construction  and  ornament. 
The  mouldings  of  the  newels  and 


FITTLEWORTH,    SUSSEX 


RYE,    SUSSEX 

3° 


balusters  are  classic,  while  the  construc- 
tion of  the  staircase  is  mediaeval  as 
well  as  the  powdering  of  the  surface 
with  stamps  of  varying  forms.  A 
characteristic  of  these  old  timber  and 
plaster  cottages  is  the  plastering  being 
flush  with  the  timber. 
The  metalwork  in  these  counties  is 
of  exceptionally  fine  character,  and 
most  of  it  is  simply  the  shaping  ot 
the  material  into  forms  suitable  for 
the  purpose  they  have  to  fulfil  ;  so, 
one  might  say,  is  the  iron  saucepan 
and  the  metal  teapot  produced  to-day  ; 
but  the  early  work  happens  to  be 
both  simple  and  beautiful,  whereas 
the  later  is  merely  simple,  common- 
place and  vulgar.  Take  any  one  ot 
the  objects  of  metalwork  of  the 
interior  at  Weston-Patrick,  in  Hamp- 
shire (page  43).  The  copper  pot 
with  its  iron  handle,  the  wooden 
coffee  mill,  the  copper  saucepan  or 
the  simple  fire-dogs  —  every  one  is 
beautifully  shaped,  with  special  atten- 
tion given  to  the  purpose  for  which  it 
is  intended,  and  the  demands  of  neces- 
sity and  construction  ;  such  as  the 
method  of  relieving  the  strain  on  the 
handle  of  the  copper  saucepan  where 
it  joins  the  side  of  the  pan,  or  the 


k 

A, 


FITTLEWORTH,    SUSSEX 
31 


dainty  scroll  at  the  end  of  the  semi-circular  handle  that  hooks  through 
the  eye  attached  to  the  copper  pot,  the  shaping  of  the  feet  of  the 
fire-dog,  or  again  the  single  shaped  rod  of  the  interior  (page  42), 
on  which  the  curtain  is  drawn.  Another  interior  of  a  cottage  near 
Northiam,  in  Sussex  (page  34),  shows  the  ingle  from  the  inside  of  the 
hearth.  It  gives  a  good  general  notion  of  its  ample  dimensions,  with 
the  oven  doors  and  the  corbelling  over  of  the  flue  ;  the  arched  flying 
buttress  in  wood  was  evidently  introduced  to  reduce  the  strain  on  the 
corbelling,  an  arrangement  arising  out  of  the  old  canopy  of  wood  and 
plaster  framework  resting  upon  the  chamber  floor,  and  probably  the 
origin  of  the  stone  chimney  pieces  of  the  large  manor-houses.  There 
is  a  large  oak  beam  spanning  the  opening,  a  raised  hearth  in  the  middle, 
and  a  fireback. 

Round  about  Maldon,  and  other  parts  of  Essex,  and  indeed  in  many  quite  out- 
of-the-way  districts,  it  is  surprising  how  much  really  beautiful  and  refined 
detail  there  is  to  be  found  in  the  doors,  windows  and  circular  bow-windows 
of  the  village  shops.  Over 
and  over  again  it  strikes  one 
what  remarkably  able  crafts- 
men there  were  in  these 
villages  up  to  quite  recent 
years,  for  the  work  is  very 
late,  and  has  often  an  Adams 
feeling  in  it,  although  in  no 
way  as  elaborate  in  character. 
Pents  with  dainty  and  simple 
strap  work  on  the  soffits  of 
wood,  delicate  reeding,  and 
wonderfully  refined  contours 
to  mouldings  and  modillions 
are  commonplaces,  and  must 
have  been  executed  long 
after  the  introduction  of 
machinery  for  building  pur- 
poses. Surrey  and  also  Kent 
are  full  of  this  work.  In 
Devonshire  and  Staffordshire, 
districts  as  far  apart  as  these, 
is  seen  this  type  of  refined 
and  elegant  detail,  difficult 
to  associate  with  the  village 
and  small  town.  It  is  simi- 
lar in  character  to  many  of 
the  old  shop  fronts  still 
existing  in  different  parts  of 
London,  and  to  the  entrance 
doors  of  the  houses  in  the 
squares  about  Bloomsbury. 

32 


PETWORTH,    SUSSEX 


PETWORTH,    SUSSEX 

33 


NORTHIAM,    SUSSEX 
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DETAILS    OF    FIREPLACE    ACCESSORIES    AT    WESTON-PATRICK,    HAMPSHIRE 

43 


DIVISION    II. 


SUFFOLK  AND  NORFOLK 


II.  -SUFFOLK    AND    NORFOLK 


HE  re-introduction  of  brickwork  in  England,"  says  Mr. 
Reginald  Blomfield,  "  was  probably  due  to  two  causes — 
first,  to  the  scarcity  of  building  stones  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, and  secondly  to  the  large  immigration  of  Flemings 
into  the  Eastern  Counties."  It  is  therefore  singular 
that  so  few  examples  of  cottages  on  the  east  coast  of 
Suffolk  and  Norfolk  show  the  same  wonderful  skill  in 
the  use  of  brick  as  in  Kent.  The  larger  houses,  some 
of  the  smaller  ones,  and  occasionally  the  buildings  in 
the  towns,  are  treated  in  the  fanciful,  picturesque  and 
masterly  way  common  in  the  Netherlands.  At  Yar- 
mouth, the  rows  (pages  56  and  57),  and  a  street  in  Sandwich  (page 
24),  possess  a  distinctly  foreign  character.  The  steep  mansard-shaped 
gable  at  the  end  of  the  lane  on  the  left  (page  57),  the  cobble  paving  and 
narrow  width  of  flagging 
down  the  middle,  the 
open  gutters  next  the 
walls,  are  all  suggestive 
of  an  alien  influence. 
But  the  villages  and  the 
country  districts  appa- 
rently were  only  in- 
fluenced indirectly, 
owing  probably  to  the 
natural  tendency  of  the 
foreigner  to  prefer  the 
large  towns,  and  even 
there  he  does  not  seem 
to  have  actually  engaged 
in  building.  From  the 
lists  of  the  artizans  who 
settled  in  the  towns  on 
the  east  coast,  it  is  seen 
that  only  a  small  number 
of  foreigners  were  actu- 
ally connected  with  the 
building  trades.  At 
Sandwich,  in  East  Kent, 
three  joiners,  one  car- 
penter, and  one  smith 
are  mentioned.  The 
natural  inference  is  that 
the  foreigner  was  more 
responsible  for  peculiari- 
ties than  essentials  ;  and 
this  is  so,  for  in  spite  of  WESTON,  SUFFOLK 

47 


a  foreign  flavour  about  both  the  cottages  and  the  scenery,  the  principal 
characteristics  are  those  common  to  English  work.  There  is  the 
same  simple,  direct  and  intimate  way  of  treating  materials,  added  to 
a  love  of  quaint  conceits  and  a  more  fanciful  but  less  workmanlike 
notion  in  the  use  of  them.  There  is  a  playfulness  too  in  the  methods 
of  using  brick  and  flint,  and  in  some  of  the  gables,  simplified  treat- 
ments of  the  extravagant  and  fantastic  curves  loved  by  the  Dutchmen. 
But  these  are  few  and  far  between  ;  the  majority  of  cottage  gables 
are  almost  as  English  in  feeling  as  the  stone  buildings  of  Gloucestershire. 
At  Weston,  in  Suffolk  (page  49),  the  Dutch  influence  is  noticeable  in 
the  brick  quoins  (page  164),  the  rounding  of  the  gable  at  the  apex, 
and  in  the  filling  of  the  tympanum  of  the  arches  over  the  doors  (page  47), 
windows,  and  again  in  the  dentils  under  the  soffits.  The  finish  of 
the  four-and-a-half  brick  arches,  which  slightly  project  from  the  face  of 
the  main  wall  (page  164),  is  much  the  same  method  adopted  at  the  inter- 
section of  the  contrasting  curves  in  the  cottage  at  Yarmouth  (page  55). 
Notwithstanding  these  suggestions  of  foreign  detail,  there  is  an  English 
character  about  the  build- 
ing, with  its  high-pitched 
gable  and  strong-looking 
chimney,  backed  up  by  the 
smaller  gable  jutting  out 
from  the  main  roof. 
The  gable  ends  of  the  cot- 
tages, without  showing 
much  variety,  differ  in 
most  instances  from  those 
in  stone  and  other  brick 
districts,  by  leaving  out  the 
projecting  member  of  the 
coping.  These  flush-coped 
gables,  with  the  bricks  tail- 
ing into  the  wall  three,  four 
and  even  five  times  in  its 
length,  are  peculiar  to  Nor- 
folk and  Suffolk.  The 
general  rule  is  to  tail  in  the 
bricks  at  the  springing,  in 
the  middle,  and  just  below 
the  apex,  the  portions 
between  these  triangular 
shapes  being  brick  on  edge. 
In  the  cottages  near  Filby 
Broad,  Norfolk  (page  54), 
the  sloping  buttress  in  the 
foreground  shows  brick 
quoins  stretching  into  the 
flint  at  right  angles  to  the 
48  ' 


WESTON,    SUFFOLK 


WESTON,    SUFFOLK. 
49 


slope,  a  similar  method  to 
that  which  has  been  de- 
scribed. An  interesting  finish 
to  the  apex  of  a  gable  was 
noticed  at  Filby  Broad :  the 
bricks  were  laid  on  edge,  but 
instead  of  finishing  as  a  point, 
a  cut  brick  was  inserted,  point 
downwards,  in  the  triangular 
space  left  where  the  bricks  on 
edge  meet  at  the  junction  of 
the  slopes.  A  small  pedestal 
in  brick  was  then  built  on 
the  top,  and  finished  with 
another  brick  at  right  angles 
to  the  face  of  the  gable. 
The  gables  at  Southwold,  in 
Suffolk,  and  at  Yarmouth,  in 
Norfolk,  are  Dutch  in  character,  and  much  the  same  in  outline  and  treat- 
ment. At  Southwold  (below),  in  following  the  line  of  curves,  the  bricks 
are  laid  longitudinally  and  on  the  flat,  and  one  curve  overlaps  the  other— 
a  reminiscence  probably  of  the  fantastic  curves  of  Dutch  stonework.  At 
the  junction  of  the  concave  ramp  with  the  pedimental  treatment  of  the 
top,  the  brick  coping  runs  across  the  face  of  the  gable,  the  end  of  the 
upper  curve  jutting  beyond.  At  Yarmouth  (page  55),  the  bricks  are  laid 
on  edge  and  overlapping,  not  unlike  that  already  noted  in  the  finish  of 
the  arches  over  the  doors  and  windows  at  Weston. 


WALBERSWICK,    SUFFOLK 


SDUTHWOLD,    SUFFOLK 
5° 


LOWESTOFT,    SUFFOLK 
51 


There  are  fa  number]  of  beautiful  curved  gables  at  Norwich,  but  in  the 
villages  along  the  coast  of  Suffolk  and  across  the  middle  of  Norfolk  there 
are  practically  none,  and  only  one  example  of  the  crow-stepped  variety — just 
beyond  Filby  Broad — came  under  the  notice  of  the  writer.  At  Pulborough, 
in  West  Sussex,  there  is  a  crude  form  of  crow-stepped  gable  in  stone,  each 
step  chamfered  on  the  upper  edge.  This  form  of  gable  is  of  brick  origin, 
and  suggests  at  once  the  need  of  steps,  a  bit  of  design  directly  inspired  by 
the  material.  The  ornamental  iron  wall  ties  were  seldom  absent  from 
both  the  simple  and  curved  gables,  either  in  the  form  of  an  S  or  a  long 
thin  piece  hammered  into  a  heart-shape  at  both  ends.  There  were 
sometimes  two  and  even  three  in  a  gable,  two  about  halfway  up,  and 
when  a  third  was  used  it  was  placed  just  under  the  apex. 
Perhaps  the  most  characteristic  feature  of  the  cottages  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk 
is  the  flint  and  brick  wall.  The  flints  are  white  and  black,  rough  and 
rounded,  the  latter  still  known  as  cobbles  or  "  petrified  kidneys."  Both  the 
smooth  and  rough  were  used  in  a  variety  of  ways.  They  might  be  ranged 
upright  in  rows,  as  in  one  of  the  group  of  cottages  at  Lowestoft,  with  the 
lighthouse  showing  above  the  trees  in  the  background  (page  51),  or  inclined 
to  the  right  in  one  course,  and  to  the  left  in  the  next.  An  uncommon  method, 
suggestive  of  the  galleting  in  Kent,  was  to  alternate  a  row  of  brick  headers 
with  a  row  of  flints  all  sloping  in  one  direction.  Another  was  an 
imitation  of  Flemish  bond,  the  stretcher  of  brick,  the  space  usually  occupied 
by  the  header  being  filled  in  with  flint.  In  some  cottages  at  Lowestoft, 
opposite  those  seen  in  the  admirable  drawing  on  page  51,  a  very  effective 
diaper  of  brick  headers  and  flint  was  used,  the  quoins  of  the  windows  and 
the  external  angles  of  the  dwelling  being  of  brick.  The  brick  headers  at 


KESSINGLAND,    SUFFOLK 
52 


X 

£ 

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53 


Filby  Broad  (below)  were  introduced  into  the  walling  in  a  haphazard 
fashion  ;  and  this  seems  to  have  been  the  most  general  custom.  The 
illustration  of  the  gatehouse  at  Sandwich,  in  Kent  (page  26),  is  an  instance 
of  the  overlapping  of  the  characteristics  of  two  districts,  the  ground  storey 
walling  being  a  series  of  diapers  of  flint  and  stone,  while  the  upper  portion 
is  weather  boarded,  and  the  roof  is  of  small  tiles.  Another  method  of  using 
flint  stone  and  brick  was  noticed  in  some  boundary  walling.  The  base  of 
the  wall  and  the  coping  were  of  stone,  the  rest  of  the  wall  (about  8  feet 
high)  was  divided  horizontally  by  a  brick  band  of 'headers,  placed  midway  in 
the  height,  another  course  of  brick  came  under  the  stone  coping,  while 
stretchers  and  headers  built  in  alternate  courses  divided  the  wall  vertically 
into  squares,  the  filling-in  being  of  flint.  The  tower  on  the  ramparts 
at  Yarmouth,  in  Norfolk,  is  a  remarkable  example  of  the  use  of  flint  and 
stone,  the  upper  portion  being  divided  horizontally  and  vertically  by  pro- 
jecting bands  of  stone,  and  the  square  faces  between  are  of  black  flints. 
These  black  flints  were  used  a  great  deal  in  this  form  of  inlaid  work,  but 
more  often  in  the  churches  than  in  the  cottage  dwellings. 
About  all  this  walling  there  is  a  playful  and  almost  casual  handling  of 
materials  that  yields  the  same  happy  results  as  those  obtained  in  the  use 
of  other  methods  and  other  materials  by  the  builders  in  Kent  and  Surrey  ; 
and  in  both  cases  the  tendency  is  to  reach  effects  by  the  use  of  a  variety  of 


FILBY    BROAD,    NORFOLK 
54 


(I  Jl 


YARMOUTH,    NORFOLK 

55 


material  and  colour — quite  the  reverse  of  the  means  adopted  by  the  stone- 
masons in  the  Cotswold  Hills,  where  the  results  are  attained  by  practically 
one  material. 

Norfolk,  Suffolk  and  Essex  also  are  rich  in  good  ornamental  plaster - 
work,  more  especially  in  the  Suffolk  villages.  At  Stanstead  and  Clare, 
for  instance,  there  are  some  fine  examples  of  this  external  decoration. 
Mr.  Reginald  Blomfield,  in  his  history  of  the  Renaissance  in  England, 
finds  an  English  and  foreign  tendency  in  the  plaster-work  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  the  first  being  attributed  to  the  English  workmen,  and  the  other 
the  result  of  employing  Dutch  and  German  workmen.  The  principal 
motive  in  this  design  consists  in  variations  of  strapwork,  and  to  this 
influence  may  be  attributed  the  work  at  Stanstead  and  other  villages  in 
the  same  district.  An  interesting  example  is  the  front  of  the  houses  at 
Clare,  in  Suffolk.  The  elevation  of  the  ground-floor  storey  is  covered  with 
scroll-work  on  a  geometrical  basis,  and  the  upper  storeys  and  gables  with  a 
running  pattern  ;  and  a  similar  pattern  forms  the  frieze  between  the  two 
storeys.  A  cottage  at  Wyvenhoe,  near  Colchester,  in  Suffolk,  has  a  playful 
interpretation  of  the  same  work. 
It  is  divided  into  panels  and  filled 
with  a  scroll -like  pattern  and 
interlacing  foliage,  suggesting 
the  ingenious  work  of  a  German 
smith.  Mr.  G.  T.  Robinson,  in 
his  preface  to  Mr.  William  Millar's 
work  on  plastering,  quotes  an  in- 
teresting reference  to  this  almost 
extinct  plaster -work  or  stucco  : 
"  Some  men  will  have  their  walls 
plastered,  some  pargetted  and 
white-limed,  some  rough-cast,  some 
pricked, somewroughtwith  plaster- 
of-Paris."  The  pricked  work  is 
probably  the  method  still  used 
sometimes  in  the  county  of  Essex. 
A  great  amount  of  plaster-work 
was  done  in  these  districts  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century 
and  onward,  the  surfaces  diapered 
and  stamped  with  all  kinds  of  pat- 
terns, produced  probably  by  press- 
ing wooden  or  metal  tools  into  the 
plaster  when  moist.  "  About  this 
time,"  says  Mr.  Robinson,  "  the 
plasterer's  and  pargettor's  art  and 
craft  had  now  become  of  such 
importance  that  it  was  formed 
into  a  separate  guild  and  com- 
pany in  London,  in  1501,  by  YARMOUTH,  NORFOLK 


YARMOUTH,    NORFOLK 

57 


Henry  VII.,  who  granted  them  'the  right  to  search,  and  try  and  make  and 
exercise  due  search  as  well,  in,  upon,  and  of  all  manner  of  stuff  touching  and 
concerning  the  art  and  mystery  of  pargettors,  commonly  called  plaisterers,  and 
upon  all  work  and  workmen  in  the  said  art  and  mystery,  so  that  the  said 
work  might  be  just,  true  and  lawful,  without  any  deceit  or  fraud  whatsoever.'" 
The  steep  pantile  roofs  of  the  cottages  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk  were  probably 
in  the  first  place  copied  by  the  same  workmen  who  thatched  the  stately 
and  dignified  barns  in  these  counties.  Unlike  the  majority  of  modern 
workmen,  the  villagers  and  the  craftsmen  of  the  small  towns  did  not  always 
follow  the  same  occupation  all  the  year  round.  At  one  season  a  man  was 
building,  at  another  probably  engaged  in  bringing  in  the  harvest  and 
thatching  the  hayricks,  and  shaping  them  on  the  lines  of  the  cottage 
buildings.  It  has  been  noticed  by  some  authorities  that  the  measure- 
ments of  the  ricks  and  the  cottages 
occasionally  tally  almost  exactly.  At 
first  sight  this  seems  preposterous,  but 
nothing  could  have  been  more  natural 
to  the  craftsman  than  to  follow  the 
shapes  and  measurements  with  which 
he  was  familiar.  And  it  may  well  be 
that  the  barn  builders  were  the  cottage 
builders  also.  It  was  of  common  occur- 
rence that  a  man  followed  many  trades 
in  the  country  districts.  In  the  records 
of  Barnstaple  Church  there  is  mention 
of  one,  David  Bedman  by  name,  who 
worked  at  tiling,  rung  the  bells,  cleaned 
the  pillars  and  walls  of  the  church,  made 
Communion  bread,  and  cleaned  the 
churchyard.  In  our  grandfathers'  time, 
and  even  now  in  some  country  districts, 
it  is  possible  to  find  men  who  are  able 
to  turn  from  one  occupation  to  another. 
A  remarkable  instance  of  this  versatility 
came  under  the  notice  of  the  present 
writer  in  a  Devonshire  village.  A  man 
was  skilled  in  the  making  of  both  furni- 
ture and  violins  ;  and  not  only  could  he 
make  these  things,  but  he  could  make 
them  well.  In  another  case,  in  Stafford- 
shire, one  of  the  workmen  could  lay  a 
floor,  repair  walling  and  brickwork,  make 
farm  gates,  thatch  a  roof,  and  thresh. 
It  is  significant,  that  in  districts  where 
thatch  is  the  prevailing  covering  for  the 
roof,  that  the  same  method  of  keeping 
the  thatch  in  place  on  the  hayricks  is 
still  adopted.  An  interesting  detail  in 

58 


CASEMENT    FITTINGS 


connection  with  the  ricks  of  East  Suffolk  and  West  Norfolk  are  the  finials 
at  either  end,  made  out  of  the  thatching  material  ;  they  resemble  an 
opening  flower  on  the  end  of  a  long  stem. 

The  barns,  to  which  we  have  referred,  are  covered  with  the  most  decorative 
thatching  of  any  district  in  England.  The  shaping  of  the  edges,  of  the 
double  cresting  over  the  ridge,  and  of  the  edges  down  the  roof  when  carried 
out  in  a  series  of  slopes,  extend  the  whole  length  of  a  big  barn,  and  form 
certainly  one  of  the  most  beautiful  objects  in  the  landscape.  Imagine  for 
a  moment  the  yellow-green  undulating  plains  stretching  away  as  far  as  the 
eye  can  reach,  brilliant  red  patches  of  poppies  here  and  there,  the  large 
church  towers,  the  upstanding  sails  of  the  ships  that  float  on  the  unseen  rivers, 
and  then  these  occasional  black  weather-boarded  buildings  covered  with 
thatch  running  from  end  to  end,  with  the  edges  cut  and  shaped  in  all 
manner  of  scolloping  and  other  patterns. 

Although  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  determine  to  what  extent  the  Flemings 
influenced  the  architecture  of  the  villages  and  the  cottages,  it  was  probably 
less  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk  than  is  usually  assumed.  For  instance,  chimneys, 
a  feature  where  one  would  naturally  expect  some  details  of  definite  Flemish 
character,  there  are  none  to  prove  their  skill  in  brick  building.  There  are 
one  or  two  crude  examples  of  circular  plan  at  Blythburgh,  and  another 
variety  at  Walberswick  (page  50),  but  for  the  most  part  the  chimneys  are 
disappointing,  and  generally  finish  with  a  double  course  of  projecting 
bricks.  Another  detail,  the  dormer,  with  roof  of  flatter  pitch  than  the 
main  roof,  may  be  foreign,  but  seems  more  likely  to  have  arisen  from  the 
difficulty  of  covering  a  small  gabled  or  hipped  roof  with  pantiles.  The 
most  remarkable  point  illustrated  by  these  dwellings  is  the  wonderful 
conservatism  with  which  the  builders  clung  to  their  methods  of  using 
materials  ;  as,  for  example,  in  the  high-pitched  gable,  with  its  iron  ties 
and  monograms,  and  the  simplicity  characteristic  of  English  work  which 
persisted  from  generation  to  generation.  The  Englishman  is  generally 
provincial  and  hates  new  ways,  like  Coggan,  Thomas  Hardy's  rustic. 
Says  he  :  "I  won't  say  much  for  myself,  but  I've  never  changed  a  single 
doctrine.  I've  stuck  like  a  plaster  to  the  old  faith  I  was  born  in.  I  hate 
a  fellow  who'll  change  his  old  ancient  doctrines  for  the  sake  of  getting  to 
heaven.  I'd  as  soon  turn  King's  evidence  for  the  few  pounds  you  get." 
Of  a  piece  with  this  religious  constancy  are  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Poyser 
in  "  Adam  Bede."  He  says  :  "  I'm  none  for  worretting,"  rising  from  his 
chair  and  walking  slowly  towards  the  door,  "  but  I  should  be  loath  to 
leave  the  old  place  and  the  parish  where  I  was  bred  and  born  and  father 
before  me." 


59 


(Copyright  Reserved.) 


WHITBOURNE,  HEREFORDSHIRE.    FROM  A  WATER-COLOUR  DRAWING  BY  E.  A.  CHADWICK. 


DI\ 


HESHIRK,    SHROPSHIF 
HEREFORDSHIRE 


-:iRE.     FROM  A  WATtR-COLOUR   DRAWING  BY   E.  A.  CHADWICK. 


DIVISION    III. 


CHESHIRE,    SHROPSHIRE 
HEREFORDSHIRE 


III.— CHESHIRE,    SHROPSHIRE    AND 
HEREFORDSHIRE 


O  two  districts  could  illustrate  with  more  point  the 
variety  of  types  in  the  English  cottage  than  the  counties 
on  the  east  coast  north  of  the  Thames,  and  those  of 
Cheshire,  Shropshire  and  Herefordshire.  The  remark- 
able contrast  between  them  is  more  than  one  of  detail, 
for  neither  the  materials  nor  the  construction  are  the 
same,  and  in  the  general  effect  there  can  be  no  com- 
parison whatsoever.  The  one  is  simple  both  in  form 
and  construction,  the  other  rich  in  effect  and  more 
complicated  in  structure.  The  one  is  chiefly  red  on 

the    landscape,  the    other    chiefly    black-and-white.     The   one    has    steep 

roofs,    the  other  steep  and    flat.      Those    to    the    east    are    little    known, 

those  towards  the  north- 
west are  well  known. 

To  the  great  majority  of 

the  public,  the  study  of 

architecture  is  generally 

of     little     interest,     but 

these  cottages  of  black- 
and-white,  more  especi- 
ally those  of  Cheshire, 

have     always     found     a 

place    in     the    heart    of 

the  incorrigibly  senti- 
mental Englishman. 

More   generally    known 

than  those  of  any  other 

counties,  they  have  been 

freely    imitated    with    a 

wanton  disregard  for  the 

real     origin     of      their 

charm.        The     picture 

painter,  the  scene  painter, 

the    man   in   the   street, 

the    man    who    lives   in 

the  suburbs,  and  last  but 

not  least  the  speculative 

builder     with    romantic 

tendencies,  are  all  united 

in  their  admiration;  and  . ;  , 

truth  to  say,  this  lively 

preference  for  the  obvious 

in    cottage    architecture  NETHER   ALDERLEY,  CHESHIRE 

63 


is   easier  to  understand  than   the  attitude  of  the  architect  who  rhapsodises 
over  them,  and  yet  on  the  first  opportunity  feebly  plants  on  the  plaster-work 
of   his  client's  house   a   few  thin   upright   and   cross   pieces  and   dignifies 
it  by  the  name  of  half-timbering.     Architects  and  their  clients  started  with 
the  placid  assumption   that   these    half-timbered    cottages    could    be    built 
without  the  necessity  of  using  the  original  methods  of  construction.     In  no 
buildings  has  the  construction  been  so  deliberately  made  the  foundation  of 
all  that  was  interesting  and  beautiful  in  their  design  as  in  these  old  cottages, 
for  with  the  exception  of  the   small  pieces  of  wood   that  helped  to  form 
the    geometrical    patterns    and    diapers    of   black-and-white,    no     timbers 
were  introduced  except   for  some  definite  work  in   holding   the   building 
together.      Whether  the  result  was  to  be  simple  or  elaborate,  it  was  always 
based  on  the  main  lines  of  the  construction  ;   nothing,  therefore,  could  be 
more  ludicrous  than  to  imagine  that  this  system  of  building  might  be  copied 
by  planting  on  the  plaster  these  boards,  or  by  whitewashing  brickwork,  and 
mimicking  the  timber  by  painting.    The  beauty  of  the  old  cottages  was  more 
than  skin  deep,  or  rather  more  than  the  depth  of  paint  and  one-inch  boards. 
In  the  south  of  Cheshire, 
the  painting  of  the  white- 
washed    brickwork     with 
vertical      and      horizontal 
black  stripes  is  the  favourite 
method   of  restoring,  and 
very  often  the  timbers  are 
not  even  correctly  copied. 
If  such  things  are  done  in 
the  name  of  restoration,  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  ex- 
pect   that    new    buildings 
will  fare  any  better.     The 
fact  is,  no  cottages  are  so 
difficult  to  build  as   those 
in    the    spirit    of   the    old 
timber-and-plaster   dwell- 
ings, and  yet  no  style  has 
been  cribbed   more    often, 
and    with   such    disastrous 
results.      In   view   of  this 
popular  if  questionable  ap- 
preciation, it  is  strange  how 
little  the  originals  have 
been  looked  after.  Timbers 
have    been    covered    with 
plaster-work,  or  superseded 
by  neat  brickwork,  carving 
has    been  damaged  or  re- 
moved   altogether,   and 
stone  roofs  have  been  taken 
64 


CHESTER,    CHESHIRE 


ALDERLEY    EDGE,    CHESHIRE 
65 


u 


as 
a 

rv 

w 
O 

Q 
W 


Ed 

e 


a 
ai 


Z 
O 
U, 


Z 

O 

u 


66 


•»* 


.I**"""  , 


SANDBACH,    CHESHIRE 


middle  towards  the  outer  edges,  sometimes  in  two 
four  ;  if  in  two,  from 
the  middle  to  the  top 
and  bottom  edges  ;  if 
in  four,  towards  the 
four  outer  corners  of 
the  stone.  This  only 
occurs  when  the  ma- 
sonry is  built  of  large 
stones  worked  fairly 
smooth,  as  in  the  cot- 
tage near  Prestbury 
(opposite),  but  in  other 
instances  the  wall  is  of 
rough  and  irregularly 
coursed  stones,  com- 
paratively small,  with 
the  large  bonding 
stones  at  the  angles 
and  in  the  walls  of  the 
chimneys.  The  height 
of  the  wall  varies.  At 
Much  Wenlock  many 
of  the  buildings  are 
stone  up  to  the  first- 
floor  level,  but  the 
general  rule  is  two  to 
three  feet,  the  wood 


off  and  covered 
with  the  common 
thin  slates  of 
ordinary  manu- 
facture. 

The  same  method 
of  construction 
used  in  the  large 
halls  is  followed 
in  the  cottages. 
There  is  the  same 
low  wall,  often  of 
tool  -  marked  ma- 
sonry, the  stones 
as  much  as  three 
feet  long,  one  foot 
deep  and  ten 
inches  wide  ;  and 
the  tool  marks 
always  from  the 
directions,  at  others  in 


PRESTBURY,    CHESHIRE 


framing  being  set  back  about  an  inch  to  two  inches.  The  stone  base 
of  the  corner  house  at  Much  Wenlock  (below)  is  only  about  eighteen 
inches  from  the  level  of  the  ground  to  the  framing,  and  even  lower 
where  the  ground  rises.  A  part  of  the  house  to  the  left  is  built  entirely 
of  stone,  and  probably  is  of  later  date.  These  additions,  wholly  of  stone 
or  of  brickwork,  and  often  white-washed,  occur  frequently  and  with 
the  most  happy  results.  At  Prestbury  village,  in  Cheshire,  for  example, 
some  of  the  half-timbered  dwellings  are  side-by-side  with  others  of 
this  white-washed  character,  the  wood  frames  of  the  windows  set  in  a 
little  way,  with  the  wide  leads  of  the  transomed  windows  painted  white. 
The  contrast  is  a  pleasant  one,  and  a  happy  relief  from  the  black  timbers 
of  the  other  cottages.  The  windows  of  many  of  them  are  opened  and  shut 
with  window-fasteners  of  fascinating  design. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  chief  characteristics  of  these  cottages  and  large 
timber  buildings  are  their  geometrical  patterning  within  the  main  timbers, 
the  heavy  scantlings  of  the  woodwork  and  the  flat  pitch  of  the  roofs.  These 
details  are  a  more  incidental  than  essential  feature  of  the  style.  Much 
of  the  patterning  of  the  more  elaborate  examples  in  Cheshire  could  be 
omitted,  as  it  has  been  to  a  large  extent  in  Shropshire  and  Oxfordshire. 
The  scantlings  of  the  half-timber  work  are  not  always  heavy,  and  the  roofs 
were  probably,  many  of  them,  originally  thatched.  It  is  true  that  a 
number  of  the  gables  have  the  flat  pitch  necessary  for  heavy  stone  slates, 
but  the  majority  are  at  an  angle  suitable  for  thatching.  Moreover,  those 


MUCH    WENLOCK,    SHROPSHIRE 

68 


\ 


MUCH    WENLOCK,    SHROPSHIRE 

69 


which  are  thatched  suggest  that  it  is  the  material  for  timber  cottages,  like 
those  at  Bromfield,  in  Shropshire  (below),  the  cottage  at  Alderley  Edge,  in 
Cheshire  (page  65),  and  the  Boar  Inn  at  Sandbach,  in  Cheshire.  The  chief 
characteristics  are  the  methods  of  construction,  which  have  already  been 
detailed  in  Mr.  E.  A.  Quid's  interesting  notes  on  timber  buildings.  He 
says  :  "Stout  oak  sills  are  laid  horizontally  upon  a  low  wall  of  stone  or  brick, 
and  into  these  are  tenoned  upright  posts,  the  larger  ones  being  placed  at 
the  external  angles.  Upon  these  upright  posts,  horizontal  heads  are  placed 
just  below  the  level  of  the  chamber  floor,  and  the  intervening  spaces  formed 
into  panels  with  thinner  pieces,  the  whole  being  framed  and  tenoned 
together  and  pinned  with  oak  pins.  The  joists  of  the  floor  are  then  laid, 
resting  upon  the  horizontal  heads,  and  frequently  being  partly  supported 
by  internal  beams,  which  appear  in  the  ceilings  of  the  house.  Upon 
the  ends  of  the  joists  the  sill  of  the  upper  storey  is  laid,  and  the  framing 
is,  more  or  less,  a  repetition  of  that  below,  the  head  forming  a  support 
for  the  spars  of  the  roof,  and  being  frequently  carried  over  at  the  ends  as 
a  wall  plate  to  carry  the  overhanging  gables."  Where  timber  ridges  occur 
they  are  generally  directly  beneath  the  rafters  and  placed  anglewise. 
The  sizes  of  the  timbers  vary  considerably.  At  Alderley  Edge  some  of 
the  angle  posts  measure  8  ins.  and  9  ins.  square,  and  the  other  timbers 
7  ins.  and  8  ins.  on  the  face,  the  wooden  pegs  pinning  them  together  project 
f  in.  and  of  the  same  diameter.  They  appear  to  be  slightly  wedge-shaped, 
probably  to  allow  for  the  tightening  up  of  the  framing  when  the  usual 
and  inevitable  shrinkage  had  taken  place  after  exposure  to  wind  and 
weather.  The  panels  between  the  framing  are  of  brickwork,  which  here, 
as  in  many  other  cases,  project.  This  may  be  due  to  the  shrinkage  of  the 
timber,  for  it  is  sometimes  flush  in  the  same  building.  When  the  panels 


BROMFIELD,    SHROPSHIRE 
70 


' 


CULMINGTON,    SHROPSHIRE 
71 


are  of  plaster,  they  "  are  filled  in  with  a  basket-work  osier  foundation, 
daubed  over  with  clay  strengthened  with  straw  or  stringy  weeds.  The 
finishing  coat  is  of  plaster  on  both  sides,  richly  matted  with  hair,  and 
frequently  set  back  half  an  inch  or  more."  In  the  panels  of  a  cottage  at 
Alderley  Edge,  the  woodwork  is  arranged  in  the  form  of  diapers — the 
plaster  squares  alternating  with  the  wood — and  pinned  into  the  cross-pieces 
and  uprights.  In  the  same  cottage  the  pattern  occurs  in  diamond-shaped 
panels  in  the  gable.  The  general  effect  is  rich  and  barbaric,  a  characteristic 
noticeable  in  the  carving  and  the  gouge  cuts  on  the  barge  boards  and  brackets. 
Many  of  the  details  recall  the  work  of  savage  races,  such,  for  instance,  as 
the  zig-zag  cuttings  on  the  windows  in  Church  Street,  Ledbury,  the  brackets 
and  barge  boards  at  Middlebrook,  the  scolloping  of  the  edges  of  the  beam 
on  the  gables  at  Alderley  Edge.  Another  characteristic  bit  of  detail  is 
the  doorway  at  Congleton  in  Cheshire  (page  66),  with  its  shaped  lintel,  the 
initials  and  date  in  the  middle,  the  enriching  of  the  beam  over  the  lintel 
with  scolloping  in  the  middle  member,  and  dentils  beneath.  The  timbers 
as  they  get  nearer  the  top  of  the  buildings  are  filled  in  with  the  geometrical 
patterns,  like  those  in  the 
gable  at  Prestbury  (page 
67).  The  large  spaces 
between  some  of  the  tim- 
bers is  generally  an  altera- 
tion or  restoration  filled  in 
with  brick.  The  illustra- 
tions of  the  cottages  at 
Alderley  Edge,  Prestbury, 
and  Sandbach  (pages  65 
and  67)  are  all  typical  of 
the  elaborate  patterning. 
Directly  Shropshire  is 
approached,  the  timbering 
becomes  less  playful  and 
more  in  vertical  and  hori- 
zontal lines — as,  for  in- 
stance, at  Craven  Arms 
(page  73).  The  corner 
posts  are  generally  thicker 
than  the  rest,  and  strutted. 
Among  some  of  the  geo- 
metrical patterns  are  the 
diamond  and  the  quatrefoil, 
while  at  Alderley  Edge 
the  curved  pieces  of  wood 
in  the  cove  are  pierced  in 
the  form  of  a  cross. 
Another  fine  example  is 

1  "  Old    Halls    in    Lancashire    and 
Cheshire,"  by  Henry  Tayler. 

72 


BROMFIELD,    SHROPSHIRE 


CRAVEN    ARMS,    SHROPSHIRE 

73 


HARTON,    SHROPSHIRE 

74 


that  at  Prestbury,  in  Cheshire  (page  67).  An  interesting  detail 
noticeable  in  the  chimney  of  this  cottage  is  the  drip  in  stepped  brick, 
a  common  enough  detail  in  Worcestershire  and  Warwickshire.  In 
Herefordshire  and  Shropshire  the  timbers  are  not  so  close  together,  nor  is 
there  the  same  tendency  to  run  to  pattern  as  in  Cheshire.  Many  of  the 
cottages,  in  fact,  have  a  near  relationship  to  those  in  the  South-Eastern 
counties,  although  generally  the  construction  is  much  in  advance  of  the 
majority  in  Kent  or  Surrey.  This  superiority  was  due  to  two  reasons,  first, 
to  the  fact  that,  unlike  Kent  and  Surrey,  where  bricks  and  tiles  were  used 
as  much  as  wood,  in  Cheshire,  Shropshire  and  Herefordshire  wood  was 
the  chief  material  ;  and,  secondly,  to  the  influence  of  that  remarkable 
man  John  Abel,  the  carpenter-architect  of  Hereford.  With  him,  as  with 
the  other  little  known  cottage  builders  of  these  counties,  the  terms  "  to 
build  "  and  "  to  timber  "  were  synonymous. 

This  carpenter  exercised  considerable  influence  in  his  own  county  and  in 
Shropshire.  His  work  is  restrained,  and  shows  a  careful  consideration 
for  the  right  spacing 
of  the  timbers, 
which  places  it 
much  above  the 
over  -  elaborated 
Cheshire  fronts. 
Nothing  could  be 
more  effective  than 
the  zigzag  disposi- 
tion of  timbers  on 
the  Market  House 
at  Ledbury,  being 
both  decorative  and 
constructive.  The 
examples  at  Pem- 
bridge  (pages  77 
and  78),  and  Orleton 
(page  79),  in  Here- 
fordshire, and  the 
Reader's  House  at 
Ludlow,  in  Shrop- 
shire, are  either  his 
work  or  influenced 
by  him.  He  lived 
to  the  age  of  ninety- 
seven,  and  a  few 
years  before  his 
death  made  his  own 
monument,  engrav- 
ed his  own  effigy 
and  those  of  his 
two  wives,  and  the  LEY,  HEREFORDSHIRE 

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symbols  of  his   occupation,  the  rule,  the  compass,  and   the    square,   and, 
alas  !    wrote  his  own  epitaph,  as  follows  :  — 

"  This  craggy  stone  a  covering  is  for  an  architect's  bed, 
That  lofty  buildings  raised  high,  yet  now  lies  down  his  head, 
This  line  and  rule,  so  Death  concludes,  are  locked  up  in  store, 
Build  they  who  list  or  they  who  wist,  for  he  can  build  no  more. 
His  house  of  clay  could  hold  no  longer, 
May  Heaven's — frame  him  a  stronger.  ,          ABEL 

Vive  ut  vivas  in  vitam  zternam."  J 

The  esteem  in  which  the  known  man,  John  Abel  the  carpenter,  was  held 
in  Hereford  and  the  immediate  district  is  only  one  instance  of  the 
important  position  generally  occupied  by  the  unknown  village  carpenter 
or  smith.  It  is  certain  that  the  local  craftsman  was  by  no  means  the 
negligible  factor  in  the  village  life  that  he  is  to-day.  His  position  was 
often  an  official  one,  his  pay  coming  to  him  through  grants  of  land,  and 
while  many  of  the  trades  or  crafts  were  hereditary,  the  trades  connected 
with  commerce  and  the  supplying  of  goods  from  distant  markets  were  not 
so.  Those  who  produced,  those  who  built  the  walls,  hammered  the  gates, 
and  chiselled  the  wood 
were  the  privileged  folk 
of  the  village  commu- 
nity, and  not  those  who 
were  merely  a  superior 
kind  of  pedlar  like  the 
modern  manufacturer. 
Amongst  savages  the 
smith  was  one  of  the 
most  important  members 
of  the  tribe,  and  the 
number  of  village  inns 
called  after  the  principal 
trades  or  crafts  is  another 
instance  of  the  important 
position  themason, smith 
and  carpenter  held  in 
the  village.  It  is  prob- 
able that  in  addition  to 
gathering  at  the  inn  for 
convivial  meetings,  they 
settled  points  of  detail 
and  construction  over 
their  tankards  of  beer. 
The  chimneys  of  the 
cottages  in  Cheshire 
have  not  much  charac- 
ter, but  in  Shropshire 


1  "Ancient  Timber  Edifices 
of  England,"  by  John  Clayton, 
A.R.I.B.A. 

78 


PEMBRIDGE,    HEREFORDSHIRE 


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79 


there  are  examples  almost  equal  to  those  in  Kent.  At  Craven  Arms 
(page  73)  there  is  a  remarkably  fine  one  with  well-proportioned  brick 
shafts  springing  from  the  large  projection  carried  up  in  stone.  At 
Whitbourne,  in  Herefordshire  (opposite  page  61),  there  is  an  interesting 
chimney  in  brick,  with  an  unusual  cap  connecting  two  shafts  of  different 
design.  A  peculiar  feature  was  noticed  at  Wellington.  The  projecting 
V-shapes  on  the  shaft  "were  abruptly  finished  square  a  few  courses  below 
the  capping,  and  suggested  that  the  bricklayer  felt  he  was  unable  to 
mitre  his  capping  round  the  projection.  In  another  unusual  group  of 
shafts  in  this  village  there  are  five  flues,  the  middle  one  placed  anglewise 
and  the  others  attached  to  each  of  its  sides,  thus  forming  a  star-shaped 
plan  of  plain,  square  shafts,  which  rise  off  a  square  stone  base.  The 
same  plan  occurs  at  Cressage.  Besides  the  timber  cottages  in  these  counties 
there  are  some  rough-cast  examples  with  beautiful  thatched  roofs  ;  and 
on  the  moors  between  Buxton  and  Macclesfield,  on  the  borders  of 
Derbyshire  and  Cheshire,  are  a  number  of  whitewashed  dwellings.  These 
are  simple,  crude  rough-stone  structures,  with  plain  square  chimneys  of 
the  same  material,  and  the 
roofs  covered  with  stone 
slates  ;  the  mouldings,  if 
any,  are  of  the  most  primi- 
tive character,  and  the  walls 
either  lime-whited  or  left 
untouched.  The  moorlands 
on  each  side  of  the  steep  road 
that  leads  out  of  Buxton 
(also  in  the  direction  of  the 
inn  called  "The  Cat  and 
Fiddle,"  and  from  there 
down  into  Macclesfield)  are 
dotted  here  and  there  with 
these  single  cottages  and 
farm  buildings. 
To  follow  this  building 
tradition  in  preference  to 
that  of  the  more  usual  wood 
and  timber  dwellings  in  the 
same  county,  would  seem  to 
be  most  in  harmony  with 
the  geological  formations  of 
the  north.  In  Derbyshire 
to  the  east,  and  Lancashire  to 
the  north  of  Cheshire,  stone 
is  the  prevailing  material 
and  is  used  in  a  somewhat 
similar,  though  at  the  same 
time  more  elaborate,  manner 
than  is  usual  on  the  moors. 
80 


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GLOUCESTERSHIRE, 
RBYSHIRE,  NORTH 


DIVISION    IV. 


GLOUCESTERSHIRE,    OXFORDSHIRE, 
DERBYSHIRE,  NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 


GLOUCESTERSHIRE,  OXFORD- 
SHIRE, DERBYSHIRE  AND  NORTH- 
AMPTONSHIRE. 

HE  charm  of  the  Cotswold  cottage  and  village  is  unique. 
The  wonderfully  quiet  and  mellow  beauty  is  best  appre- 
ciated, perhaps,  on  first  entering  a  village  or  hamlet 
towards  the  evening.  Often  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  the 
approach  is  made  under  ideal  conditions.  Half-way 
down  the  incline  glimpses  are  caught  between  the  trees 
of  grey  and  yellow  stone  walls,  and  to  the  right  and  left 
the  ground  rises  and  curves  gently  upward  in  long 
stretches  of  rolling  upland,  covered  with  waving  corn 
ripe  for  the  harvest,  alternating  with  green  fields  and 
patches  of  newly-turned-up  soil.  Behind  the  village 
there  is  a  red  wafer  sun  in  a  sky  the  colour  of  lead,  and  as  the 
visitor  draws  near,  the  many  gables  and  chimneys  stand  out  in  sharp 
silhouette.  The  hills  round  about  are  touched  with  the  sombre  glow  of 


WELFORD-ON-AVON,    GLOUCESTERSHIRE 


the  vanishing  sun,  while  here  and  there  the  chimney  of  a  cottage  and  the 
tower  of  the  church  are  splashed  with  ruddy  light.  The  hollows  in  the 
hills  are  in  shadow,  birds  are  asleep,  the  villagers  at  rest,  and  everywhere 
there  broods  that  intense  stillness  of  departing  day,  broken  by  the  faint  and 
melancholy  sound  of  the  breeze  blowing  across  the  fields  of  corn.  In  the 
glare  of  the  morning  sunlight  the  village  is  different,  but  its  fascination 
remains  the  same,  for,  like  all  great  work,  it  has  the  power  to  stamp  upon 
the  mind  and  heart  that  distinct  and  lasting  impression  which  only  strong 
and  simple  nature  can  give. 

With  the  exception  perhaps  of  Yorkshire,  and  parts  of  Lancashire,  there 
are  no  counties  in  which  the  cottages  are  so  characteristically  English  as 
those  up  and  down  the  Cotswold  Hills.  They  are  all  offsprings  of  the  spirit 
which  hovers  about  the  moors  of  Yorkshire  and  Lancashire,  of  Wuthering 
Heights  and  of  lonely  Egdon  Heath.  Stone  is  used  throughout — stone 
for  the  walls,  stone  for  the  windows,  and  stone  for  the  roofs.  They 
can  generally  be  dated  between  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  and  the 
end  of  the  following  century.  In  the  earlier  buildings  there  is  a  distinct 
Gothic  feeling  akin  to  the  Perpendicular  work  of  the  previous  century, 
particularly  noticeable  in  buildings  like  the  almshouses  at  Campden, 
in  Gloucestershire  (page  93),  the  house  and  shop  at  Burford,  in  Oxford- 
shire (page  104),  and  the  entrance  at  Rothwell,  in  Northamptonshire 
(page  1 06).  This  medieval  character  never  disappeared  entirely,  although 
there  crept  into  the  details  and  mouldings  some  of  the  classic  forms 


WELFORD-ON-AVON,    GLOUCESTERSHIRE 
86 


\VELFORD-ON-AVON,  GLOUCESTERSHIRE 

87 


which  had  already  become  the  current  design  of  the  larger  towns. 
The  parapet  of  the  cottage  at  Weston-sub-Edge  (page  90)  is  probably 
a  Renaissance  innovation,  and  is  found  again  at  Burford,  in  Oxford- 
shire, in  the  dwellings  of  a  more  classic  character.  But  fashions  in 
details  might  come  and  might  go,  the  heart  of  the  Cotswolds  was 
mediaeval  and  always  retained  in  its  essentials  the  villagers'  expression  of 
the  middle  ages.  And  just  as  long  as  the  builders  of  these  cottages 
remained  in  close  touch  with  their  materials  and  the  villages  in  which 
they  first  saw  the  light,  this  spirit  dwelt  in  their  work.  The  late  examples 
in  Campden  and  Mickleton  are  clothed  with  new  mouldings  and  newer 
forms,  but  the  spirit  and  the  methods  are  the  same.  There  is  no  other 
district  in  England  that  has  expressed  so  simply  and  so  beautifully  in  terms 
of  building  the  unity  between  the  soil,  the  dwelling,  and  its  inhabitants. 
The  spell  of  the  severe  outlines,  the  fascination  and  charm  of  the  simple 
details,  the  quaint  fancy  and  the  appearance  of  strength  suggested  by  the  stone 
walls  and  slate  roofs,  are  full  of  a  magic  that  no  number  of  visits  can  dispel. 
These  men  from  the  Cotswold  District  knew  instinctively  the  value  of 
the  rightly-placed 
ornament  and  the 
accumulation  of  well- 
proportioned  parts  to 
form  a  unity  of  ex- 
pression,and  the  place 
for  simplicity  and  the 
position  for  playful- 
ness. Their  strong  in- 
dividuality is  shown 
in  the  design  of  the 
kneelers  at  the  foot 
of  the  gables,  in  the 
finials,  and  the  tablets 
(page  165),  contain- 
ing the  names  or 
initials  and  date  of 
those  who  occupied 
and  possibly  built  the 
cottages ;  they  even 
show  the  changes  of 
occupants.  Many  of 
them  are  admirable 
and  complete  little 
masterpieces  of  well- 
cut  lettering.  Names 
in  full  occur  on  some, 
and  others  in  addition 
bear  a  quaint  legend 
or  device.  The  ar- 
rangement of  the 
88 


WELFORD-OX-AVON,    GLOUCESTERSHIRE 


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Id  these  cottages 

illages  in  which 

irk.     The  late  examples 

•  ouldings  and  newer 

:;ie.     There  is  no  other 

beautifully  in  terms 

Celling,  and  its  inhabitants. 

'd  charm  of  the  simple 

-  h  .  uggested  by  the  stone 

nber  of  visits  can  dispel. 

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lettering  alters  considerably,  the  later  ones  being  freer  in  treatment  ;  their 
spacing  is  charming,  and  no  two  are  alike.  The  tablet  at  Stanton 
(page  165),  dated  1604,  with  the  names  "John,  James,"  nicely  arranged 
below  the  date,  is  a  good  type  of  one  of  these  well-proportioned  panels  ;  less 
careful  and  more  fanciful  is  the  one  at  Minster  Lovel  (page  165),  with  the 
initials  "  H.H.,"  and  dated  1694.  There  is  one  at  Matlock  on  the 
Wheatsheaf  Inn  that  suggests  the  wheat. 

The  walling  is  full  of  variety  in  Derbyshire  ;  the  large  size  of  the 
stone-dressed  quoins  is  characteristic,  and  measures  as  much  as  2  ft.  long, 
12  ins.  deep,  and  5  ins.  on  the  bed.  The  doorway  at  Youlgreave 
(page  110)  is  a  typical  specimen,  with  roughly  chamfered  edge  on  the 
jambs,  the  head  being  left  square.  In  some  the  faced  edges  are 
carefully  dressed  for  an  inch  and  the  rest  slightly  boasted  and  often 
crudely  honeycombed.  Others  are  chiselled  in  definite  lines  along 
the  length  of  the  stone.  Another  method  was  roughly  to  smooth 
the  stone,  dress  the  edges  for  an  inch,  and  work  the  rest  of  the 
stone  as  if  a  comb  had  been  drawn  across  it.  This  applies  only  to  the 
dressings,  the  rest  of  the  walling  was  more  or  less  rough,  and  in  some  of 
the  cottages  stones  here  and  there  projected  as  much  as  6  ins.  without  being 
squared  off.  All  the  work  in  Youlgreave  is  coarse,  the  panels  of  doors  and 
windows  often  set  forward  an  inch  beyond  the  wall  face,  and  in  some  instances 
considerably  more.  The  entrance  to  a  cottage  at  Bakewell  (page  108) 
shows  this  characteristic.  In  the  example  at  Taddington  (page  113) 


CAMPDEN,    GLOUCESTERSHIRE 
92 


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the  stone  head  and  sill  of  the  windows  are  continued  as  much  as  9  ins.  beyond 
the  outer  line  of  the  jambs,  a  method  of  construction  made  necessary  by  the 
small  width  of  the  stone  that  was  carried  up  without  any  bonding  into  the 
walling,  except  at  the  top  and  the  bottom.  This  primitive  arrangement  is 
common  in  both  Derbyshire  and  Lancashire,  where  the  ordinary  walling  was 
also  built  round  the  windows  without  any  dressing  whatsoever,  in  the  same 
way  as  at  Ebrington,  in  Gloucestershire  (page  101)  ;  the  lintels  and  sills 
(if  any)  were  of  wood.  The  same  feature  occurs  in  Oxfordshire.  At 
Chipping  Campden  the  stones  of  the  masonry  are  dressed  with  a  good  deal 
of  care  and  laid  evenly  in  courses  of  varying  depth,  or  in  deep  bands 
alternating  with  narrow  ones.  The  walling  at  Rothwell,  in  Northampton- 
shire (page  1 06),  is  built  in  this  way.  It  is  noticeable  that  in  many  cottages 
the  stones  of  the  masonry  are  of  larger  dimensions  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
building,  and  then,  as  if  to  guard  against  a  too  sudden  transition  to  smaller 
work  an  occasional  deep  band  is  introduced  into  the  thinner  courses.  At 
Bibury,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  villages  in  Gloucestershire  (pages  96 
and  97),  where  the  ordinary  roughly  coursed  masonry  is  almost  universal,  one 
of  the  chimney  gables  is  banded  with  smooth-dressed  masonry,  and  pigeon- 
holes are  introduced  in  others  with  a  thin  projecting  course  of  stone  beneath. 
These  stone  bands  occur  again  at  Little  Rissington  and  in  some  farm  buildings 
outside  Burford.  A  variation  of  the  dry  walling  used  so  much  for  the 
gardens,  fences,  and  the  divisions  between  the  fields,  occurs  both  here  and 
at  Burford.  Instead  of  being  constructed  in  the  usual  way,  entirely  without 
mortar,  three  and  four  jointed  courses  are  alternated  with  six  or  seven  dry. 


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UPPER    GUITING,    GLOUCESTERSHIRE 

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In  all  the  varieties  of  walling  there  are  none  that  show  mere  cleverness. 
When  a  change  occurs,  it  is  for  some  obvious  reason.  It  might  be  quarried 
in  block,  or  it  might  be  in  thin  layers,  or  courses  of  red  iron  stone  might 
alternate  with  those  of  limestone  ;  but  whatever  method  was  followed,  it 
was  determined  very  largely  by  the  local  quarry.  It  was  not  invariably  so, 
for  the  carefully  dressed  stone  in  the  majority  of  chimney  shafts  and  in  the 
bay  windows  occur  side  by  side  with  ordinary  walling  in  the  rest  of  the 
cottage.  Large  stones  were  generally  used,  too,  for  the  jambs  of  the  stone 
dormers.  Before  a  satisfactory  treatment  of  this  feature  was  accomplished 
it  went  through  three  developments,  not  necessarily  arising  out  of  each 
other,  but  gradual  improvements  that  might  occur  in  one  village  and  not 
in  another,  even  where  the  rest  of  the  work  was  of  a  superior  character. 
At  Chipping  Campden,  for  instance,  where  perhaps  there  is  the  best  masonry, 
the  early  dormer  is  general,  while  at  Bibury,  where  the  masonry  is  not  so 
carefully  finished,  the  dormer  has  blossomed  into  one  of  a  thoroughly  stone 
character.  The  original  dormer  was  a  copy  of  the  wood  and  plaster  type 
common  in  the  adjoining  counties,  such  as  those  at  Broadway,  in  Worcester- 
shire (page  119),  and  at 
Duckiington,  in  Oxfordshire 
(page  1 03).  Itwasnotan  exact 
reproduction,  the  tile  roof  of 
Warwickshire  and  Wor- 
cestershire changing  into  one 
of  slate  as  in  the  Cotswold 
counties.  This  survival  of 
form,  change  of  material,  and 
general  overlapping  of  types 
is  particularly  characteristic 
of  the  cottage  at  Broadway 
(page  1 1 9).  Another  interest- 
ing detail  is  the  coping  at 
Weston-sub-Edge  (page  90) ; 
a  rather  unusual  arrangement 
was  adopted,  the  walls  were 
coped,  the  gables  running  out 
without  any  coping.  The 
absence  of  this  detail  in  so 
many  of  the  small  gables 
probably  grew  out  of  these 
modifications  of  the  original 
dormers.  Instead  of  wood 
frames,  stone  mullions  were 
adopted,  and  the  plaster 
cheeks  and  filling-in  over  the 
windows  were  avoided  by  run- 
ning the  roof  down  to  the 
eaves  level,  as  at  Upper  Swell 
(page  102),  Upper  Guiting 
96 


BIBURY,    GLOUCESTERSHIRE 


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(page  94) ,and  Arlington  (page  100),  forming  a  gable  rising  from  the  face  of 
the  cottage.  This  is  peculiar  to  Bibury  and  the  surrounding  neighbourhood, 
and  is  only  occasionally  seen  in  the  north  of  Gloucestershire.  The  village 
of  Willersey  (page  95)  shows  dormers  with  and  without  coping,  and  raised 
very  little  above  the  stone  slates,  there  being  no  bye-laws  requiring  that 
they  should  be  15  ins.  above  the  roof.  The  group  of  cot'tages  at  Bibury  are 
remarkably  fine  examples  of  the  simpler  work  in  Gloucestershire.  A  charac- 
teristic detail  is  the  weathering  at  the  base  of  the  chimney  in  the  gable 
end  (page  97),  which  follows  the  same  pitch  as  the  gable,  like  the  examples 
at  Stanton  (page  98)  ;  but  in  some  cottages,  like  those  at  Chedworth, 
Arlington  and  Gretton,  it  is  taken  straight  across.  At  the  Post  Office, 
Weston-sub-Edge  (page  91),  the  gable  coping  is  continued  up  the  face  of  the 
chimney  the  width  of  its  projection  from  the  wall.  The  arrangement  of 
the  flues  is  generally  in  the  form  of  a  square  or  oblong  stack,  but  there  are 
instances  in  which  the  plan  is  that  of  a  cross,  and  in  others  placed  angle- 
wise,  as  in  the  almshouses  at  Campden  (page  93).  A  small  space  is  left 
between  them  and  the  two  shafts,  connected  at  the  top  by  the  necking 
and  capping,  and  at  the 
bottom  by  the  base. 
The  doorways  and  door 
heads  are  very  varied ; 
on  many  of  them  the 
builders  lavished  all  their 
knowledge  of  detail,  as 
at  Willersey,  Broadway, 
Aldsworth,  Stow-on-the- 
Wold  (page  162).  The 
first  one  has  come  under 
the  influence  of  classic 
forms,  and  the  example 
at  Aldsworth  (page  162) 
shows  a  stone  head  sup- 
ported on  wood  corbels ; 
this  may  be  a  restoration, 
but  certainly  appears  to 
be  original.  The  finial 
on  the  gable  is  another 
detail  to  which  a  great 
amount  of  attention  was 
given.  That  at  Stanton 
(page  165)  is  a  usual  type 
ofquite Gothic  character, 
while  the  one  at  Arling- 
ton (page  165)  is  classic 
in  feeling.  Some  of  the 
doorways  show  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Perpen- 
dicular style,  with  double 

102 


UPPER    SWELL,    GLOUCESTERSHIRE 


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I03 


mouldings  and  a  fillet  between  the  inner  moulding  following  the  line  of  the 
four-centre  arch,  and  the  other  taken  up  and  carried  across  square.  Not- 
withstanding the  variety  of  simple  detail,  the  flights  of  fancy  are  practically 
confined  to  these  doors,  the  finials,  the  tablets,  and  the  metal-work. 
Chimneys,  windows,  and  mouldings  are  repeated  time  after  time  with 
little  variation,  and  the  fenestration  of  windows  and  disposition  of  the 
masses  of  masonry  seldom  indicate  any  new  and  startling  departure.  The 
builders  kept  to  the  well-beaten  track  of  tradition;  what  was  good  enough 
for  the  father  was  good  enough  for  the  son.  Everything  tended  to  unity 
of  effect  ;  and  this,  perhaps  more  than  their  picturesqueness,  is  the  distinctive 
and  distinguishing  feature  of  the  Cotswold  village  and  cottage.  It  consti- 
tutes their  chief  claim  to  rank  with  the  best  English  work  of  any  period. 
Other  villages  may  show  greater  variety,  a  more  individual  treatment  of 
detail  and  a  less  conservative  regard  for  tradition,  but  nowhere  else  do 
the  methods,  the  details,  and  the  materials  combine  to  achieve  such 
wonderful  and  complete  unity  of  expression,  such  abiding  tranquil  beauty. 
It  is  strange  that  in  spite  of  their  good  proportions  and  beauty,  the  men  who 
built  them  were  occasionally  careless  in  their  construction,  and  ignored  too 
often  that  "  the  said  work  shall  be 
just,  true  and  lawful  without  any 
deceit  whatsoever."  There  were 
scamps  then  as  now,  but  in  the 
main  they  sought  perfection  or 
workmanship,  knew  what  was 
good  and  what  was  bad.  Their 
cottages  are  eloquent  of  beautiful 
walls,  so  well  built  that  they  will 
probably  be  standing  long  after 
much  present-day  building. 
One  of  the  charms  of  the  Cots- 
wold  cottages  is  the  high-pitched 
roof  covered  with  stone  slates, 


the  larger  ones  hung  at  the  eaves, 
the  sizes  getting  gradually  smaller 
towards  the  ridge.  Mr.  Guy 
Dawber,  in  his  notes  on  "  Old 
Cottages,  Farm-houses  and  other 
Stone  Buildings  in  the  Cotswold 
District,"  gives  the  names  of  these 
slates.  He  says,  "  The  bottom  or 
under  slates  at  the  eaves,  the  one 
bedded  on  the  top  of  the  walls,  is 
called  a  '  cussome.'  This  has  a 
slight  tilt  downwards,  to  throw  the 
water  off,  and  projects  some  7  ins. 
or  8  ins.  Above  this  the  eaves  com- 
mence with  long  and  short '  eigh- 
teens,'  down  to  long  and  short 
104 


BURFORD,    OXFORDSHIRE 


OUNDLE,  .NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 


'elevens';  then  we  have  long  and  short  '  wivetts,'  'becks,'  'bachelors,' 
'.movedays,'  'cuttings,'  and  long  and  short  'cocks'  at  the  apex  under  the 
cresting.  They  are  hung  dry  with  oak  or  deal  pegs,  which  are  driven 
tight  into  holes  in  the  slates,  whilst  they  are  being  sorted  to  sizes,  or  else 
nailed  in  the  ordinary  manner.  When  plastered  or  torched  with  hair 
mortar,  level  with  the  underside  of  the  laths,  they  will  last  for  years,  as  so 
many  existing  buildings  testify.  The  'valleys'  are  formed  of  the  same 
slates,  in  a  wide  sweep  with  no  hard  line  of  demarcation  where  the  roofs 
intersect,  laid  in  regular  formation  and  ranging  with  the  ordinary  slating. 
Each  valley  slate  has  its  distinctive  name,  the  centre  one  being  the 
'  bottomer '  with  two  '  lie-byes '  on  either  side,  and  above  and  below  in 
the  next  courses  two  'skews'  to  break  joint." 

The  cottages  of  Derbyshire  have  a  distinct  character  of  their  own,  although 
the  material  is  the  same.  The  stone-work  is  bolder  and  coarser  in  detail, 
the  builders  less  playful,  and  the  work  generally  much  more  akin  to  the 
cottages  of  Lancashire  than  of  the  Cotswold  district.  The  transom  in  the 
windows  is  a  feature  which  we  think  is  not  found  in  Oxfordshire  or 
Gloucestershire.  The  Derbyshire  mill  at  Alport  (page  1 1 1),  without  having 
any  particular  architectural  "features,"  is  typical  of  the  stone  walling  in 
the  district  ;  and  also  the  pair  of  cottages  in  the  same  village  (page  112), 
although  they  might  easily  be  taken  by  the  unobservant  for  Gloucester- 
shire examples.  Examples  of  the  Derbyshire  cottages  occur  at  Bakewell 
(page  1 08).  They  are  reached  by  steps  and  have  the  plain  jambs  to  doors 
and  windows  with  large  stone  quoins.  There  is  a  Gothic  feeling  in 

105 


the  door  head,  and  in  the  detail  of  the  lintel  over  the  window  in  the  example 
shown  ;  all  the  stone  jambs,  lintels  and  sills  are  square,  with  neither  chamfer 
nor  moulding.  Characteristic  also  are  the  piers  each  side  of  the  entrance 
at  the  foot  of  the  steps,  made  in  one  stone,  with  half-round  tops,  and  the 
stone  built  in  end-ways  on. 

A  fine  door  at  Youlgreave  (page  1 10)  shows  again  the  coarse  feeling  in  the 
huge  lintel  and  large  quoins;  the  jambs  of  the  doorway  are  chamfered,  but 
the  lintel  is  taken  across  square.      The  tablets  are  not  so  well  designed  as  in 
Gloucestershire,    and    are    much    more    primitive.     The    one    at    Ashford 
(page  160)  has  the  initials  "F.H.  A."  and  the  "i  680"  arranged  in  the  simplest 
and  most  prosaic  way  :  "  F."  is  placed  at  the  top,  "  H.  A."  is  placed  below,  and 
the  date  beneath.      It  is  not  particularly  happy;    nor  is  the  one  at  Little 
Longstone,  with  the  initials  "Z.E."  and  the  date  "  i  575  "  planned  in  the  apex 
of  the  gable,  a  favourite  position   for  them  in  Derbyshire.     The  detail  of 
the  doorway  at  Ashford  is  much  like  the  Cotswold  example  at  Stow-on-the- 
Wold,  only  the  brackets  supporting  the  pent  are  without  fluting,  and  in  the 
former  there  is  a  bed  moulding  carried  round  the  top  of  the  corbel  or  bracket. 
Some    of   the    details    of    kneelers    are 
worthy  of  study  ;  those  at  Stanton  and  at 
Alport  (page  1 60)  are  typical.   All  of  these 
border  on  crudeness  ;  for  instance,  the 
peculiar  way  the  coping  is  carried  over 
the  corbelling  ;  note,  too,  how  deep  the 
corbel    stone   is   carried   back   into   the 
wall.     A  very  simple  form  of  door-head 
is  that  at  Ashford  (page  160),  merely  a 
flat  piece  of  stone  carried  at  each  end 
by   two  small   projecting   brackets.      A 
curious    plan    for    a    window   jamb    is 
noticeable  at  Alport  (page  160). 
No   one     can    visit    these    counties     of 
stone  architecture   without   being  con- 
scious of  the  certainty  in   their   work, 
and    the    unhesitating    use   of  the   tra- 
ditional   methods  of   building    towards 
the  accomplishment  of  the  final  result. 
There  are  no  superfluous  bits  of  orna- 
ment,   no   dragging    in   of  unnecessary 
moulding,    and    no   affectation    of  sim- 
plicity.     From  the   foundations   to  the 
ridge  the  building  rises  without  effort, 
without  needless  divagation,  each   part 
well  proportioned,  each  part  related  to 
the   other,  and   the  whole   harmonious 
and  complete. 

In  the  relation  of  the  garden  to  these 
cottages  there  is  apparently  no  conscious 
approach    to    anything    like    deliberate 
1 06 


ROTHWELI.,    NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 


HADDON,    DERBYSHIRE 
107 


design,  unless  we  except  the  lodge-keeper's  garden  at  Haddon  (page  107); 
for  the  rest  there  are  certainly  noticeable  definite  characteristics  which 
bring  them  more  into  line  with  the  "formal  garden"  than  with  the 
irresponsible  vagaries  of  the  landscape  gardener.  Without  being  limited 
or  curtailed  by  the  rigid  and  more  architectural  character  of  Haddon 
or  Levens,  the  small  spaces  in  front  of  the  cottages  are  generally  laid  out 
with  some  regard  to  the  house  and  the  passer-by.  At  Ebrington  it  was 
noticed  that  a  clipped  tree,  cut  in  the  form  of  a  peacock  or  other  bird, 
had  been  planted  in  the  corner  of  the  garden  just  at  the  bend  of  the 
road.  Happily  and  well  placed,  it  gave  character  to  the  cottage  and 
pleasure  to  those  that  passed  by.  It  is  extraordinary  the  number  of 
charming  effects  that  are  realised  in  all  these  old  country  gardens, 
without  overcrowding  the  very  limited  area.  Nothing  could  have  been 
easier  than  to  unduly  emphasize  some  portions  at  the  expense  of  others, 
or  to  allow  one  part  to  dominate  the  rest.  It  may  be,  that  in  examples 
like  those  at  Witley,  in  Surrey  (opp.  page  -157),  and  at  Goudhurst,  in 
Kent  (page  18),  the  blaze  of  colour  and  the  want  of  neatness  justifies 
itself ;  but  as  a  rule  the  villagers  generally  attempted  to  reduce  their 
gardens  to  some  sort  of  order.  Not- 
withstanding the  playfulness  and  irregu- 
larity of  many  of  them,  the  smallest 
show  some  regard  for  careful  arrange- 
ment. Half  the  charm  of  the  example 
at  Welford-on-Avon,  in  Gloucestershire 
(page  89),  is  derived  from  the  straight 
avenue,  terminating  at  the  far  end  in 
the  arched  opening,  cut  and  shaped  in 
the  hedge.  It  is  generally  around  some 
such  simple  idea  as  this  that  the  garden 
is  laid  out,  the  degree  of  primness  of 
the  hedges  and  the  flower  beds  depend- 
ing upon  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the 
owner.  At  By  worth,  in  Sussex  (page  29), 
there  is  another  simple  and  effective 
example,  with  a  shaped  shrub  at  the 
gates  and  flowers  blooming  on  the 
boundary  wall.  Cut  yews  on  each  side 
of  the  entrances  are  often  seen,  and 
carefully  clipped  privet  hedges  three  or 
four  feet  wide.  At  the  back  of  a  cottage 
at  Broadway,  in  Worcestershire,  there 
is  an  old  garden  surrounded  with  high 
walls  covered  by  fruit  trees,  and  the 
middle  bed  crowded  with  hollyhocks 
and  other  old-fashioned  flowers.  Between 
the  centre  plot  and  the  narrow  bed  next 
to  the  walls  is  the  pathway  paved  with  "''-..,  v 

stone  flags.  BAKEWELL,  DERBYSHIRE 


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DIVISION   V. 


WORCESTERSHIRE,    WARWICKSHIRE 


V.- -WORCESTERSHIRE    AND 
WARWICKSHIRE 

SLOW  journey  of  many  stops  taken  through  Cheshire 
and  Shropshire,  across  the  top  of  Worcestershire  and 
Warwickshire  from  west  to  east,  and  then  southward 
towards  the  north  of  Gloucestershire,  shows  within  a 
small  area  and  with  certain  limitations  the  gradual 
changes  which  took  place  in  the  development  of  the 
ancient  cottage.  To  the  first  stage  belong  those  of 
wood  and  plaster,  to  the  second  those  of  timber  and 
brick,  to  the  third  those  of  brick,  and  then  finally  those 
of  stone.  These  changes,  it  need  hardly  be  said, 
did  not  follow  nor  necessarily  grow  out  of  each  other, 
like  all  consistent  and  respectable  traditions  have  a  way  of  doing,  but 
jumped  forward  and  backward  in  each  county  in  the  most  wayward  and 
irresponsible  fashion  ;  and  in  this  respect  the  cottages  of  Warwickshire  and 
Worcestershire  were  no  exception.  The  majority  of  them  are  of  brick  and 
timber,  with  many  later  examples  of  brick  that  retain  the  same  proportions 
and  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  earlier  buildings.  In  no  detail  is  this  so 
apparent  as  in  the  dormer  and  the  unbroken  frieze  between  the  top  of  the 
ground-floor  windows  and  the  underside  of  the  eaves.  The  frieze  runs 


BROADWAY,    WORCESTERSHIRE 


from  end  to  end  of  one  or  a  number  of  cottages,  and  is  as  characteristic  as 
the  dormer,  and  the  frequent  raising  of  the  ground-floor  three  and  four 
steps  above  the  road.  In  the  cottages  at  Chaddesley  Corbett,  in  Worces- 
tershire (below),  the  effect  of  this  deep  frieze  is  partly  lost  owing  to  the 
vertical  and  sloping  half-timber  work,  but  directly  the  brick  and  timber  is 
translated  into  brick  the  frieze  effect  becomes  emphasised,  as  at  Ludington, 
in  Warwickshire  (page  131).  These  are  practically  the  cottages  in  the 
foreground  at  Knowle  (page  136)  turned  into  brick  with  the  same  propor- 
tions, only  the  roof  and  dormers  are  covered  with  thatch  instead  of  tiles. 
At  Solihull  there  are  a  number  of  them  which  follow  still  more  closely 
the  characteristics  of  the  half-timber  cottage,  these  having  actually  the 
same  number  of  steps  up  to  the  front  doors. 

Where  they  differ  is  in  the  glazing  of  the  windows  and  the  frame, 
which  is  set  back  an  inch,  instead  of  being  flush,  as  in  the  early  cottage  ; 
and  in  the  use  of  brick  walls  instead  of  timber  framing  and  brick  panels. 
The  dormer  not  only  persists  in  the  brick,  but  in  the  stone  district 
as  well,  both  in  the  older  stone -mullioned  type  and  the  Georgian 
examples,  as  for  instance  at  Broadway,  in  Worcestershire  (page  119),  and 
many  of  those  at  Mickleton,  in  Gloucestershire.  This  resemblance  is 
perhaps  all  the  more  remarkable  as  both  the  materials  and  the  methods  of 
construction  are  dissimilar.  In  the  south-eastern  counties  and  those  ot 
Cheshire,  Shropshire  and  Herefordshire,  where  the  methods  are  much 
the  same,  there  are  only  a  few  examples  of  dormers  which  in  any  way 
resemble  them.  Most  of  these  are  gabled,  a  few  hipped,  and  others  are 


CHADDESLEY    CORBETT,    WORCESTERSHIRE 


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covered  by  part  of  the  main  roof,  which  is  carried  over  the  window  at  a 
flatter  pitch,  as  at  Shottery  (page  139)  and  Pershore  (opposite). 
Although  these  are  some  of  the  chief  points  which  distinguish  these  cottages 
from  those  of  other  counties  where  the  same  materials  were  used,  there  is 
altogether  a  less  careful  consideration  of  external  detail  and  a  greater  tendency 
to  repeat  in  one  village  what  has  been  done  in  another.  The  chimneys,  for 
instance,  are  nearly  all  finished  with  one  or  two  projecting  courses  and  one 
above  set  flush  with  the  brickwork  below.  Occasionally  the  stacks  are  placed 
angle-wise  on  the  plan,  as  in  the  cottages  at  Chaddesley  Corbett  (page  1 18), 
in  Worcestershire,  and  at  Hampton  Lucy,  in  Warwickshire  (page  138)  ;  but 
these  are  exceptions,  for  generally  there  is  neither  the  same  fancy,  skill,  nor 
careful  consideration  of  those  little  points  of  detail  which  add  to  the  charm 
of  the  cottages  in  Kent.  The  middle  cottage  at  Shottery,  in  Warwickshire 
(page  139),  shows  an  attempt  to  do  without  a  gutter  next  to  the  chimney 
by  continuing  the  roof  above  the  ridge  till  it  meets  the  stack  ;  but  this  is 
obviously  an  afterthought,  and  not  a  very  happy  one  ;  and  then  again,  with 
one  or  two  exceptions,  such  as  the  example  at  Charlecote,  in  Warwick- 
shire (page  135), 
no  attempt  is  made 
to  connect  the  chim- 
ney flanking  the  side 
walls  with  the  main 
roof,  a  detail  that  is 
solved  satisfactorily 
over  and  over  again 
in  Surrey.  The 
projecting  stepped 
brickwork,  occasion- 
ally used  for  the  drip 
of  the  chimney, 
above  the  tile  roof, 
is  similar  to  that 
already  noted  at 
Alderley  Edge,  in 
Cheshire  (page  65); 
but  in  this  district 
it  is  more  often 
made  to  fulfil  the 
purpose  of  a  verge 
in  the  later  cottages. 
When  used  in  this 
position  the  , little 
triangular  spaces  left 
on  the  upper  edge 
are  filled  in  with 
mortar,  the  roofing 
tiles  being  laid  direct 
upon  it.  This  same 
120 


BROADWAY,    WORCESTERSHIRE 


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are  anguish  these  cottages 

U  were  used,  there  is 

altogether  a  less  careft; ;  rail  and  a  greater  tendency 

to  repeat  in  one  village  what  rhcr.     The  chimneys,  for 

instance,  are  nearly  all  finished  with  one  projecting  courses  and  one 

above  set  flush  with  rhr  brickwork  below.    Occasionally  the  stacks  are  placed 
angl-  in  the  cottag<  .uldesley  Corbett  (page  1 1 8), 

v,in  Warwickshi  ,  but 

neither  the  same  t  nor 

points  of  detail  which  add 

•^e  at  Shottery,in  Warwi 
••it  a  gutter  next  to  the  chimney 
:  till  it  meets  the  stack  ;  but  this  is 
;y  happy  one  ;  and  then  again,  with 
\ample  at  Charlecote,  in  Warwick- 
no  made 
to  connect  the  chim- 
ney flanking  the  side 
walls  v,  .-.n 


Stages. 

ised  in  this 

'•on     the    .little 

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ipper    edge 

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121 


method    of    using    brick    has    been    noticed     in     the    finish    of    a     brick 
label.     An    unusual    use    of  brick,  perhaps   too   ingenious   to   be  ancient, 
was    noticed    at    Bromsgrove,    near    Birmingham.       The    bricks    are    laid 
with     the     width     as    face    work,    one    course    of    stretchers    alternating 
with   another    of  one   stretcher,  and   two   headers,  one   on    each  side   and 
placed   on    end  ;     by    this    wonderful    arrangement    the    headers    are    left 
projecting  beyond  the  face  of  the  shaft  in  every  other  course.     The  pigeon- 
holes which   have  been   noticed   in   the  cottages   and    farmhouses    of   the 
Cotswold  are  carried  out  here  in  brick  on  similar  lines,  a  course  of  headers 
taking  the   place  of  the  stone   bands,  and   the   openings   cut  in   the  four 
courses  of  brick  between  those  that  project.    The  base  for  the  framing  is  set 
up  on  stone  (page  i  34)  or  brick.    Mill  Street,  Warwick  (page  1 29),  has  both. 
The  wood  sill  of  the  half  timbers,  which  in  Cheshire  is  almost  invariably 
set  back  from  the  masonry,  is  flush  with  the  base,  and  the  uprights  recessed 
instead.     These  uprights,  in  the  dwellings  halfway  up  the  street,  average 
7  ins.,  the  spaces  between  10  ins.,  and  are  filled  in  with  brick.    The  brick- 
work      throughout 
these     counties      is 
usually  laid  Flemish 
bond,    four    courses 
to  1 1  ins.,  and  with 
wide    joints.       At 
Hampton   Lucy,  in 
Warwickshire  (page 
138),     there    is    an 
exceptional      brick 
cottage      covered 
with      thatch,     the 
others  in  the  village 
being    half    timber 
and  brick,  and  brick 
with      the      usual 
characteristics    of 
frieze    and    dormer. 
Custom,     tradition, 
and  especially  mate- 
rial,  rooted    to    the 
soil  the  various  types 
of  cottage  building, 
but    in     the     metal 
work  of  the  villages 
there     are     charac- 
teristics more  obvi- 
ously   common     to 
all.       For    instance, 
a    Worcestershire 
o  r       Warwickshire 
fire  -  dog    was     not 

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necessarily  so  different  from  a  Gloucestershire  example,  for  the  material 
and  the  purpose  would  be  the  same,  while  in  the  cottages  of  the 
same  districts  neither  the  methods  of  construction  nor  the  materials 
were  alike.  Much  more  depended  upon  individual  fancy  and  workman- 
ship. Windows  in  the  stone  counties  repeat  time  after  time,  but  the  window 
fasteners  are  seldom  the  same.  The  great  charm  about  this  work  lies  in 
its  unconscious  regard  for  essentials  ;  for  instance,  there  is  not  much  that 
can  be  said  for  the  pot  cranes  beyond  the  fact  that  they  supplied  a  need 
in  the  most  economical  and  straightforward  way.  All  that  was  required 
was  an  upright,  an  arm  and  its  support,  and  that  was  what  the  smith  gave 
his  customer,  adding  a  little  incidental  decoration  by  the  way.  In  one 
instance  the  end  is  turned  and  finished  with  a  scroll,  in  another  the 
support  for  the  arm  is  considered,  while  in  a  third  the  end  of  the  arm  is 
beaten  into  a  leaf.  None  of  this  is  very  great  art,  perhaps,  but  sufficient  to 
raise  it  from  the  commonplace;  just  that  labour  and  cunning  which  separate 
the  good  from  the  cheap.  The  notion  that  good  work,  good  proportions  and 
intelligent  arrangement  of  parts  are  as  cheap  as  badly  executed  or  badly 
planned  work,  is  the  result 
of  ignorance.  This  old 
metal  work,  no  less  than 
the  cottages  in  which  it  is 
found,  is  the  outcome  of 
long  service  and  association 
with  materials,  of  innumer- 
able failures  and  successes, 
and  of  a  constant  if  varying 
desire  to  produce  what  is 
good  and  beautiful.  It  is 
never  cheap  nor  hurried, 
but  has  the  stamp  of 
leisurely  production.  That 
the  makers  were  proud  of 
their  work  is  often  reflected 
in  it  ;  names  occasionally 
occur '  on  the  pieces,  and 
the  finish  and  execution 
leave  little  to  be  desired. 
Ironwork  was  occasionally 
introduced  as  a  support 
for  the  pents.  Brackets 
of  scroll  work  occur  at 
Belbroughton,  in  Worces- 
tershire, and  less  elaborate 
ones  can  be  seen  at  Welford- 
on-Avon,  in  Gloucester- 
shire (page  162)  ;  garden 
gates  were  also  carried  out 
in-wrought  iron.  There  is 
124 


YARDLEY    WOOD,    WORCESTERSHIRE 


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a  simple  and  effective  treatment  at  Binton,  in  Warwickshire  (page  167), 
and  although  one  questions  the  wisdom  of  stopping  the  uprights  below  the 
top  bar,  the  effect  is  light  and  appropriate.  Another  more  satisfactory  and 
elaborate  piece  of  work  is  the  window  balcony  at  Henley-in-Arden,  in 
Warwickshire  (page  167),  unfortunately  mutilated,  but  with  sufficient  remain- 
ing to  give  an  idea  of  what  it  was  like  in  its  complete  condition.  The 
scroll  work  is  welded  to  the  uprights  at  three  points  in  the  height,  and 
the  middle  piece  above  the  bar  leans  forward,  supported  by  a  stay  from  the 
upright.  The  cast  and  wrought-iron  knockers,  the  lock  plates,  latches 
and  handles,  are  all  of  interesting  detail,  and  range  from  the  severe  circular 
cast  brass  knocker  to  the  florid  wrought  example. 

Other  interesting  pierced  and  cut  work  is  noticeable  among  the  lock 
plates  (page  166),  and  the  footman  in  bright  iron  at  Welford-on-Avon,  in 
Gloucestershire,  is  a  splendid  example  of  wrought,  hammered  and  pierced 
work  of  interlacing  pattern  and  of  simple  construction  (page  161).  Of  this 
simplicity  the  village  smith  may  have  been  in  ignorance,  for  it  is  probable 
that  if  he  could  have  engraved  on  the  pieces,  cast  portions  of  them,  or  had 
thoughts  of  combining 
these  methods  to  make 
them  more  elaborate,  he 
would  have  done  so  to  the 
best  of  his  ability  and  as 
far  as  his  knowledgecarried 
him,  like  he  did  in  the  rest 
of  his  work.  That  was 
his  simplicity,  and  quite 
a  different  thing  to  the 
affectation  of  it  that  is  so 
detestable  in  much  modern 
work.  The  latches,  handles 
and  casement  fasteners 
(pages  5  8  and  159),  are  of 
the  kind  that  we  should 
expect  to  find  in  a  cot- 
tage ;  but  many  of  the 
others  are  remarkable  for 
their  exceptional  refine- 
ment. The  scroll-work,  for 
example,  on  one  of  the 
fasteners  illustrated  on 
page  122  is  of  dainty  and 
delicate  workmanship,  and 
would  be  as  much  in  har- 
mony with  the  interior  of 
a  mansion  as  of  a  cottage. 
The  same  characteristic  is 
noticeable  in  the  footman 
(page  161),  the  metal  work 
126 


ATCH    LENCH,    WORCESTERSHIRE 


CLEEVE    PRIOR,    WORCESTERSHIRE 

I27 


at  Weston-Patrick  (page  43),  to  which  we  have  already  referred,  the  soft 
modelling  of  the  cast-iron  fire-dogs  and  firebacks  in  Sussex  (page  163),  and 
the  examples  at  Chiddingfold,  in  Surrey,  and  Sandhurst  Green,  in  Kent 
(page  161).  The  half  timber  might  be  casual  and  the  brickwork  poor, 
but  the  metal  work  here,  as  elsewhere,  was  generally  up  to  a  high  standard 
of  workmanship  and  in  advance  of  the  other  trades,  with  the  exception, 
perhaps,  of  the  Cotswold  district,  which  seems  to  have  developed  more  or 
less  on  the  same  level.  The  other  trades  might  be  wanting,  but  the  smith 
could  always  be  relied  on  to  supply  fine  and  interesting  work. 
Between  the  forged  gates  next  to  the  roadway  and  the  cast  brass 
knocker  on  the  cottage  door  was  the  garden,  "  the  betweenity," 
as  the  late  J.  D.  Sedding  called  it — a  link  to  connect  the  dwelling 
with  its  natural  surroundings,  a  small  space,  but  arranged  as  care- 
fully by  the  order-loving  owner  as  the  "  formal  garden "  of  the  large 
manor-house  ;  for  whatever  may  be  the  merits  of  the  landscape  system, 
there  can  be  no  question  that 
the  charm  of  the  old  cottage 
garden  lies  in  its  order,  neat- 
ness, and  making  the  most  of 
the  small  area.  There  was 
no  room  either  for  pergolas, 
bridges,  sun-dials,  summer- 
houses  and  broad  terraces. 
These  were  for  the  squire  at 
the  manor-house ;  but  in  the 
design  of  the  approach,  the 
fencing,  the  walls,  the  gates, 
the  planning  of  the  old- 
fashioned  flower-beds,  the  cut- 
ting of  the  occasional  clipped 
trees  and  hedges,  and  the  arch 
over  the  entrance,  the  cottager 
found  ample  scope  for  his 
fancy.  If  the  cottages  were 
close  on  the  road,  without 
front  gardens,  some  natural 
beauty  near  at  hand  was 
shaped  and  fashioned,  brought 
to  order,  and  made  part  of  the 
village.  It  might  be  a  clump 
of  trees,  a  pond,  as  at  Upton 
Grey,  Hampshire  (page  40), 
or  the  village  green  with  the 
road  on  each  side.  Here 
might  be  the  village  cross  or 
the  village  pump  ;  round  the 
trees,  seats,  and  the  pond  em- 
phasized with  posts  and  guard 
128 


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rails.  One  of  the  characteristics  of  the  old  cottage  garden  is  the  division 
which  cuts  it  off  from  the  roadway  and  its  neighbours.  It  cannot  be  said  that 
every  district  had  its  own  type  of  garden,  but  many  of  the  details  have  their 
local  peculiarities.  The  cottage  at  Hill  Wootton,  in  Warwickshire  (pages 
132  and  133),  shows  a  type  of  division  common  enough  in  a  great  many 
parts  of  the  county.  The  palings  are  nailed  to  two  rails,  one  at  the  top  and 
one  at  the  bottom,  these  being  generally  housed  or  tenoned  into  the  posts, 
placed  at  regular  intervals  from  9  ft.  to  10  ft.  apart.  The  tops  of  the 
uprights  are  either  square  or  shaped.  A  more  interesting  example  is  the 
fence  common  in  Kent  and  Surrey.  The  posts  are  about  the  same  distance 
apart,  and  of  sufficient  depth  from  front  to  back  to  take  the  rails  and 
boarding,  and  to  allow  for  a  projection  on  the  outer  face.  The  rails,  three 
in  number  and  of  triangular  section,  are  placed  one  just  below  the  top  of 
the  fence,  another  about  9  ins.  below,  and  the  third  kept  well  above  the 
ground.  They  are  tenoned  and  pinned  into  the  posts,  and  the  boards  are 
wedge-shaped,  each  set  a  little  behind  the  other ;  they  are  then  nailed  to 
the  rails,  the  nails  taking  a  zigzag  pattern.  The  boards  vary  from  2^ 
to  4  ins.  wide.  At 
Blythburgh,  in  Suf- 
folk, the  same  fencing 
has  been  used,  with 
the  boarding  reversed 
at  every  post.  There 
are  other  varieties  of 
the  fence,  but  this  is 
the  method  generally 
adopted.  Wattled 
fencing  is  found  occa- 
sionally in  Gloucester- 
shire,  and  a  thatched 
example  was  noticed 
at  Filby  Broad,  in 
Norfolk.  Dry  stone 
walls  are  usual  in  the 
Cotswold,  and  in 
Devon  slaty  stone 
walls,  whitewashed, 
are  general.  The 
garden  walls  in  Nor- 
folk and  Suffolk  are 
often  flint,  with  brick 
copings  and  bases, 
and  brick  dressings 
next  to  the  gateways. 
Another  form  of  gar- 
den fence  is  similar 
to  the  partial  filling 
in  of  the  porch  at 
130 


HAMPTON-IN-ARDEN,    WARWICKSHIRE 


LUDINGTON,    WARWICKSHIRE 

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SOLIHULL,    WARWICKSHIRE 

Some  of  the  yew  trees  at  the 
entrances  to  the  gardens,  or  that 
form  avenues,  like  those  at  Cleeve 
Prior,  Worcestershire  (page  127), 
are  cut  into  all  manner  of  won- 
derful and  fascinating  shapes.  At 
Cleeve  Prior  are  to  be  seen,  hand 
in  hand,  "  the  glorious  company 
of  Apostles,"  and  the  Evangelists, 
memoralised  in  the  form  of  six- 
teen yews.  Those  at  Broadway, 
Worcestershire  (page  120),  are 
of  the  simpler  variety  ;  more 
elaborate  examples  are  found  at 
Yardley  Wood  (page  124),  where 
the  lower  part  of  the  trees  is 
arched  over  the  entrance  and  the 
tops  shaped  like  cones.  The 
"  pleaching,"  or  cutting  and  trim- 
ming of  the  trees  at  Lapworth, 
Warwickshire  (page  140),  is  re- 
markably fine.  At  Soli  hull, 
Warwickshire  (above),  there  is  a 
single  yew  tree,  the  lower  part 
cut  away  on  one  side  to  form  an 
arbour,  and  on  the  top  is  perched 
a  bird.  Another  example  at 
Risley  Hall,  Derbyshire,  is  in  the 
form  of  two  doves  ;  and  there  are 
other  interesting  trees  at  Ripple, 


Atch  Lench  in  Wor- 
cestershire (page  126)  : 
an  example  occurs  also 
at  Milton  Bryant,  in 
Bedfordshire  (page  168). 
At  Cranbrook,  in  Kent 
(page  14),  the  fence  is 
of  four  rails  between 
pairs  of  posts  set  some 
distance  apart  and  filled 
in  with  cross-pieces  that 
leave  openings  of  dia- 
mond shapes.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  are  the 
clipped  hedges  of  haw- 
thorn and  holly. 


CHARLECOTE,    WARWICKSHIRE 

'35 


Worcestershire  (page  123).  It  is  these  flights  of  fancy  and  imagination, 
in  the  hedges  and  trees  of  the  gardens  they  adorned,  that  formed  the  link 
between  the  dwelling  and  the  world  of  nature  ;  for  while  there  is  underlying 
all  the  same  natural  love  of  order  and  beauty  that  we  find  in  the  cottage,  it 
is  more  freely  expressed,  and  less  hampered  by  the  restrictions  of  the  builder 
and  craftsman.  One  of  the  most  charming  and  engaging  descriptions  of  the 
old  garden  was  written  by  William  Lawson  early  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
He  says,  "  What  can  your  eye  desire  to  see,  your  eare  to  heare,  your  mouth 
to  taste,  or  your  nose  to  smell  that  is  not  to  be  had  in  an  orchard  with 
abundance  and  beauty  ?  What  more  delightsome  than  an  infinite  varietie 
of  sweet  smelling  flowers  ?  decking  with  sundrye  colours  the  greene  mantel 
of  the  earth,  the  universal  mother  of  us  all,  so  by  them  bespotted,  so  dyed, 
that  all  the  world  cannot  sample  them,  and  wherein  it  is  more  fit  to  admire  the 
Dyer  than  imitate  his  workmanship,  colouring  not  only  the  earth  but  decking 
the  ayre,  and  sweetening  every  breath  and  spirit.  The  rose  red,  damaske, 
velvet,  and  double  double  province  rose,  the  sweet  muske  rose  double 
and  single,  the  double  and  single  white  rose,  the  faire  and  sweet  scenting 
woodbind  double  and  single  ;  Purple  cowslips  and  double  cowslips,  primrose 
double  and  single,  the  violet  nothing  behind  the  best  for  smelling  sweetly, 
and  a  thousand  more  will  provoke  your  contente,  and  all  these  by  the  skill  of 
your  Gardener  so  comely  and  orderly  placed  in  your  Borders  and  squares." 

1  Quoted  from  "  The  Formal  Garden  in  England,"  by  Reginald  Blomfield  and  F.  Inigo  Thomas. 


•*-i/ 


KNOWLE,    WARWICKSHIRE 
136 


ALVESTON,    WARWICKSHIRE 


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SHOTTERY,    WARWICKSHIRE 
139 


LAPWORTH,    WARWICKSHIRE 
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DIVISION  VI. 


DEVONSHIRE,  WEST  SOMERSETSHIRE 


VI.—  DEVONSHIRE    AND    WEST 
SOMERSETSHIRE. 

EVONSHIRE  is  the  most  beautiful  county  in  England,  and 
shares  with  West  Somersetshire  the  distinction  of  a  cottage 
tradition  more  rural  than  that  of  any  other.  Homely,  com- 
fortable, and  hospitable-looking  are  the  best  terms  to  describe 
these  cottages.  Architecturally  interesting  they  would  hardly 
be  called  by  the  unsympathetic  stranger,  but  to  the  thorough- 
going born-and-bred  countryman  of  these  counties,  who  never 
—if  he  can  help  it — takes  five  minutes  to  do  a  thing  when 
ten  will  do  equally  well,  these  old  places  are  the  best 
and  most  beautiful  in  the  world.  As  simple  and  homely 
as  the  "  gert  Jan  Ridd,"  they  are  the  work  of  men  such  as  he,  who 
thought,  laboured,  and  lived  in  a  leisurely  fashion  as  only  the  true  native 
could  and  does  do  to  this  very  day.  This  cottage-building  tradition  seems 
to  be  as  extinct  as  that  creature  the  "  dodo,"  although  the  villager  still 
holds  to  the  ancient  ways  of  his  forefathers  of  spending  twice  as  long  over 
a  job  as  any  other  known  workman  and  charging  half  as  much.  Here, 
at  least,  is  the  spirit  of  the  old  builders  that  gave  much  and  asked  little— 
that  gave  us  the  buttressed,  plastered,  and  whitewashed  cob  walls,  the  big 
square  chimneys,  and  the  somewhat  casually-thatched  roofs  of  the  Devon- 
shire and  Somersetshire  cottages.  There  is  not  one  built  severely  square, 
and  but  few  have  a  complete  gable  or  hip.  They  follow  the  contours  of 


DAWLISH,    DEVONSHIRE 
H3 


DAWLISH,    DEVONSHIRE 
144 


CORNWALL.     FROM  A  WATCR-. 

->  £   STANHOPE  FORBES,  A  • 


(Copyright  Reserved.) 


LANDEWEDNACK,  CORNWALL.    FROM  A  WATER-COLOUR 
DRAWING  BY  MRS.  E.  STANHOPE  FORBES,  A.R.W.S. 


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the  ground  haphazard — picturesque  and  rambling,  like  the  talk  of  a  native, 
they  are  as  pleasant  to  look  at  as  the  other  is  to  listen  to.  The  walls  never 
seem  upright,  the  windows  appear  to  be  placed  anywhere,  and  the  thatch 
does  not  cover  the  roof  so  carefully  and  neatly  as  it  might  do.  Casual  and 
careless,  with  many  faults,  and  no  finish,  might  fairly  be  the  description 
given  to  them  by  a  foreigner.  Every  part  seems  wanting,  but  the  whole  has 
that  indefinable  charm  that  probably  springs  from  their  relationship  to  the 
surroundings.  Of  these  cottages  it  can  truly  be  said  that  they  are  growths 
of  the  soil,  trimmed  and  clipped  somewhat  by  man,  but  never  enough  that 
they  can  be  described  as  "  works  of  art."  There  is  a  little  design  perhaps, 
some  putting  together  of  mud  material,  some  thatch,  and  that  is  the 
cottage  ;  but  the  rest  somehow  escapes  us,  for  one  finds  the  trees,  the 
hedgerows,  the  orchards,  the  sun,  the  rain,  and  the  rocks  have  a  real  and 
intimate  part  in  the  result,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  illustrations  on 
pages  147  and  150,  and  opposite  page  141. 

In  some  villages  the  cob  walls  have  been  built  direct  on  the  rock, 
after  the  side  has  been  roughly  hewn  to  a  vertical  or  slightly  battering 
face,  and  the  top  made  level  for  the 
cob.  When  of  a  rocky  character  this 
natural  foundation  seems  to  have  taken 
the  place  of  the  usual  base  of  stone  or 
brick.  Upon  it  was  built  the  cob 
wall  in  layers  of  about  18  ins.  of  mud, 
gravel,  or  small  gritty  stone,  trodden 
down  by  the  feet,  and  battered  with 
a  wooden  beater.  A  wisp  of  straw 
was  carried  by  the  workman  under 
his  arm,  who,  as  needed,  strewed  it 
beneath  his  feet.  After  the  wall  was 
up  the  surface  was  chopped  down, 
faced  with  plaster,  and  then  white- 
washed. The  base  was  generally 
tarred,  as  in  the  cottages  at  Dawlish, 
in  Devonshire  (page  143),  and  at 
Minehead  and  Dulverton,  in  Somer- 
setshire (pages  149  and  153).  In  the 
fence  or  boundaries  the  walls  were 
sometimes  left  without  plaster. 
In  parts  of  Somerset  the  cottages  are 
built  of  a  pinky  stone  of  roughly 
coursed  masonry,  and  at  Crowcombe 
some  of  the  boundary  walls  are  of 
random  rubble,  the  cavities  and  joints 
of  which  are  plastered  with  mortar, 
and  a  jointer  or  similar  tool  drawn 
across  the  face  of  it.  When  the  walls 
are  built  of  stone  they  are  generally 
about  1 8  ins.  thick,  with  the  external  NORTON  FITZWARREN,  SOMERSET 

146 


SELWORTHY,    SOMERSETSHIRE 
'47 


and  internal  coats  of  plaster  in  addition.  Cob  walls  are  2  ft.  thick,  more 
or  less.  In  the  case  of  a  big  door  or  gateway  being  introduced, 
the  angles  are  protected  with  masonry  tailing  into  the  cob  work,  and  for 
the  same  reason  the  corners  of  dwellings  and  of  windows  are  rounded 
in  many  instances.  The  windows  are  small  and  set  back  from  the  face 
of  the  wall,  the  angles  rounded  or  occasionally,  as  at  Crowcombe,  the 
plaster  is  finished  with  a  smooth  face  for  the  width  of  4  or  5  ins.  round 
the  openings,  which,  without  exactly  being  an  architrave,  gives  the 
suggestion  of  one. 

The  buttresses,  generally  of  stone,  introduced  to  strengthen  the  walls,  are 
a  characteristic  feature  and  frequently  of  enormous  size,  the  projection  at 
the  base  measuring  as  much  as  2  ft.  6  ins.,  the  width  3  ft.,  and  diminishing 
from  the  bottom  to  the  top  in  one  long  slope  (page  143).  They  are  generally 
placed  either  at  the  ends  or  at  certain  points  along  the  front,  and  frequently 
in  a  line  with  the  chimney  stack,  rising  from  the  ridge.  Most  of  them 
are  built  of  slatey  stone  whitewashed  and  without  any  coat  of  plaster.  When 
the  angles  of  the  cottage  are  not  strengthened  by  these  buttresses  they  are 
rounded,  and  where  the 
walls  are  of  the  common 
slatey  stone  and  finished 
with  plaster,  the  corners 
are  still  rounded,  proba- 
bly copied  from  the  cob 
walling.  The  chimneys 
are  of  the  same  stone 
and  carried  well  up  above 
the  eaves,  and  then  com- 
pleted with  a  projecting 
course  of  slate  (page  153), 
and  in  some  cases  with 
about  9  ins.  of  similar 
rough  masonry  inclining 
inwards  like  the  slope  of 
a  buttress.  Others  are 
taken  up  in  stone  suffici- 
ently high  to  clear  the 
eaves  of  the  roof,  with 
the  upper  part  in  brick, 
as,  for  example,  at  Mine- 
head  in  Somersetshire 

(pages  149  and  i  50),  and 

at  Thurlestone  in  South 

Devon  (page  145).    The 

village   of   Braunton,  in 

North     Devon,    has     a 

number  of  these  sturdy 

chimney      stacks     with 

brick    tops,    that     look  MINEHEAD,  SOMERSETSHIRE 


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'49 


MINEHEAD,    SOMERSETSHIRE 


like  later  additions,  the  height  of  the  brickwork  in  many  cases  not  being 
more  than  18  ins.  to  2  ft.  The  chimneys  that  flank  the  fronts  of  the 
dwellings  almost  invariably  project  considerably  into  the  roadway  or 
garden,  and  the  slopes,  which  diminish  its  bulk  towards  the  top,  are  either 
covered  with  slates  or  pantiles,  as  in  the  cottage  at  Minehead  (page  150), 
and  also  in  the  one  at  Dawlish  (page  144).  The  diversity  in  the  number  and 
direction  of  these  slopes  is  remarkable,  and  gives  considerable  character  to 
this  striking  feature  of  the  cottage.  Another  variety  of  chimney  top  to  that 
which  has  already  been  described  is  also  depicted  in  the  cottage  illustrated 
on  page  150.  Four  small  brick  piers  are  placed  parallel  to  the  faces  of 
the  masonry,  or  in  some  cases  angle-wise  ;  these  support  a  thin  stone 
slab,  leaving  an  opening  on  each  side.  A  drip  of  slate  is  built  into  the 
walls  following  the  line  of  the  roof  in  a  series  of  steps  where  the  chimney 
appears  through  the  thatch. 

The  boundary  walls  of  stone  are  sometimes  coped  with  slate  and  sloped  inward 
from  each  side  of  the  wall.  The  dry  walls,  more  often  used  for  ditching 
than  the  fences  between  gardens,  are  laid  in  courses  of  the  usual  slatey 
material,  one  course  sloped  in 
one  direction,  and  the  next  in 
the  reverse.  In  looking  along 
these  courses  of  stone  the  effect 
is  one  of  light  and  shade,  grey 
and  bluish-grey  bands  that  rise 
and  fall  at  every  change  in  the 
level  of  the  ground. 
Thatching  was  the  common 
method  of  roofing  in  the  coun- 
ties of  Devonshire  and  Somer- 
setshire, but  like  the  building 
of  cob  walls,  it  has  gradually 
fallen  into  disrepute  except  for 
a  little  patching  and  the  occa- 
sional covering  of  an  old  dwel- 
ling. This  is  partly  the  result 
of  enforcing  unsuitable  bye- 
laws  upon  the  rural  districts, 
and  the  extra  expense  entailed 
in  keeping  it  in  good  order 
and  repair.  The  short-sighted 
desire  for  cheap  labourers'  cot- 
tages, and  the  additional  trouble 
of  looking  after  this  form  of 
roof  are  also  amongst  some  of 
the  other  reasons  for  its  almost 
complete  disuse  in  this  country. 
In  Kent  and  Sussex,  and  two 
or  three  other  districts,  there 
has  lately  been  some  attempt  to  SELWORTHV,  SOMERSETSHIRE 

'51 


carry  on  the  traditions  of  the  beautiful  craft  of  thatching,  but  the  tendency 
of  local  authorities  is  to  discourage  its  use.  The  number  of  thatched  cot- 
tages of  considerable  age  which  have  survived  the  risks  of  fire,  would  probably 
astonish  these  unenlightened  authorities.  Not  only  is  it  in  Devonshire 
and  Somersetshire  that  the  use  of  thatch  has  been  so  general,  but  there  are 
beautiful  examples  to  be  found  in  nearly  every  district  throughout  England, 
indeed  it  would  be  difficult  to  improve  upon  some  in  Sussex,  Gloucester- 
shire and  Oxfordshire  (opp.  pages  83,  98  and  102).  A  particularly  fine 
example  was  noticed  just  outside  Mayfield.  The  hazel  rods,  used  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  the  thatch  in  place,  were  laid  over  the  ridge, 
the  hips  and  the  eaves  crossing  and  recrossing  one  another,  and 
caught  under  the  loops  of  the  pegging  pieces  at  the  intersections.  In 
Suffolk  and  Norfolk,  Berkshire  and  Hampshire,  and  in  all  the  wood  and 
timber  counties,  numbers  of  thatches  are  to  be  seen  ;  and  in  the  stone  district 
the  thatching  is  neat  and  worked  round  the  windows  and  dormers  in  the 
most  delightful  manner.  In  Somersetshire  very  few  hazel  rods  are  used 
at  the  ridge  and  the  eaves,  while  in  Devonshire  the  thatcher  did  not 
appear  to  trouble  much  how  his  thatching  was  finished.  It  is  neither  so 
carefully  nor  so  completely  executed  as  in  other  counties.  A  peculiarity  of 
the  method  in  Somersetshire  was  to  bring  the  thatch  to  a  point  at  the 
end  of  the  ridge  above  the  line  of  hazel  rods,  that  are  laid  along  the 
thatch  just  beneath  the  cresting. 

At  the  village  of  Williton,  in  Somersetshire  (page  155),  there  are  some  fine 
examples  of  hipped  thatched  dormers,  with  the  cocked-out  ridge,  and  a 
suggestion  of  the  double  cresting  along  the  main  roof,  so  characteristic  of  the 
barns  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk.  Ridges  have  been  noticed  in  Devonshire 


Wu.  ^*^ 


CROWCOMBE,    SOMERSETSHIRE 
152 


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finished  with  single  hazel  rods  bent  to  the  form  of  a  triangle,  the  points 
of  the  bases  touching — a  feature  that  has  been  copied  by  the  brickmakers 
in  the  district  as  a  pattern  for  their  tile  ridging.  In  the  one  case  it 
looks  rather  well,  in  the  other  hideous. 

The  old  name  for  a  thatcher  was  "  helyer,"  and  long  after  slating  had  to 
some  extent  taken  the  place  of  thatch,  the  slater  was  known  by  that  name, 
the  slates  being  called  "  belying  stones."  In  North  Devon  small  grey  slates 
of  a  pleasant  colour  were  frequently  used  on  the  projecting  portions  that 
stopped  at  the  first-floor  level.  Walled-in  and  open  porches,  small  bays  and 
ovens,  and  similar  parts  were  nearly  always  roofed  in  this  way  when  the 
rest  of  the  covering  was  of  thatch.  Some  of  the  roofs  in  the  small 
towns  have  similar  slate  roofs  ;  and  at  the  seaside  village  of  Morthoe  the 
sides  of  the  chimneys  of  a  farmhouse  were  hung  with  them,  diamond  shapes 
being  introduced  into  the  plain  slate  hanging.  Examples  of  the  small  roofs 
occur  at  Braunton,  Dawlish  and  Thurlestone  (pages  143,  144  and  145). 
In  many  of  the  villages  the  narrow  side-walks  and  the  garden  paths 
are  laid  with  small  pebbles  at  right  angles  to  the  curb,  in  some  simple 
pattern  that  suggests  strips, 
obtained  by  alternating  rows 
of  thin  pebbles  with  thick 
ones,  and  occasionally  rising 
to  the  dignity  of  a  diamond- 
shape  in  a  different  coloured 
pebble. 

If  we  would  have  again  the 
varied  details  and  homely 
beauty  of  the  old  cottage 
in  Devonshire  and  else- 
where, there  must  grow  up 
a  living  tradition,  based  on 
a  knowledge  of  the  original 
work,  to  replace  our  ideal 
of  "  cheapness."  To  make 
the  cheap  production  of 
things  the  criterion  by  which 
they  are  to  be  judged  means 
poor  work,  inefficient  crafts- 
men, and  the  ultimate  degra- 
dation of  our  surroundings. 
We  must  revive  the  old- 
fashioned  belief  in  perfection 
of  workmanship,  use,  and 
beauty.  Then,  and  only 
then,  will  play  the  fountains 
of  invention  and  beauty 
in  every  village  and  hamlet 
up  and  down  the  country- 
side. 


COMBE    FLOREY,    SOMERSETSHIRE 


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NORTON     FITZWARREN,    SOMERSETSHIRE 

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CONCLUSION. 


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CONCLUSION. 

VERY  visitor  to  an  English  village  appreciates  the  pic- 
turesqueness  of  the  old  cottage,  and  everyone  can  enjoy 
what  has  been  so  well  called  "  the  artless  inadvertences, 
the  casual  patchwork  of  the  old  walls,  the  overlapping 
of  successive  developments,  the  unsophisticated  craft  of 
it,"  and  all  those  incidental  beauties  that  have  grown 
since  the  day  of  completion,  when  Time  began  to  colour 
the  walls  and  roofs  in  his  own  fashion  ;  and  successive 
generations  patched  and  repatched,  and  added  a  portion 

here    and    a    portion    there    to    the    original    structure.       As   a   rule    the 

admiration  goes  no  further,  and  the  visitor  leaves  the  scene  with  a  more  or 

less  confused  notion  of  gables,  dormers,  roofs  and  chimneys,  covered  with 

vegetation,  that  he  remembers  vaguely  long  after  and  sufficiently  well  to 

describe  as  "  picturesque."     As  far  as  it  goes  this  may  do  well  enough,  but 

unfortunately  out  of  this  nebulous  impression  there  has  grown  the  idea  that 

the  old  country  cottage  is  a  haphazard  arrangement  of  one  or  two  rooms 

pitchforked  together  anyhow,  and  developed  in  a  happy-go-lucky  fashion 

into  the  picturesque  object,  the  old  English  cottage.     In  only  a  modified 

sense  is  this  true,  for  however  much  the  cottage  was  added  to,  altered  or 

patched,  the  simple  oblong    plan   and  elevation   of  four   walls    remained 

the  backbone  of  its 

beauty.       It    might 

be    lengthened,  and 

the  width  increased 

by  one  or  even  two 

aisles  ;    bays    and 

porches,  too,  might 

be    added,    but    the 

central  form,  definite 

and      unmistakable, 

always      dominated. 

Directly     this     was 

lost     sight     of    and 

the  original  purpose 

ignored  or  forgotten, 

the     additions     and 

"  picturesqueness  " 

became  meaningless. 

In     all     the     finest 

examples,     whether 

many  gabled  as  those 

in  the  Cotswold,  or 

roofed  like  those  in 

Kent,  the  persistence 

of  the  main  lines  of  IRON  DOOR  LATCHES  AND  HANDLES 

159 


the  plan  in  the  expression  of  the  exterior  controls  and  gives  significance 
to  all  the  rest. 

With  so  many  materials  and  such  a  variety  of  methods  in  use,  one 
is  apt  to  over-estimate  the  "  picturesque "  and  to  under-value  the  less 
obvious  but  more  important  qualities  of  order  and  balance.  And  yet 
there  can  be  no  question  that  the  latter  were  always  at  the  back  of  the 
builder's  mind.  Behind  individuality,  local  peculiarities,  the  unusual  and 
spontaneous,  these  were  unceasingly  at  work.  Out  of  this  sprang  their 
originality  and  freshness.  New  ways  were  but  the  improving,  ordering, 
and  more  effective  arrangement  of  the  old.  Variety  with  them  meant  steps 
towards  the  final  and  perfect  arrangement,  and  change  for  its  own  sake  was 

an  "  originality  "  of 
which  they  were 
probably  never 
guilty.  The  addi- 
tional course  of 
bricks  in  the  Kent 
chimney,  the  modi- 
fication of  a  stone 
mullion  in  the  Cots- 
wold  windows,  or 
the  invention  of  a 
new  frill  for  the 
edging  of  a  thatch 
roof  in  a  Norfolk 
village,  were  changes 
made  for  improve- 
ment's sake.  The 
feverish  anxiety  to 
be  new  and  different 
never  entered  the 
slow  and  leisurely 
minds  of  the  villa- 
gers ;  and  so  slow 
were  they  to  change 
that  they  clung  to 
old  methods  when 
new  ones  with  ad- 
vantage could  have 
been  adopted  ;  but 
transitions  from  one 
material  to  another 
often  came  too 
quickly  for  the 
builder  to  accom- 
modate himself  at 
once  to  the  pecu- 
DETAILS  OF  STONEWORK  liarities  of  a  new 

1 60 


stone 


FIREPLACE    ACCESSORIES 


161 


material.  Some  of  these  changes  have 
been  noticed  already  in  preceding  chap- 
ters :  Sussex,  for  instance,  where  the 
old  ways  of  working  a  material  were  still 
retained  when  the  material  itself  was 
different.  Warwickshire  and  Glouces- 
tershire showed  a  similar  although  not 
so  marked  a  change,  as  certain  features 
were  as  suitable  for  the  stone  slates  of 
Gloucestershire  as  for  tiles,  such  as  the 
gable  dormers  and  steep  roofs  of  the 
Warwickshire  cottage. 
Another  change  occurs  in  passing  from 
the  east  to  the  west  of  Norfolk.  Instead 
of  the  brick  and  flint,  the  materials  com- 
monly used  on  the  east  coast,  stone  with 
galleted  joints  became  of  frequent  occur- 
rence. This  galleting  is  unlike  that  in 
Kent,  Surrey  or  Sussex.  The  joints  of 


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DOORHEADS 
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DOORHEADS 


the  masonry  are  as  wide  as  in 
Kent,  but  the  small  stones  are 
placed  on  the  flat  and  a  little 
distance  apart. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that 
while  the  characteristic  uses 
of  a  local  material  enable  us 
to  discriminate  between  one 
neighbourhood  and  another, 
it  would  be  a  mistake,  as  we 
have  seen  throughout  the 
foregoing  pages,  to  assume 
an  entirely  consistent  develop- 
ment of  cottage  architecture 
in  one  district.  A  village 


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may  have  some  peculiarly  local  detail,  as 
for  example  at  Stanway,  where  the  thatched 
roofs  are  finished  at  the  ridge  by  a  twisting 
of  the  thatch  into  a  rope  pattern  ;  or  the 
exceptional  walling  that  has  been  noticed  at 
Middleton  ;  or  again  the  elaborate  fixing  of 
the  thatch  roof  on  a  cottage  near  Wellington, 
in  Shropshire.  Even  the  brick  barns  vary  in 
the  honeycombing  of  the  walls  for  ventila- 
tion. In  Worcestershire  the  perforations 
are  in  long  parallel  lines  ;  in  Cheshire  and 
Shropshire  they  are  arranged  in  the  form  of 
diamonds  and  half  diamonds,  with  the  points 
towards  each  other,  while  in  Norfolk  they 
are  in  alternate  courses  of  one  and  two 
openings.  Another  particularly  local  varia- 
tion has  been  noted  in  the  wood  and  timber 
district,  where  the  panels  between  the  wood 


ARCHITECTURAL    DETAILS 


164 


WATCHET,    SOMERSETSHIRE 

framing,  instead  of  being  finished, 
as  usual,  with  a  coat  of  plaster  richly 
matted  with  hair,  have  been  filled 
in  with  a  mixture  of  crushed  alabas- 
ter and  lime,  finished  to  an  almost 
smooth  face,  the  alabaster  coming 
from  the  quarries  near  by.  This  use 
of  an  unusual  material  or  method, 
or  the  alteration  of  a  traditional 
form,  did  not  mean  that  the  builders 
dropped  the  old  way  for  the  new ; 
the  introduction  of  hipped  roofs, 
for  instance,  was  not  the  beginning 
of  the  end  for  the  gable.  Indeed, 
nothing  is  more  remarkable  than 


its  persistence  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest 
examples  of  the  old  cottage.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  county  of  Kent  the  gable  pre- 
dominates everywhere,  the  half-gable  and  half- 
hipped  and  the  wholly-hipped  roof  being  rare 
in  comparison  with  the  other  form.  The 
steep  pitch  of  many  of  the  pantile  roofs  in 
Norfolk  and  Suffolk  is  probably  the  continuance 
of  the  same  form  when  thatch  was  the  com- 
mon roofing  material  ;  the  same  steep  pitch 
is  noticeable  in  the  Cotswolds  and  in  the  Mid- 
lands. One  might  say  of  these  cottages  that 
changes  were  so  slow  that  they  always  appeared 
the  same  to  the  villager ;  decade  followed 
decade  with  few  alterations,  and  outside  influ- 
ences only  touched  remotely  the  newly-built 
cottages  that  were  added  along  the  sides  of  the 
street.  And  the  past  was  always  with  them  ; 
never  a  new  building  that  had  not  something 


DETAILS    OF    EXTERIOR    DECORATION 


DETAILS    OF    STONEWORK 

of  the  old,  never  a  detail 
that  was  not  related  to  one 
already  in  the  cottage  next 
door ;  and  every  Sunday,  as 
the  villager  went  down  or  up 
the  road  to  the  church,  he 
saw  very  much  what  he  had 
always  seen.  In  the  back- 
ground of  the  village  stood 
the  church,  the  pivot  upon 
which  the  whole  village  life 
revolved.  The  inn  was  on 
one  side  of  the  church,  and 
on  the  other  abutted  the 
cottages  of  the  village,  tailing 

165 


away  down  the  street.  The  church  and  the  cottages  grouped  round 
about  it  are  frequently  the  most  beautiful  part  of  the  village.  They 
form,  too,  the  last  bulwark  against  the  cheap  and  pernicious  influence  of 
modern  town  life  and  its  uninteresting  methods  of  building.  The  further 
away  from  the  church  and  the  nearer  to  the  outskirts  of  the  village 
the  more  obvious  becomes  the  encroachment  of  the  cheap  cottage, 
with  its  tin  enamelled  bath  and  conveniences,  well  ventilated  and 
drained  ;  and  the  gardens,  with  their  little  rockeries,  bounded  by  the 
ugly  cast-iron  railing,  and  the  pathway  of  hard  stable-brick  to  the  entrance- 
door.  This  is  the  popular  idea  of  the  country  cottage  to-day.  The 
type  is  almost  universal,  and  its  cost,  if  not  its  characteristics,  is  the 
standard  for  all  others.  The  "  hundred-and-fifty-pounds  "  cottage  is  only 
the  "  ideal  "  in  another  garb.  Cheapness,  not  good  building,  is  its  first 
aim — something  pretty  at  the  price,  and  cheaper  if  possible. 
It  is  strange  and  wonderful  that  an  intelligent  person  should  imagine  that 
good  work  and  good  building  can  be  obtained  without  an  increased  expendi- 
ture of  time  and  thought,  and  that,  with  such  an  idea,  the  new  could  be 
possibly  as  good  as 
the  old.  Money 
spent  in  competi- 
tions to  achieve 
the  impossible, 
would  be  far  better 
laid  out  in  the  en- 
couragement  of 
village  industries, 
and  in  picking 
up  again  the  local 
and  traditional 
methods  of  work. 
Or  it  might  be 
used  for  the  edu- 
cation of  local 
authorities  in  mat- 
ters which  affect 
the  village  crafts. 
They  require  it  ; 
for  of  what  use 
can  it  be  for  edu- 
cational bodies 
like  the  Art 
Workers'  Guilds, 
the  Arts  and 
Crafts  Schools  in 
town  or  village  to 
increase  the  num- 
ber of  workers 
really  interested 
166 


CAST    AND    WROUGHT    IRON    DOOR 
KNOCKERS    AND    LOCK    PLATES 


in  what  they  attempt  to  do,  if  local  bodies  discourage  the  use  of  traditional 
methods  and  material.  This  is  one  of  the  most  pressing  problems  of  beautiful 
building,  both  in  the  towns  and  in  the  agricultural  districts.  On  the  one 
hand  there  is  the  gradual  increase  of  interest  in  the  Arts  and  Crafts  Schools, 
turning  out  from  year  to  year  a  number  of  able  craftsmen  ;  while  on  the 
other  hand  there  is  the  discouragement  by  local  authorities  of  some  of  the 
very  trades  being  taught  in  the  schools.  The  establishment  of  more  craft 
schools  in  the  villages,  locally  controlled,  is  probably  one  of  the  steps  towards 
the  revival  of  country  crafts  along  the  old  lines,  providing  there  grows  up 
at  the  same  time  a  more  intelligent  recognition  by  the  public  of  the  beauty 
of  good  work  in  preference  to  that  which  is  poor  and  cheap,  and  of  which 
we  seem  to  be  getting,  perhaps,  a  little  ashamed. 

That  the  new  cottage,  with  all  its  modern  appliances,  is  a  dismal  failure, 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  Quite  apart  from  any  sentimental  or  historical 
considerations,  the  old  English  cottage  is  altogether  more  admirable  and 
pleasant  to  live  in  than  the  new.  The  walls,  notwithstanding  what  has 
been  said  of  their  defects  in  construction,  are  generally  more  satisfactory 
than  g-in.  walls  and  rough-cast  ;  the  materials  are  better  and  used 
generously.  The  plan,  too,  is  superior,  for  it  is  based  on  an  architectural 
idea — "  the  bay  "  with  transepts  or  aisles,  whereas  the  new  is  merely  an 
economical  and  convenient  arrangement  of  rooms  without  relation  to  a 
central  idea. 

G.  LL.  MORRIS. 


WROUGHT    IRON    WORK 


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THE    .SOLIAN    ORCHESTRELLK.        MODEL     F. 


TO    EVERYONE 

HIS    OWN    ORCHESTRA. 


WITHOUT  the  resources  of 
the    modern    orchestra    the 
hearing    of    much    of    the 
grandest  music  ever  written 
would    have    been    absolutely    denied 
to     the     world.        Music,    the    most 
spiritual  of  the  arts,  so  long  crippled 
by  imperfect  mechanism,  has  now  at- 
tained full  power  of  instrumental  ex- 
pression.     This  realisation  of  music, 
alike  to  the  composer,  the  performer, 
and   the   auditor,   is   consummated   in 
the  /Eolian   Orchestrelle. 


In  appearance  this  instrument  some- 
what resembles  an  upright  piano  ;  but 
whereas  the  piano  is  a  stringed  instru- 
ment, the  jEolian  is  of  the  organ 
principle.  Its  notes  are  produced  from 
pipes,  the  simple  sounds  of  which  are 
softened  and  refined  by  qualifying 
tubes  and  special  air-chambers.  This 
treatment  greatly  increases  the  volume 
of  sound.  The  tone  of  the  Orches- 
trelle is  unique.  With  its  equipment 
of  stops,  faithfully  producing  the 
effects  of  flute  and  horn,  of  clarinet 


\l>.     Mil 


and  piccolo,  of  violin  and  'cello,  all 
the  wood-winds,  strings  and  brasses, 
it  is  more  than  an  organ  adapted  to 
the  requirements  and  limitations  of  a 
private  house  ;  it  is  the  evolution  and 
perfection  of  a  newmusical  instrument. 
There  is  no  music  which  the  Or- 
chestrelle  will  not  produce  with  a 
purity,  delicacy,  and  range  of  tone 
possessed  by  no  other  instrument.  It 
is  a  complete  orchestra,  embodying 


THE    j-F.OLIAN    ORCHESTRELLE.        MODEL    Y. 

all  the  resources  of  a  full  band  of  in- 
strumentalists. It  can  be  played 
directly  from  the  keyboard  or  by 
delicate  mechanism  actuated  through 
the  perforations  of  a  music-roll,  thus 
relieving  the  performer  of  the  technical 
drudgery  of  playing  the  notes  and,  at 
the  same  time,  requiring  his  control 
of  expression  and  time  through  the 
stops.  For  the  Orchestrelle  is  not  an 
automatic  instrument  ;  it  undertakes 
the  production  of  the  notes  as  the 
fingers  of  a  pianist  are  trained  to  pro- 


duce them  mechanically.  But  the 
brain  of  the  player  is  no  less  at  work 
upon  the  music  of  the  Orchestrelle 
than  it  is  upon  the  fingers  of  the 
pianist.  In  each  case  it  is  the  mind 
and  emotion  of  the  performer  that 
give  individuality,  colour,  and  effect 
to  the  music.  This  may  be  thought 
impossible,  and  Madame  Melba  has 
confessed  to  the  prejudice.  She  has 
also  recanted,  and  written  :  "  When  I 
first  heard  of  the  JEolian  Orchestrelle, 
I  was  unable  to  understand  how  a 
musical  instrument  requiring  no  tech- 
nical knowledge  could  be  artistic  from 
the  musician's  standpoint.  I  do  not 
think  it  possible  for  anyone  to  under- 
stand it  unless  they  do  as  I  did — see 
it  and  hear  it  played." 

The  musical  value  of  the  ^Eolian 
Orchestrelle  is  immense — incalculable. 
All  music  is  its  province,  and  perfect 
rendering  its  forte.  It  brings  all  the 
resources  and  entertainment  of  the 
concert-hall  straight  into  the  home. 
It  offers  the  whole  wealth  of  music 
to  the  lover  of  harmony.  For  in- 
stance, if  Brahms  be  the  favoured  com- 
poser, there  is  no  occasion  to  sit  out 
four-fifths  of  a  concert  to  attain  the 
desired  fifth.  The  JEolian  renders 
all  Brahms  when,  where,  and  as  re- 
peatedly as  desired.  The  ./Eolian  does 
not  dictate  the  nuances,  tones,  varia- 
tions of  rhythm  and  execution  ;  it 
places  these  in  the  hands  of  the  player, 
and  he  may  either  regulate  the  time, 
expression,  and  stops  according  to  the 
markings  shown  on  the  roll,  or  he 
may  vary  them  according  to  his  own 
sense  of  music.  The  hand-player  has 
drilled  his  fingers  into  such  certainty 
and  automatism  of  action  that  they 
undertake  the  executive  work  for 
him.  The  ^Eolian  Orchestrelle  under- 
takes the  same  work  for  anyone,  so 
that,  in  the  words  of  De  Reszke,  the 
famous  tenor,  "  If  the  performer  can 


AD.    XIV 


grasp  the  inspiration  of  the  composer, 
the  instrument  affords  him  every 
facility  for  interpreting  the  music 
with  feeling."  All  that  gives  colour, 
expression,  and  individuality  to  the 
music  is  of  the  player's  making.  In 
other  words,  he  has  a  technically- 
skilled  orchestra  entirely  subordinate 
to  his  own  will.  Two  renderings  of 
any  particular  orchestral  work  would 
no  more  agree  than  if  they  were 
played  manually,  for  the  ./Eolian  is 
not  a  mechanical  instrument  ;  it  is 
played  with  brains. 

Famous  musicians  throughout  the 
world  are  united  in  their  appreciation 
of  the  /Eolian  Orchestrelle.  Pianists 
like  Paderewski,  de  Pachmann,  Hof- 
mann  ;  singers  like  Melba,  Calve,  and 
the  brothers  De  Reszke  ;  violinists 
like  Ysaye  and  Sarasate ;  composers 
like  Puccini,  Luigi  Arditi,  and  Mas- 
senet ;  teachers  like  Sir  Alexander 
Mackenzie,  Sir  Hubert  Parry,  and 
Dr.  Turpin  —  these  are  musicians 
whose  critical  and  artistic  power  no 
one  can  question,  and  they,  with  many 
others,  hail  the  ./Eolian  Orchestrelle 

The  virtuoso  appreciates  the  /Eolian 
Orchestrelle  because  he,  above  all,  can 
recognise  the  wonder  of  its  technique, 
its  marvellous  beauty  of  tone  and 
unique  combination  of  the  power  and 
tone-effects  of  all  musical  instruments. 
Moreover,  he  is  aware  of  its  inestim- 
able value  in  the  musical  education 
of  the  public  and  in  the  cultivation 
of  a  love  of  music.  No  other  instru- 
ment places  the  whole  of  orchestral 
music  within  the  productive  capacity 
of  everyone  who  has  musical  taste, 
whatever  his  lack  of  technique. 

Paderewski  has  written  that  the 
/Eolian  Orchestrelle  combines  "all 
the  effects  which  can  be  produced  by 
the  most  skilful  manipulation  of  a 
grand  organ  with  those  of  an  orchestra. 
The  execution  of  even  the  most  com- 


plicated passages  leaves  nothing  to  be 
desired  ;  and  what  adds  to  the  instru- 
ment's value  is  the  magnificent  re- 
pertoire which,  with  great  care  and 
perfect  taste,  has  been  prepared  for  it. 
I  consider  this  instrument  not  only  a 
source  of  delight  to  music-lovers,  but 
also  a  benefit  to  art  itself,  as  by 
means  of  the  /Eolian  the  masterpieces, 
through  a  thus  easily  obtained  pro- 
duction, will  greatly  gain  in  apprecia- 
tion and  popularity." 

To  the  student  or  amateur,  with 
his   imperfect  technique,  the  ./Eolian 


THE    .VOI. IAN    ORCHESTRELLE.        MODEL    V. 

Orchestrelle,  with  its  faultless  render- 
ing of  any  score,  subject  to  the  control, 
in  time,  tone,  and  expression,  of  its 
player,  affords  an  intimacy  with  the 
works,  or  any  particular  work,  of  any 
composer  that  no  series  of  concerts  or 
lectures  would  afford.  The  owner 
of  an  /Eolian,  and  no  one  i'/se,  has 
always  at  his  command  the  means  of 
playing  and  hearing  at  any  time,  and 
as  many  times  and  in  as  many  varia- 
tions ot  time  or  expression  as  he  likes, 
the — for  example — Ninth  Symphony 
of  Beethoven. 


AD.    XV 


THE    JEOL1AN    ORCHESTRELLE.        MODEL    O, 


The  vEolian  Orchestrelle  is  made 
in  several  models  at  a  wide  range 
of  prices.  More  practical  informa- 
tion, and  a  proper  realisation  of 
the  ^Eolian's  place  in  music,  can  be 
obtained  in  one  visit  to  the  ^Eolian 
Hall,  at  135  New  Bond  Street,  than 
can  be  gleaned  from  pages  of  printed 
matter.  The  Orchestrelle  Company 
is  always  pleased  to  welcome  any 
music-lover  who  wishes  for  a  practical 
demonstration,  and  anyone  who  can- 
not make  it  convenient  to  call,  is 
invited  to  write  for  descriptive 
Catalogue  20. 


THE    JEOLIAN    ORCHESTRELLK.        RENAISSANCE    MODEL. 


THE    ORCHESTRELLE    COMPANY, 

^OLIAN     HALL,    135-6-7    NEW    BOND    STREET,    LONDON,  W. 


AD.   XVI 


RSON 


MRMVFflCI- 
VRERS-UMP 
WoRKSFJT 
CHISWICK 
DESlGNS-FoR 


SHOVLD-BE 
POSTEDTooR 
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