Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1892 edition. Excerpt: ...with gateways leading from one to the other. At Orchard Portman there was an outer fore court separated from the inner fore court by a wall and two-storey gatehouse. Kip's view of the old gardens at Longleat shows a very remarkable fore court. The outer court was only separated from the park by a fence, with a wrought-iron gateway leading to the fore court proper. A broad nagged causeway led from the gates to the front door, with flights of fifteen step's leading to a lower terrace on either side in front of the house. The sides of this causeway were formed apparently with grass slopes; on either side of it were grass lawns at a lower level than the terrace, with circular basins and fountains in the centre. The effect of such an arrangement must have been quite magnificent. The whole of it was swept away by Capability Brown; and the utter insignificance of the present approach shows the full capacity for mischief of the landscape system. At old Eaton Hall the outer court was formed by a semicircular wall, extending beyond the full width of the inner fore court sufficiently far to admit of gateways into the base courts on either side of the inner fore court. This is a simple and masterly plan. The fore court at Westwood, in Worcestershire, was laid out lozenge-wise, with a gatehouse in the centre and three-storey pavilions at the two angles. These instances are enough to show that the fore court was not tied down to one uniform plan, but might be varied indefinitely to meet the conditions of the house and grounds. The house court was abandoned for the practical reason that it prevented a carriage drawing up at the front door; but no such objection holds against the fore court. It gives privacy to the house, and when properly planned, ..