Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/837

 BEAU IDEAL OF AN ENGLISH VILLA. 813 aisle to the chancel, terminated by the east window. On each side the aisle would be old oak benches, the ends richly carved with ornamental fineals ; facing you on one side of the chancel arch would be the carved oak pulpit, on the other the reading-desk. One transept would be the vestry, in which would be the stairs to the pulpit ; the other transept woidd contain the descent to the hot air stove under tlie church ; and the coals, &c., used about the church. I would have the chancel wainscoted with carved oak, in the manner of cathedral choirs, as high as the windows ; the floor paved with marble ; the ceiling of the chancel vaulted, having very rich tracery and bosses ; that of the nave, oak in a rich fi-amework, embellished with coats of arms, and supported by handsome corbels. 1 do not mention pews, as I would not have any in the church. The most beautiful interior of a village church I have seen, was that of one rebuilt by a peer of high lank, now deceased, and one of the most excellent of men in every relation of life. It did not contain a single pew. The peer and the peasant each sat on the same sort of seat ; an open bench with a desk affixed to the back, such as are still seen in many of our old churches. Pews are comparatively a modern introduction, and often greatly disfigure a beautiful church. The churchyard should have a handsome gateway. It would probably contain a few picturesque yews or cypresses, numerous tombstones, and, perhaps, a handsome erection covering the entrance to the vault of the principal family in the parish ; and the whole would acquire a secluded and rather solemn effect from the surrounding timber in the park. Such a religious edifice would be worthy of its situation ; and with it I shall conclude my description of the villa and its appendages. Sect. II. Map of the Demesne and Park, and Ground Plan and Elevations of the House, of Beau Ideal Villa. 1734. The Engravings ivhichform the subject of this section are from drawings sent by the autlior of the preceding description (Selim). The map of the grounds has been very slightly altered by us, in order to vary the form of the boundary of the park, and to show, somewhat more in detail, the gardens and pleasure-grounds. The plans and elevations of the house have been kindly revised by one of the most distinguished Villa Architects of the present day, Charles Barry, Esq. 1735. The Demesne is shown in fig. 1435, in which a is the entrance court to the mansion ; b, the kitchen-court ; c, the stable-court ; d, the gardener's house. On the north-west front is an ancient geometrical garden, with a straight walk to the ter- race, e, on the side of the steep and thickly wooded hill. The upper and under sides of this terrace are supposed to be planted with evergreens and bulbs, so as to form a winter garden. Tiiere are three alcove seats on it, open to the south. The two extremities of this walk join other narrower walks, which descend to the American garden at the west end, and a botanic garden at the end opposite. In front of the drawing-room side of the mansion there is a descent from the terrace into an ancient English parterre, ornamented with statues, vases, fountains, and a sundial. The walks on the side of the wooded hill are of turf, but those in the lower parts of the grounds are chiefly of gravel, f, The situation of the ice-house, in a rising bank near the river, for the convenience of filling it with ice ; g, the keeper's lodge, and dog-kennels, on rising ground, and partially concealed by wood ; h, the deer-sheds, with hay-stacks in front, for feeding the deer during winter ; i, a circular Grecian temple, on rising ground, seen from the liouse ; j and k, waterfalls, seen from the house ; I, ornamental pigeon- house ; m, dairy-house and farmery to the mansion ; n, entrance lodges and garden ; 0, school-house on the village green ; p, road through the village to the turnpike ; q, parish road, passing through the estate ; r, farms belonging to the proprietor of the demesne ; s, water-mill ; t, parsonage-house, garden, and glebe ; n, church ; v, cottages of the village ; w, common, for the pasturage of the cottagers' cows during summer ; a*, stone quarry ; i/, rocky copse ; z, thick copsewood, and rising hills thickly covered with wood, intersected by green walks and grassy glades ; a', orchard; 6', sunk fence, enclosing the gardens and pleasure-ground, and changing into an iron fence where it enters the wooded hill ; c, a portion of the park beyond the parish road ; the fence on each side of the road being either a sunk wall or ha-ha, or open iron fencing, so as to show the passengers from the house ; d', a hedge, allowed to remain, in order to har- monise the park with the enclosures beyond ; e', protruding hedges, for the same purpose ; f'f', two points, between which the boundary of the park is formed by an iron fence concealed in the natural copsewood ; g' g', walks on each side of the river, open at all times to the villagers and the public. The other walks, and the public rooms of the house, may be supposed to be open for public inspection two days in the week, h' h'. Continuation of enclosed country, divided into farms, and interspersed with copses, the distance rising into hills ; i', great public road to the metropolis ; k' /f and I' l', con- tinuation of the estate.