FRANKLIN INSTITUTE LIBRARY PHILADELPHIA Class (a.SLO. Book Q..Ux2l Accession ./. /'.Cp / v. xiio ^.cLury ssxian nave autlionty to loan to Members of the Institute any work belonging to the second class, subject to the following regulations : — Section 1. Every person, on borrowing a book, shall sign a conditional bond, or obligation, for the sum of fjfty dollars, as security for his due observance of the rules of the Library, and for the value of such books as may be injured or lost by him. Section 2. No individual shall be permitted to have more than two books out at one time, without a written permission, signed by at least two Mem- bers of the Library Committee, nor shall a book be kept out more than two weeks ; but if no one has applied for it, the former borrower may renew the loan : should any person have applied for it, the latter shall have the preference. Section 3. A fine of ten cents per week shall be exacted for the detention of every book beyond the limited tin^; and if a book be not returned within three months, it shall be deemed lost, and the borrower shall, in addition to his fines, forfeit its value. Section 4. Should any book be returned injured, the borrower shall pay for the injury, or replace the book, as the^Djbrary Committee may direct; and if one or more books, belonging to a set or sets, be lost, the borrower shall pay the full value of the set or sets, and may take the remaining volumes. Article 7. Any person removing from the Hall, without permission from the proper authorities, any book, newspaper, or other property in charge of the Library Committee, shall be reported to the Committee, who may inflict any fine not exceeding Twenty-five Dollars. Article 8. No Member, whose annual contribution for the current year shall be unpaid, or who is in arrears for fines, shall be entitled to the privi- leges of the Library or Reading Room. Article 9. If any member shall refuse or neglect to comply with the fore- going rules, it shall be the duty of the Actuary to report him to the Commit- tee on the Library. ✓ ■/ 5 < RUDIMENTARY TREATISE. COTTAGE BUILDING: , OR, HINTS FOR IMPROVING THE DWELLINGS OF THE LABOURING CLASSES. My leading doctrine is, that to make these poor people letter, it is * * v, necessary ta make them ifro ke cnmfort'ille.” X ® ; > J o ^ ’ •> » \ ! t Ed£lEnb$r£, p>f'; HppwyL. C. BRUCE ALLEnI ARCHITECT. O Aouita » : JOHN WEALE, ARCHITECTURAL LIBRARY, 59 , HIGH HOLBORN. 1849-50. PRINTED BY HUGHES AND ROBINSON, KING’S HEAD COURT, GOUGH SQUARE. PREFACE. The Author would wish it to be understood that this little treatise does not profess to give all the informa- tion, practical or otherwise, necessary to the Cottage Builder, — as indeed no treatise, however extensive, can, — experience , as well as knowledge , being requisite for the successful practice of any art. It is therefore necessary to remind those who are too apt to conceive that the ability to practise any art fol- lows from their having read, however attentively, a treatise on the subject, that in whatever especially applies to their own business or profession , they would probably be very unwilling to admit that any one, by merely reading a book or two, could possibly be enabled to accomplish that which they are only qua- lified to execute after perhaps twenty or thirty years 5 study and experience. These remarks, which are applicable to other sub- jects as well as the one here treated of, are the more necessary at the present time, as several works already before the public on this particular subject, and others that are announced for publication, profess to give all 17 £ / VI PREFACE. the information necessary to qualify a person to be- come his own Architect. The Author hopes, therefore, that the perusal of this work, if it answers no other end, may at least convince any rational person that the knowledge of a profession necessary to its successful practice must be acquired by long study and experience; and that the use of an introductory treatise is not to completely teach an art, much less to qualify any one to practise it, but to give them that amount of information which shall render them better able to judge of the qualifications of those who have made it their profession. 9, Great College Street, Westminster. c. B. A. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. On the Necessity that exists for increased Attention to the Dwellings of the Poor . . . . p. 1-21 CHAPTER II. Hints on the Construction of Cottages for the Labouring Poor. — Site and Position — Drainage, and Supply of Water — Walls — Floors— Roofs — Ventilation and Warming . ......... 22-55 CHAPTER III. On Architecture as a Fine Art 56-79 Plates I to XXVI. — Plans, Elevations, Sections, &c. . . . 80-111 Estimate of Cost 112 Appendix — Specification of Works to be done in the Erection of Cottages 113-120 COTTAGES EOR THE LABOURING POOR. CHAPTER I. Society is not only disfigured but endangered by the Poverty and Ignorance and Vice of a multitude of its members; and its security and happiness demand nothing so imperiously as that this wretched mass should be enlightened, elevated, redeemed. A late eminent divine, speaking of the Present Age, says — “The physical sufferings of the Poor are not their chief evils. The great calamity of the Poor is not their Poverty, but the tendency of their privations and of their social rank to degra- dation of mind. Give them the Christian spirit, and they would find in their lot the chief elements of good : 55 for example, — The domestic affections may and do grow up among the Poor, and these are to all the chief springs of earthly happi- ness. Books, too, find their way into every house, however mean ; and especially that book which contains more nutriment for the intellect, imagination, and heart, than all others — the Bible ; and among the Poor are those who find in that one book more enjoyment, more awakening truth, more lofty and beautiful imagery, and more culture to the whole soul, than thousands of the educated find in their general studies, and vastly more than millions in that superficial transitory litera- 2 COTTAGES FOR ture which consumes all their reading hours. Even the pleasures of a refined taste are not denied to the Poor, but might he easily opened to them by a wise culture. True, their rooms are not lined with works of Art, but the living beauty of Nature opens on the eyes of all her children ; and nothing is wanting to the poor man, in his Ordinary walks, but a more spiritual eye to discern a beauty which has never yet been embodied in the most inspired works of sculpture or painting. But the condition of the Poor is, without doubt, unfriendly to mental culture and progress. Confined to a monotonous routine of daily toil, there can be little to rouse in them either thought or feeling; and the hope of a better lot, which rouses and stirs up in other men so much intense thought and action, is apt too soon to fade from their minds. Their condition, too, exerts a most baneful influence on the domestic affections. A family crowded into a single and narrow apartment, which is at once living-room, kitchen, bed- room, nursery, and often hospital, must, without great firm- ness and self-respect, be wanting in neatness, order, and comfort. The want of an orderly and comfortable home is among the chief evils of the Poor . Another unhappy influence exerted on the Poor is their living in th.e sight and in the midst of innumerable comforts and luxuries, which are far above their reach. From this flows their envy and discontent, and, in a measure, their crimes, justified to their own minds by what seems to them the unjust and cruel inequalities of social life. And from this flows another and fearful trial of the Poor, — that while so much is denied them, there is placed within their reach many sinful and debasing gratifications. The same thirst for enjoyment and excitement which drives the rich and prosperous from their pleasant homes to scenes of novelty and stirring amusement, drives the Poor to where they can forget for a time the wearing realities of life ; for in every poor man’s neighbourhood there flows a Lethean stream, which first THE LABOURING POOR. 3 affords him pleasurable excitement, and then buries him for a while in oblivion of all his humiliations and sorrows.* The civilization of the present age multiplies gratifications and allurements without awakening proportionate moral powers to withstand them. These are some of the evils of Poverty, — a condition which offers many and peculiar obstructions to the development of intellect and right feeling. It ds for the benevolent and wealthy to help to remove them : the Poor can do but little for themselves without assistance, — and surely, ignorant and sorely tempted as they are, they have solemn claims for aid which they have never yet received. But what are the means commonly used to relieve the wants and distresses of the Poor ? They are the support of Charitable Institutions (whose amount of good must, from their comparative fewness, be limited) and Alms-giving. When these means fail, or when the wealthy find their gifts afford no permanent relief, but only call for a renewal of the gift, the unfortunate sufferer is left to descend to the lowest state of human degradation and dependency, — the Parish Workhouse. That Christianity should have now been in the world for more than eighteen centuries, and that in the most Christian and highly civilized country of the globe, one-tenth part of the population should be unable to provide for their individual existence, is a fearful subject of consideration ; and the more so when it is seen that the lower animals are never found in this state, but appear to enjoy existence, each one as far as its powers permit, and to provide for itself in the most perfect way. And the question arises, why have all men been endowed with * This, the great reason of intemperance, founded as it is in the very constitution of human nature, is, as far as the cause is concerned, both right and proper : it is the misdirection of noble qualities, and shows that the benevolent efforts of those who are so active in the Temperance Move- ment can have but a very limited effect till more innocent and legitimate excitement is provided for those who are the objects of their praiseworthy exertions. i COTTAGES FOR faculties so much higher, if a few only of the race are to profit by them? If the creatures of instinct enjoy, as all must see they do, all the happiness of which their nature is susceptible, how much greater should be the happiness of reasonable and accountable beings, even on earth? But the reverse is continually and mournfully seen, and is only to be accounted for by the fact, that the feelings and instincts of men require to be directed over the partitions. It has lately been proposed to use wire-work (galvanized or japanned to prevent corrosion), the wires being about ^ inch apart, in place of lath, for ceilings and partitions : this plan would of course greatly diminish the risk from fire. The cheapest and one of the most useful Coverings for the external walls of houses formed of earth, or indeed of any other material requiring to be covered, and having projecting eaves, is rough-cast. In the process of executing it, the wall is first pricked up with a coat of lime and hair, on which, materials, however good or carefully put together, can retain warmth and prevent the passage of sound, if built so slightly. Mr. Loudon is probably correct in fixing the minimum thickness of external walls in this country, for human habitations, at 18 inches: hut indeed nothing less than a series of experiments with walls of different materials and different thicknesses can satisfactorily determine these matters. Some singular and unexpected results would probably arise. A little money judiciously spent in making experiments of this kind would be of very great service. * Their most convenient size and least thickness must of course be a matter for experiment ; and the author would take this opportunity of saying that he has had no means of testing the efficiency of this or of any of the contrivances mentioned : they must be considered, therefore, merely as suggestions. 40 COTTAGES FOR when tolerably well set, a second coat is laid, as smooth as possible : as fast as the workman finishes this surface, another follows him with the rough-cast, with which he be- spatters the fresh plastering, and smoothes it with a brush, so that the whole dries together. The rough-cast is a composition of small gravel, finely washed, mixed with pure lime and water to a state of semi-fluid consistency. For inside work, coarse stuff, or lime and hair, is prepared like mortar, with sand ; but in the mixing, hair of the bullock, obtained from the tanners’ yards, is added to it, and dis- tributed over the mass as equally as possible. Mere laying or rendering is, however, the most economical sort of plastering, and does very well for cottages. The walls may be coloured while the plaster is wet, on the principle of fresco : the colours, by this method, are fresher and more brilliant than by any other, and may be had at a very trifling expense. But the commoner sorts of paper being now so cheap, — and with greater simplicity of pattern, and by using but one colour, they might be manufactured still cheaper, — the walls of every cottage living-room, at least, should be covered with it, as conducing so much to the cheerfulness and comfort of the inmates.* * The great beauty capable of being attained in a paper with but two colours (that is, a ground colour and a different one for the ornament) has been pointed out and illustrated by Mr. Pugin, but apparently to little purpose; for the most expensive modern papers consist of a set of unmeaning patterns, or direct imitations of flowers, animals, parts of buildings, &c., in as many colours as the price of the paper admits of, and commonly without the least regard to harmony of arrangement. Those who are unable to produce a beautiful and harmonious effect by the use of two colours, are not very likely to succeed by the use of ten or a dozen , — the difficulty of producing a fine and harmonious effect in- creasing in a geometrical ratio (so to speak) with every additional colour employed. THE LABOURING POOR. 41 SECTION IV. — FLOORS. The Floors of cottages may be formed in a great variety of ways ; the principal, and among the most economical, are the following : Lime-ash floors are formed in several ways, according to the locality. One of the most approved methods is the fol- lowing : the sand to be used, after being well washed and freed from earth, is mixed with lime ashes, in the proportion of two-thirds sand to one-third lime ashes, both thoroughly mixed together. It is then, after being suffered to remain for two or three days, tempered with water, and laid on the ground, or other surface to be covered, to the depth of about 3 inches. In two or three days it becomes sufficiently hard to bear treading on, and is then beaten all over with a wooden mallet, till it becomes perfectly hard, using at the same time a trowel and a little water to render the surface as smooth as possible. These floors are very durable, having been known to last for a number of years without needing any repair. Another and very economical mode for ground floors is to lay on a hard and well beaten foundation, clean gravel, sand, lime, and tar, forming a concrete , and covering this with an inch and a half of good cement, composed of one part of cement to three parts of sand, carefully floated and trowelled. These floors require to be executed with great care.* In using plaster or stucco for the upper floors, broad battens, or reeds, are laid on the joists (hoop-iron in lengths to stretch from wall to wall, would perhaps be found better) : the upper surface or floor of plaster is then laid and finished as above described, and the ceiling completed between the joists. If the hoop -iron is quite straight and flat, and * The above modes of forming plaster floors are given from a variety of methods practised in various places : many more might be mentioned, all said to be equally good and lasting ; but without a trial there is no w r ay of testing their merits, or of judging which is the best. 42 COTTAGES FOR Fig. 18. — Section of plaster floor. nailed here and there to the joists, close together, no plas- ter ceiling need be required, the under side being painted. (Fig. 18 .) Asphalte has been much employed of late for the flooring of barns and outbuildings, as well as for pavements, roofs, &c. ; but does not appear to have been much used in cottages, for the floors of which it would seem to be admirably adapted, at least for rooms on the ground floor. It is laid down in the following manner : on a dry foundation a layer of gravel or small stones is laid, upon which the asphalte, in a boiling state, is evenly spread to a thickness of about 2 inches, being at the same time carefully pressed down and smoothed : very small stones are then sifted over, and pressed down on it.* As one principal object in the formation of floors in cottages on the ground story is to insure their dryness, f a method said to be practised in Bengal would seem to be very suitable in places where pottery is cheap. The earth of the room to be * According to Dr. Ure, an asphalte equal to the natural kind is made by mixing boiled coal tar with powdered chalk or bricks. f The importance to health of living in a dry habitation is thus shown by Captain Murray, It. N., in a letter to a distinguished medical practi- tioner in Scotland. He says that he succeeded in bringing back to Eng- land the whole of his ship's screw without even one sick, after having passed two years among the icebergs of Labrador, and having gone from thence to the coast of Caraccas, and afterwards visiting the whole of the West India Islands and other places, — a severe trial to the constitutions of his men in climates usually fatal to so many Europeans. And this he attributes principally to the dryness of his ship, to his having every part of it scrubbed daily with hot sand and holy-stones, and to the employment of Brodie stoves, which were constantly used until every appearance of humidity vanished. He says, “ I am quite satisfied that a dry ship will always be a healthy one in any climate." This, of course, must apply equally to houses. To insure dryness, therefore, as much as possible in places where the ground is low and damp, an artificial platform may be formed with dry brick or other rubbish, 18 inches or 2 feet above the level of the ground, and on this the cottage should be built. THE LABOURING POOR. 43 floored is made hard and level, and unglazed earthen pots , about a foot in height, are then placed with their mouths downwards and close together, over the whole surface : the vacant spaces between the pots are then filled in with pounded charcoal, and over the whole a floor is formed of coarse brick- dust and lime, well worked together. Common flower-pots would answer the purpose, as in the. figure, hut th§y would be better if made with a ledge, a a , and thereby offer a much firmer resistance to the pressure above than the mere edge of the pot. The space between the pots may of course be filled in with any kind of dry rubbish, (charcoal being expensive,) and the floor formed of lime-ash, as is above described. (Fig. 19.) Fig. 19 . — Section of a plaster floor. A still firmer floor, and one needing no cement covering, might be formed by using hexagonal pots with a rim, as above mentioned, and a groove and tongue, which would bind the whole together, rendering any cement unnecessary. On a hard foundation the under rim might, perhaps, be dispensed Fig . 20 ._ Sectjon of a floor formed ~ with. (Fig. 20.) hollow pots. The entrance porch, lobby, kitchen, wash-house, &c., may he paved with brick on edge; and in the better sort of cottages, with ornamental tiles , set anglewise or square. These tiles may be considered to make the best sort of floors for cottages, as they are hard and nearly indestructible, readily cleaned, and remove all danger from fire. To their use on the ground floor there can be no objection but expense, and this would to a certain extent be removed by their more general use. They might also be readily employed in the upper floors by laying them on longer tiles, as seen in the drawing, and bedding them in cement, in the same way as the common plain tile floors are constructed. If only these latter are used, two 44 COTTAGES FOR courses would be enough for a bearing of two feet from centre to centre of the joists. (Fig Fig. 21 . — Section of tile floor. 21.) The upper floors of cottages have lately been executed of arched brickwork in mortar. The arches (in one case) were seven feet .span, and turned in half a brick, except at the springing and the skew-backs ; they rose about one inch in every foot in span ; the spandrils were filled in with concrete, and the tile floor afterwards laid with mortar. Instead of brickwork, arches formed of hollow pots have been proposed, which are much lighter. The annexed drawing represents a section of a fire-proof floor formed of iron bearers with brick or hollow pot arches : one or two rods might be necessary to prevent lateral thrust, Fig. 22. — Section of fire-proof floor. and to make the floor perfectly independent of the walls, except where the bearers rest on them. Either a plaster, tile, or wooden floor might be laid on it. (Fig. 22) The subjoined engraving represents the opening for the fire- place, with the slab for the hearth and trimming joist; and instead of an arch in brickwork, as usual, a series of curved tiles. This it will be seen must answer all the uses which the ordinary Fig. 23 .— section of tile trimmer. brick trimmer is supposed to possess, would be neater, and would require much less la- bour in the fixing. (Fig. 23.) As the firmness and stability of a brick or stone wall de- pends so much on its being built without the admission of any THE LABOURING POOR. 45 other material, ’ such as wood for plates, &c., and on its having as few points as need he for the support of the floors, a great improvement would be effected by employing girders, as in the figure, from wall to wall, and tenoning the joists into them. This would reduce the supporting points to four in number, and would entirely obviate the necessity of wall- plates. (Figs. 24 and 25.) Fig. 25 .— Section. The figures also show the skirting-boards or fillets with the plastering brought down to the floor-boards, and carried through, thereby forming a perfect key, and at the same time leaving no hollow space for harbouring vermin and dust. In connection with the floors, and fire-proof construction (a most important point in cottage building),* the Stairs may be mentioned. As commonly constructed, the hollow space formed by the tread and riser is enclosed by a flat plaster covering or ceiling, having a most unsightly appearance, and rather aiding than preventing their destruction in case of fire. The engraving shows the bearers of wood, but the tread and riser of earthenware, to be formed in one piece for strength. Stairs thus formed would be fire- proof, and would have a neat appearance. (Figs. 26 and 27.) Fig. 27.-Eievation. Fig. 26. — Section of stairs formed of tile. II iL X * Every cottage ought, as far as possible, to be fire-proof, as, if burnt down, not only tbe landlord or Fire Insurance Company suffers, but the cottager is probably ruined by losing all his household furniture and working tools. 46 COTTAGES FOR SECTION Y. ROOFS. The Roofs of cottages may he formed of a great variety of materials, and a number of modes of construction have been invented. For the humbler kinds of dwellings, thatch , though falling into disuse, seems admirably adapted; not only as being cheap, hut as being the warmest of all coverings, and less liable to admit the changes of temperature. The objection, its liability to take fire, may he, to a great extent, removed by soaking it in a mixture of alum water and size. It is usually made of combed wheat straw, called reed, consisting of the stiff, unbruised and unbroken stalks which have been carefully separated from the fodder straw by the thrasher. A more durable thatch is formed of the spray of trees, previously well seasoned, hoop chips, and the chips of coppice wood. The roofs may be covered with the common 'pan or plain tiles in the usual manner, the ridges and valleys being also formed in tile. The ridge tiles should always form a straight line ; and a great improvement in the valley tiles would be the making them in long lengths, and forming the necessary fall in the thickness of the tile it- self, as in the figures : no gutter fillets would be required, and it would be perfectly weather- tight, especially if where a joint occurs it were set in cement, and the joint formed as in Fig. 29 .— section of valley tile. figure 3. (Figs. 28 and 29.) The French roofing tiles , introduced by Sir John Robison, are square in form, and about 9 inches across, with a raised ledge on two sides. They are laid, with or without mortar. THE LABOURING POOR. 47 Fig. 30.— Section of roof tile. diagonally, so that the rain-water never hangs to the joints by capillary attraction, hut runs to the lower points, and from thence to the flat surface of the next tile. These tiles are lighter than pantiles. A great variety of ornamental tiles (some of them sufficiently fanciful) have of late been manufactured : abetter mode of join- ing them, and one requiring no mortar, is shown in the figure, as the water creeping in under the edge of the upper tile would he effectually stopped by the curved inner rim, which, by its form, would prevent the water from making its way to the roof timbers. (Fig. 30.) A very economical plan of covering a roof with slate has lately been introduced, as it only takes half the quantity of slates, requires no battens, and, if large ones are used, a less number of rafters. In this plan of covering a roof, the slates are fixed in the same manner as glass in a skylight, but instead of being inserted in a rebate, a fillet of wood is used, about 1^ inch high and 1 inch broad on the top, and f inch broad at the bottom : this slip is nailed down the centre of each rafter, and the slate stopped in with putty in the manner above mentioned, each slate having a lap of from 2 to 3 inches. This mode of slating, if carefully performed and kept well painted, will last for a number of years. One objection to it is its extremely slovenly appearance, as not only the line formed by the putty cannot be kept even, but the paint is commonly found smeared half over the slate. By forming it as in the figure this is remedied : a strong wooden fillet is nailed over both slates, thereby making a perfectly secure joint, as well as showing a neat appearance. The fillet should be well painted before fixing. (Fig. 31.) Fi &* 31 .— Section of slate roof. 48 COTTAGES FOR Cast-iron roofing has occasionally been employed for cot- tages, and corrugated iron may be used with great advantage, as no rafters are required, and it can be used in long lengths without fear of bending. As a slight improvement in these roofs, the method here shown might be adopted. The raised portion would not only greatly strengthen it, and allow the iron to be used in longer lengths, but it would have a Fig. 32.-section of corrugated iron, better appearance. (Fig. 32.) The eaves-gutters, when there are any, are commonly formed of cast iron or zinc,* and have a very unsightly appearance, from the fall not allowing of their being fixed parallel to the line of eaves, besides their liability to sag between the supports. Of late, a wooden gutter has been used, with the fall formed within its own depth, thereby keeping a horizontal line r The joints should he as few as may be, and where they occur should be carefully mitred. These wooden gutters must oc- casionally be painted. The same form might be used in tile, as in the figure, in as long lengths as possible, and with the joints formed as above, described for the valley tiles. (Fig. 33.) The angles formed by the chimney-shaft and the roof, as also those formed by the roof and wall, are, in the more ex- pensive houses, covered with lead, which, besides expense, does not harmonize in colour with a tile roof ; and in the commoner sort, are merely jointed with mortar or cement,— a very imper- fect method, as the weather speedily causes it to crumble * Sometimes the ridges and gutters of a roof are formed of a substance called marine-metal, so named, apparently, from its wavy appearance and changeable properties when in such situations. THE LABOURING POOR. 49 away, and it then becomes necessary to renew it, and is continually a source of trouble and expense. By using a tile fillet of the shape indicated in the figure, and set in cement, a per- fectly secure and water-tight joint would be formed, hav- ing a very neat appearance. It is here represented in ele- vation at a a , and the figures c, d, e , show different forms of tiles.* (Fig. 34.) 1 1 M ' u SECTION VI. — VENTILATION AND WARMING. As economy in materials and construction is absolutely ne- cessary in all that relates to cottage building, any mode of Ventilation which could be proposed must be accomplished without an expensive apparatus, and of so simple a nature as to be nearly or quite incapable of derangement. The prejudice in favour of an open fire being so great, it is imperative in all cases to provide for it; and as it always makes the largest demand on the air of a room, it should be separately supplied, so as to be perfectly independent of doors and windows. The best way of doing this, at least in cottages, is to con- nect each fire-place with the outer air by means of a flue-tube * Tiles of this form, made circular on plan, might be used with advantage for setting the common chimney-pots, instead of the unsightly mass of mortar usually cobbled round them. c Fig. 34. — Elevation of a chimney- shaft, showing tile angle fillets. 50 COTTAGES FOR at the level of or under the floor, opening out just above the ground surface, and admitting the air behind, or at the side of the grate. The tube may be either formed in the brickwork itself, of metal, or of earthenware. Both the external opening and the opening into the fire-place should be closed by a grating. This mode of supplying the fire with air would (from ex- periments made by Mr. Hosking) also supply the room as well with a sufficient quantity of fresh and tempered air for all purposes ; the more especially as, according to Dr. Arnott, a sufficiency of fresh air always enters a room by the spaces left in consequence of the imperfect closing of doors and windows, and the occasional opening of the door. In most cases where attempts are made to ventilate rooms, the fresh air is admitted by an opening connected with the outer air, and at the level of the floor, through the skirting, — a very imperfect method, not only as being dirty, the air collect- ing dust as it passes, but as creating a draught along the floor in its passage to the opposite opening. By admitting the air through earthenware tubes, at about seven feet above the floor, or just above a person’s bead, both these sources of an- noyance and discomfort would be avoided ; the clean earthen- ware tube would be free from dust, and the cold air would mix with the warm air in the room above the head, and could not therefore be felt as a draught ; and as the fire is supplied separately, no down current would be likely to take place.* The vitiated and heated air in each room may be carried off by the chimney-flue, through an orifice just below the ceiling, fitted with one of Dr. Arnott’ s chimney-valves or some similar apparatus, or even by a simple opening.f * In houses of two or more stories, it would be better to draw the air for the supply of the fire, and also for ventilating the rooms, from the staircase, the air in it being warmer than the external atmosphere ; and it would at the same time be itself ventilated, means being of course provided in it for the admission of a sufficient quantity of fresh air. t When it is proposed to let the foul and heated air escape through an aperture close to the ceiling, it is on the supposition that the foul and THE LABOURING POOR. 51 Where the draught in the flue is insufficient, and a cowl or other contrivance is needed, a simple apparatus, as is here shown, might answer the pur- pose. It consists of an inner tube for the passage of the smoke, and an outer one as an air-flue ; the space a a is open all round, having only enough metal to support the outer tube firmly ; the direction of the current of air caused by the wind is represented by the ar- rows, thereby creating a draught and carrying the smoke up with it.% (Fig, 35.) . Another plan is here shown : it consists of a metal or other tube, inside of which is an Archimedean screw, turned by a wind-vane (shown more clearly on the plan); and so long as the force of the wind is great enough to turn the screw, a con- tinual up-draught or current of air would result. Whether the heated air ascends. The Laws of Nature are usually considered to admit of no exceptions : this is, however, an error. In the neighbourhood, and inside the Model Prison, heated and foul air is found to descend, and accordingly, with admirable wisdom and forethought, the ingenious con- triver of that edifice has provided holes close to the floor, through which he supposes the hot air to pass, the colder and fresh air being admitted through apertures near the ceiling ! The resources of old age and science are truly wonderful, and at times unfathomable, * A somewhat similar apparatus is already in use, but it differs from the above in having the external tube of exactly the same height as the inner one. How it is supposed to act cannot be learned : it is called the 1 Himalaya funnel/ and operates, it is believed, on those mountains. Fig. 35. — Section of chimney-funnel. Fig. 36.— Section of chimney-funnel. 52 COTTAGES FOR screw, when not in action — as in perfectly calm weather — would oppose in any inconve- nient degree the passage of the smoke, can only be determined Fig. 37 . Flan. by experiment : if it did so, it would of course be inapplicable to smoke-flues, but it might still be useful for ventilating rooms and stair cases.* (Figs. 36 and 37.) A great desideratum in the cottage is a cheap cooking-stove 9 and one that shall burn inferior fuel. What are usually called cottage cooking- stoves are common in Holland and the Nether- lands, but from various causes are little used in England. Of these the Bruges stove appears to be the best adapted both for warming a cottage and for cooking ; it consumes the (lost inferior description of fuel, and that perfectly, as it is a fur- nace, the fire-box being completely enclosed. ' But the great objection to its more general or indeed uni- versal adoption, besides expense, is, that like Dr. Arnott’s stove, the fire is invisible ; and as the prejudice in England is so great in favour of an open fire, any form of stove, however perfect in its action, where this is not the case, would stand little or no chance of adoption. The engraving represents a proposed modification of the above stove, combining, to a certain extent, these advantages ; it might be used in the cottage kitchen, where the open fire would be less cared for. It is shown in section in the figure, where a represents the fire-box ; 1, the space for the passage of smoke ; c, the chimney-fun- nel ; the holes, d d 9 are for a Fig. 38. — Section of cottage cooking-stove, kettle and saucepan; and when * The Archimedean screw has been applied for the purpose of ven- tilation before, but only as turned by machinery. THE LABOURING POOR. 53 not in use for these purposes they are covered by iron lids : e, is the ash-box, the distance to which it is drawn out regu- lating the draught, and f> the space to be used as an oven. The elevation represents the stove as seen in front, standing on a basement of brickwork ; it shows the front of the ash-box and also the door, which could . . Fig. 39. — Elevation. at all times remain open when the stove is not in use for cooking purposes, the fire then burning as in a common grate. (Figs. 38 and 39.) This modification of the open and the close stove might, perhaps, in time remove the prejudice that exists against the latter : its perfect action and economy of fuel, when closed, would soon be discovered, and the determination not to use it at all might be removed by opening the door and using it as an open stove. An economical mode of forming the living-room fire-place and stove is shown in the annexed drawings. The chimney jambs, arch, and back, are formed of bricks glazed on the outer surface, which would have a very neat and clean appear- ance. The plan shows the back of the fire-place as circular, with the grate placed as far forward and as nearly in the focus of the reflecting surface as possible. The chimney mouth 54 COTTAGES FOR Fig. 41. — Elevation. should be small, and provided, where the cost will allow of it, with a register flap to regulate the draught. The dotted lines in the plan show the course of the air-flue. The fender may- be formed of stone or earthenware. The grate is shown of a simple construction, and may be rendered still more so by form- ing the supports or sides of brick or tile. (Figs. 40 and 41.) In connection with ventilation and purity of air, it may be remarked, that a food-safe is a most important fixture in a cottage, and should never he omitted. Poor people are apt to leave food lying about, un- less there be a place at hand for its reception ; and nothing tends more to vitiate the air in a room. The safe in the figure is shown as a close box, fixed to the wall, but open on one side, and having a door on the other, and enclos- ing a window fitted with an iron grating or perforated zinc plate. A safe thus constructed would keep all articles of food sweet. Fig. 42.— -Plan of safe. THE LABOURING POOR. 55 and prevent any smell from entering the room. (Figs. 42 and 43.) In connection too with venti- lation, the door and window fas - tenings and hinges may be no- ticed : at present, those used for Fig^L— Plan of window-fastening, the commoner sort of houses and cottages become useless after the wear and tear of a month or two; and the reason seems Fig. 45.— Elevation, to be, that they are the cheapest and smallest copies of the more expensive ones used in better work. For cottages, things of this kind cannot be too simple. The drawings represent a simple and inexpensive form of window -fastening, the im- movable spring and small rusty iron wheel being omitted. (Figs. 44 and 45.) 56 ANCIENT AND MODERN CHAPTER III. ARCHITECTURE AS A FINE ART. “ Our Architecture will languish, and that in the very dust, until the first principles of common sense be manfully obeyed.”— Ruskin. In a book of so limited an extent, and where so much space is necessarily taken np with constructive matters, but little can be said on the subject of Architecture as a Fine Art, or on the extent to which it may be applied in cottage buildings. But the Art of Building, though all important, is but the means, not the end, of Architectural skill ; and it must not be forgotten that the constructive skill of the present age is its grand distinction ; and that in no age of the world has construc- tion been so well understood, both theoretically and practically, or the materials used so various, as at the present time. It is the Art of Design or Architecture as a Fine Art that is wanting : but so little indeed do the Principles seem to be un- derstood upon which Architectural Beauty depends, that a few words on the subject generally will perhaps be better than on the more restricted application of them to the mere purpose of house building ; and this especially, as the Principles which govern the application of an art, and by which it should be judged, do so under every variety of circumstance. The superiority of Modern over Ancient Art, in all that relates to construction, will be evident by considering that the Egyptians and Greeks seldom, if ever, used (even if they understood) the arch. The Romans had little carpentry, (in the present sense of the word,) brick arches being used where wooden construction would have been much better ; and even the Mediaeval builders, skilful as they were, had little or ARCHITECTURE. 57 no theoretical knowledge, and but little skill in the more delicate constructive operations (as in joinery), and certainly could not have built very many of the great works of modem times, even had they possessed the materials. The Menai Tubular Bridges, perhaps the greatest triumph of modem con- structive art, may be instanced.* But with constructive knowledge and skill, the superiority of Modern over Ancient Art ends ; for where is to be found, amidst modern Architectural efforts, the impressive grandeur of the Temples of Egypt ? The ruins of Karnak and Luksor show, (independently of association,) that the highest effects which Architecture is able to produce on the mind was at- tained by that wonderful people ; it being recollected that of all the emotions raised by Architecture, gramdeur and sub- limity have the highest and most impressive influence. The great Hall of Karnak, and some of the columned Pronaoi are, without doubt, the most sublime works of Archi- tecture in the world : all travellers have borne their testimony to it, — not, it is true, by endeavouring to show why they are so, but by the unanimous testimony they bear to the overwhelm- ing effect these mighty ruins have had on them, — effects which have been recorded of no other buildings ancient or modem. Indeed, so high was the genius that presided over the con* * It has been said that Architecture as a Fine Art should he studiously excluded from Railway buildings : it may, perhaps, comfort some to know that, in most cases, this has been done ; but to others, who think that the Railways offer the finest opportunities afforded by modern wants for architectural display, it must be a matter of painful regret. A finer subject for a grand composition than the Britannia'Bridge can hardly be conceived: the architectural portions will no doubt comfort many — or, if they do not, the lions may be compared with those in the Museum, or with any other objects animate or inanimate. The attached turrets with loopholes of the Conway Bridge are copied from the ancient castle, where their use as a means of defence made them^consistent ; on a bridge for the passage of a railway train they are of course sheer ab- surdities. These lost opportunities are the more to be regretted from the extreme simplicity and beauty of the engineering portion of the work. c 5 58 ANCIENT AND MODERN struction of these wonderful works, that forty centuries have gone by, and still nothing has been produced so great and lasting. They yet remain unrivalled in sublimity. It would of course be out of place to attempt to show how it is that these effects have been produced only in Egypt, or as to whether it is the style , or the manner of its treatment , or both combined, that produces them ; or as to how it is, that in no other country or style these effects have been produced in so high a degree.* Considerations of this kind need for their development an extensive work, but reference to them is necessary even here, as showing that Architecture as a Fine Art, 4000 years ago, was so understood and practised as to produce a higher effect on the mind of the spectator, learned and unlearned, than it is found to do now.f And again, where is to be found the majestic simplicity and perfect refinement of the Grecian Fanes? The Temple of Minerva seems to unite in the highest degree all the qualities which produce the grand and the beautiful in archi- tecture, — surpassing simplicity of outline, and harmony of * The Architecture of Egypt is thought by some to be a transitional style , and consequently imperfect, and by others, a rude and barbarous style, and is passed by as being inapplicable to any modern use. But sub- limity being the highest faculty which Architecture can reach, and the Egyptian having reached it as no other style has, will perhaps one day rescue it from forgetfulness. The ‘Angels' Choir' of Lincoln, perhaps the grandest of Pointed interiors, has a less impressive effect on the mind than the Pronaoi of Egypt. It may be mentioned here, that it is not colossal size only which pro- duces the effect of grandeur in a work of art. The two monster houses in Hyde Park are loftier than some of the Egyptian Propylons, and may serve to remove the idea sometimes entertained, that many modem build- ings are bad from want of size; a strange notion, for it is difficult to understand how a deformed building can be made good by being magnified. f That it is now applied to a far greater number of uses than it ever was before is sometimes brought forward to prove that it is better under- stood. Architecture may, however, be put to an infinite variety of uses, without its being properly understood or correctly applied in one. ARCHITECTURE. 59 parts, with the most exquisite beauty of detail. Nothing, indeed, seems to have been omitted to perfect this wonderful structure ; for not only have all the leading lines been corrected for optical defects, as the entasis of the columns, but the larger detail has undergone the same rigid scrutiny; as (one instance among many others, hitherto unnoticed) the lions’ heads which terminate the pediment are turned slightly out- wards, — a refinement which could only flow from the finest taste, guided by the most matured judgment. * And where is to be discovered, amidst the multitude of modern attempts in the Pointed Style, the graceful outline and matchless proportions of that Queen of Pointed Structures, the Abbey Church of Westminster, which, had it been com- pleted by him who laid the foundations and built the choir, would have rivalled the Parthenon as a perfect structure! For it is not only the general proportions of this beautiful Temple, as the height, that is so admirable, but the same evi- dence of the highest architectural genius may be discovered ; some of the leading lines having been similarly treated : as an instance of which, the fourth arch of the choir on either side eastward of the transepts slightly converges, thereby carrying the line of arches round in the most effective and finished manner. To make the beauty of this arrangement the more evident, it must be considered that the most perfect and graceful way of connecting two long parallel fines, as those formed by the columns and arches of the nave and choir of a cathedral church, is by a curved fine (as in Canterbury Cathedral) ; but this, though perfect on plan, is not so in elevation, as it of course necessitates the arches, triforium arches, and the win- * Since the recent discoveries of the many optical corrections so care- fully made by the builders of the Parthenon, it has been said that perhaps the frigidity of some modern classical designs may be owing to its absence. To those who labour under this idea, it may be said that such refinements can be useful only where the design is in other respects complete. It is the last refinement on a perfect work. 60 ANCIENT AND MODERN dows above them, being also curved, thereby creating a want of harmony between them and the arches in the choir : added to which, an arch curved on plan is not only weak construc- tively, but has the painful appearance of being so ; the solid mass above setting back from the line of support formed by the supporting columns.* But by the means used, both these imperfections have been avoided, and all the grace and effec- tiveness of a curved line preserved. Again, the shafts which run up from the floor to finish under the ribs of the roof are composed of two small ones next the wall, and a larger one in front ; the extreme delicacy and beauty of which arrangement is so great as to merit a slight examination, and will serve to show the amount of thought expended on this glorious structure, and to show partly what it is to design , or rather to carry out a design. The object to be attained was, to bring the line formed by the ribs of the roof down to the floor, and so to connect them, and give greater apparent support to the roof. This was best to be accomplished by a column proportioned to the size of the rib ; but had it been but a single shaft merely, its large size would have struck the eye too violently as a single object. To avoid this, it was necessary to divide it : two were obviously in- admissible ; and three, all of the same size, would not have con- nected themselves with the wall, or rather formed a part of it, as they now do ; nor would they have harmonized so well with the more irregular mouldings of the rib : but by using one shaft large and bold enough to bring the line down, and two smaller ones to connect this larger one with the wall, all is ae<- complished with the most perfect art. And this fine perception of the beautiful is not marred by the string-course, which runs all round the building under the triforium, which would, no * This appearance of weakness, caused by using arches circular on plan, is sometimes unavoidable, even in the finest works, as is seen in the Round Church at the Temple, but is there of the less consequence as the harmony of the composition is not destroyed, all the arches being curved alike. ARCHITECTURE. 61 doubt, in more vulgar hands have either detailed round all three of the shafts, and thus have cut them in two, or it would have been stopped on either side, and so weakened ap- parently the slender shafts, by affording them no tie to the walls : but both these objects have been attained by the con- summate skill of the Architect, who has stopped the string- course at the smaller columns, but continued it round the larger and outer one, and thus accomplished this difficult pro- blem in the most perfect way. Indeed, this unrivalled structure abounds in these instances of the triumph of genius over the greatest difficulties. It is this extreme delicacy of perception, amongst other endowments, which constitutes architectural genius, and the insensibility to which draws the impassable line between the efforts of mere talent and the unrivalled works of the great Masters of Architectural Art. So little, indeed, does it seem to be understood upon what architectural beauty depends, and by what consequently it should be judged, that of the vast number of books that exist on the subject, hardly two are to be found whose authors agree as to the merits or defects of this, or any other, of the celebrated buildings of antiquity, and still less so as regards the qualities and merits of any particular style. And as to practice, it seems to be admitted that most modern buildings fail to give the pleasure to be derived from an ancient structure;* and this, even in cases where prece- * One great cause of the inferiority of modern buildings may here be mentioned, viz., the inartistic treatment of the decorative parts. No mere workman can carve a capital or a string of flowers, any more than a mere workman can paint a picture or sculpture a statue. This will be readily seen by comparing the best specimens of carving in any modern building, with the figures, leaves, and flowers so exquisitely chiseled by Grinling, Gibbons, or the fine heads by a Royal Academician carved on the keystones at Somerset House. If instead of the time and talents now wasted by so many in fruitless attempts to rival the Grecian Marbles, or the busts of Chantry, (and for whom society cannot, even if it would, find adequate 62 ANCIENT AND MODERN dent is to be found for every thing ; and where the structure itself is old, and merely requires repair, should but a small part be deficient, and an attempt be made to supply it, the most melancholy results are frequently found. Who is there that would not prefer to visit, for the sake of study, (an almost infallible test,) an old church with its pews, galleries, and even monuments, complete, than the same church after having undergone the process of Restoration ? As an instance of designing , may be mentioned the church of St. Pancras, in the New Road,* the portico of which is a copy of that at xithens attached to the Temple of Erechtheus ; but the church itself and spire are designed (put together) from materials taken from the same structure, and others at the same place, f employment,) they were to make the art of decorative sculpture their es- pecial study, how much Would architecture gain by their labours, and how much better would their own position be. What Lorenzo Ghiberti sculp- tured, and Raphael drew, none surely need be ashamed to do likewise. * This church is instanced not as being particularly bad, but because it is generally thought to be a specimen of pure Greek, and as being the only building in London, on a large scale, by which that portion of the public who take any interest in such matters have any opportunity of judging what it is. Its being thought to give an adequate, or even any, idea of what Greek Architecture is, — is, however, about as great a delusion as it would be to suppose the French Church, near Oxford Street, a speci- men of Middle Pointed, or the Egyptian Hall a specimen of the Egyptian style. f Various views are entertained as to the nature of design .* some ima- gine it to consist in a rigorous adherence to precedent, and are content with copying, as far as circumstances will admit, some old building, but without any attempt to improve either in general form or detail upon the ancient model. Others, running into the opposite extreme, conceive it to lie in mere novelty, in doing something utterly unlike any thing before attempted, (it is not always they labour in vain;) indeed, as if the mere word novelty was another name for excellence, and necessarily implied it. And others, again, appear to imagine it to consist in making rough sketches of the building intended for others to carry out, as it is called, ARCHITECTURE. 63 So long as the actual*form and proportions of the ancient building was adhered to, all is simply a badly wrought copy, — as the stylobate, the columns, the entablature, and the pedi- ment, which form the portico ; but when the precedent could, from the nature of the case, no longer avail, all is confusion and void of meaning, — as the want of purpose in the two recessed columns in the flank elevations : the lower range of windows is merely the upper half of those above ; the badly copied Caryatic portico (a defect in the original structure) is here twice repeated in the most awkward manner, they being apparently useless ; the semicircular east end (bad in any situ- ation, from the impossibility of combining harmoniously a straight and a curved line) is here singularly misplaced, as the roof, one of the greatest beauties of a Greek Temple, cannot finish over it, — thus destroying that simplicity and unity which regulated all the finer structures of the Greek School. Of the inappropriateness of the ugly spire nothing need be said. It shows, however, what can be done with the Greek Style, and repels the charge of inflexibility commonly brought against it.* but without any further personal effort ; the mere idea being generally considered to be all that is required from those who make the design, — the working out the idea forming no part of their business. That putting- together precedent (as in most modern churches), — hitting on some- thing novel (as the new Coal Exchange), — and making sketches for others to make practicable (for to go further of course makes it another thing), — that all this is not Architecture — but that carrying out the idea as well as originating it is — may be proved by comparing the Travellers’ Club-House, or Bridgewater House, with any one or all of the other Club- Houses, &c. that line Piccadilly and St. James’s Street. Such examination and comparison will not only show what designing means, but will prove, beyond doubt, that Charles Barry is the Architect of this generation, the accomplished successor of Inigo Jones and William Wykeham. * A common way of criticising a new building, especially if the critic be himself an Architect, is to suppose the way in which he would himself have done it, and by this mental picture to form a comparison and pass his judgment. The true way must of course be to judge of the building as it is, and not by supposing what it might have been. 64 ANCIENT AND MODERN Without the finest taste, regulated Hby correct judgment, the Greek Style, as is here seen, is certainly the last that should be attempted; for the mantle of Phidias is but little likely to de- scend on any one accidentally apprenticed for a few years to the mere possessor of Stuart’s c Athens,’ or Inwood’s ‘Erech- theum.’ As an instance of a restoration , or rather the adding to an old building, the organ screen and stalls in Westminster Abbey may be mentioned. To harmonize with the grace and airy lightness of this glo- rious structure, the canopies of the stalls should have been composed of clusters made up of a great number of parts, with the solid portions confined to the base, as at Lincoln or York Minsters; instead of which, those at Winchester appear to have been the model, beautiful in themselves, and admirably adapted to the heavier proportions and coarser detail of that cathedral, but utterly inappropriate in their present position, for which they are manifestly too solid and heavy. What makes their inappropriateness more apparent is, that like the larger monuments, the eye of a stranger is at first so much struck by them as to neglect the building itself ; a fatal error, were they ever so fine (appropriate they could not be), as a building, and all things in it, should first make an impression as an entire whole, to be examined in detail afterwards. A great beauty is noticed by Mr. Hosking, in his admirable Treatise on Architecture, as common to the Egyptian Pronaoi : it is that the dado, standing partly in front of and between the columns, is cut through so as to leave perfectly apparent both their form and height : had it stood completely before the columns, it would have made them appear absurdly short ; and had it detailed between them, their diminution would have ‘ made the upper portion of the dado and its cornice wider than the base, and would have thereby utterly destroyed all propor- tion and stability. This beautiful mode of placing a screen before a series of columns was actually here done (not wittingly, but by the ARCHITECTURE. 65 merest accident) ; but it appears to have been considered a de- fect, as that portion of the shaft which cut through the wood- work, and which rendered the form and height of the column apparent, has been pasted over with paper — in imitation of oak ! Moving a number of benches from one church into another, although requiring, as is here seen, some little judgment, can hardly be called a restoration ; the subject, however, is so important at the present time, that a few words on it (how- ever out of place) may not be found uninteresting. Mr. Ruskin says : “ Neither by the public, nor by those* who have the care of public monuments, is the true meaning of the word restoration understood. It means the most total destruction which a building can suffer ; a destruction out of which no remnants can be gathered ; a destruction accompanied with a false descrip- tion of the thing destroyed . Do not let us deceive ourselves in this important matter ; it is impossible, as impossible as to raise the dead, to restore any thing that has ever been great or beautiful in architecture : that which I have insisted upon as the life of the whole, that spirit which is given only by the hand and eye of the workmen, never can be recalled. Another spirit may be given by another time, and it is then a new building ; but the spirit of the dead workman cannot be sum- moned up and commanded to direct other hands and other thoughts ; and as for direct and simple copying, it is palpably impossible. What copying can there be of surfaces that have been worn half an inch down ? The whole finish of the work was in the half-inch that is gone : if you attempt to restore that finish, you do it conjee turally ; if you copy what is left, granting fidelity to be possible, — and what care or watchfulness or cost can secure it, — how is the new work better than the old ? There was yet in the old some life, some mysterious suggestion of what it had been, and of what it had lost, some sweetness in the gentle lines which rain and sun had wrought. There can be none in the brute hardness of the new carving.” It is indeed truly not a little singular, that although a building 66 ANCIENT AND MODERN (a church for instance) is by nearly all admired for some ex- trinsic merit it may happen to possess, — as some association connected with it, — some monument in it, — or on account of its great age, (and the latter being the most obvious, is also the most common,) — yet all restorations are commenced by the complete obliteration of every mark and line which Time has set upon it. The walls, and doors, and windows, and roof, exterior and interior, are made to appear, as much as possible, as they did when first built ; the mouldings and carving are re-cut, the surface scraped, and the woodwork varnished, and the interior carefully gutted, and every appearance of age cleaned off; so that, when restored, it has all the appearance of a new building. Indeed, the perfect restoration of a building would seem to be that in which antiquity is effaced, and the building might be mistaken for a new one. This is not restoration or preservation, but destruction ; and not only destruction, but a glaring absurdity. First to admire a building because it looks old, as all pretend to do, and most really do, having no other reason, and then to clean off every sign of age, would seem to more than justify the repetition of Mr. Ruskin’s great maxim, that “ Until common sense finds its way into archi- tecture, there can be but little hope for it.” And not only are associations lost , age blotted out , and beauty destroyed , but the colour which time only can give, and which no art can imitate, is also effaced. And all this is done at the same time that great regret is expressed at the absence of all decorative colour on the outside of buildings in this country, and at the bare and chilling aspect they mostly present under so cold a sky, — the gay and variegated palaces of Venice, and the sunlit churches of Rome, being brought back to the recol- lection, and mournful comparisons made. But (even when no restoration is contemplated) no sooner does Nature, by the sunlight, the wind, and the rain, begin to colour the new brick, or the fresh-coloured plaster, or even the new stone, than preparations are commenced for cleaning ARCHITECTURE. 67 it off : — “ it looks dirty and wants cleaning the brickwork is fresh pointed, the plaster fresh painted, and the stonework freshened, sometimes by paint , but mostly by rubbing away the sharp edges of the mouldings, cutting away the ornament, and bringing to an even white surface the rest of the work. It is then said “to look clean and something like.” It is not always, however, that restoration means cleaning off the dirt, for sometimes it means putting it on. Men live by copying the dust of antiquity as well as by sweeping it off. Glass painters are employed to imitate the hues that only centuries of time can give. When a stained glass window is about to be restored, it is not cleaned, but the new glass is covered with dirt to make it look old. The figures are not the best the artist can draw, but the closest copy he can make of old ones, perhaps from the Bayeux tapestry. To restore an old church, is to efface every appearance of age ; but to restore a church window, is to imitate the dust which has been scraped off from the church. And again, should the building be unsuitable for any modern use , and consequently stand no chance of a restoration, it is completely neglected and suffered to become surrounded and choked with filth and rubbish, and in most cases (as the Castle of Carisbrook in the Isle of Wight) to become com- pletely enveloped with ivy, scarcely any part of the actual stone being visible ; and in this state it is pointed out to visitors as a picturesque ruin. The visitor stares at a vast heap of leaves, but pays for the privilege of seeing a ruin. This is thought to add to the interest and help the preser- vation of a ruin ; but it would rather appear to be cultivating a formal and ugly heap of green leaves for the purpose of hiding one, and only would seem to require but little antiquarian or architectural knowledge in those who have the care of such structures, or in their advisers, to perceive it. It would of course be not only out of place, but impossible, in a work of this nature, to point out in detail the true way in which a restoration should be conducted ; but a little may be 68 ANCIENT AND MODERN attempted by instancing what the restoring mania has done to one or two well-known works ; how it has robbed them of all the interest they possessed as things of old time ; how it has robbed them of great part of the interest they had as works of ages and men and institutions long past away ; and how it has destroyed, in but too many cases, all the merit they had as works of art. The western aisle of the cloisters at Westminster has been (some little time since) swept , — roof, wall, and windows, — with a birch broom , for the apparent purpose of cleaning it ; and, happily for the mental ease of those who looked for cleanliness underneath, with the most complete success, for all the sharp- ness of the mouldings, and all the form of the bosses, and all the fine colour which time had given it, are clean gone. The workmen who filled their eyes with the dust of antiquity in this laborious way, at the same time painted the head of the doorway opposite dark lead colour , to make it, as they said, ‘look old!’ — Happily they stopped at the doorway leading into the church, which remains as time has left it, and the contrast may be seen between the old doorway painted lead colour to make it look old, and the roof swept to make it look new, and the doorway that waits to be restored. The north porch of St. Mary RedclifFe, after having been neglected for ages, has just been discovered to be “ black and bedizened with dirt, 55 but “beautiful even in its ruins.” Time had coloured St. Mary RedclifFe. with the hues that time and nature alone can give ; some portions of it too had crumbelled away, but still enough was left to show “the fancy (invention) and genius of the old architects,” and to display “an imagination and a fire that could not be sur- passed ” (equalled) ; “ it was designed by men who knew what they were about, and carried out by others with heart and soul,” (the corbel heads and foliage re-cut by common masons at so much a dozen within a certain time,) “ and the north porch will soon be” (under these likely circumstances) “as beautiful as ever.” The north porch of St. Mary RedclifFe is ARCHITECTURE. 69 restored, its associations marred, the evidence of its age swept away, and all is there of the north porch of St. Mary Redcliffe but the “ imagination and the fire 55 which could not be equalled. The beautiful Norman doorway to the church of the Tem- plars was dark with age; every passing year deepened its colour and added to its interest ; it told of the warrior monks who built it, and frowned on them who went to see the effigies of those who had once worshiped there : but the spirit of modern improvement and restoration has swept it away, and entered the church ; and the sleeping knights were awakened from their long slumber of six hundred years — to he restored, — to be patched up and polished, and made to look as if just laid down : the hand of time has been removed, and a verger stands near to say to the visitor f they are old/ A technical knowledge of antiquity and architecture is surely not required in those who are the guardians of these memorials of the past, to enable them to perceive the inconsistency and absurdity of attempting to restore that which has been long since lost, or of marring that which reminds them of the men that are dead, and of the institutions that are past away, or of destroying all evidences of that antiquity they love so well to see. They should endeavour to understand, that to learn antiquity is to learn its spirit, not to bury oneself in its dust, and, least of all, to assist in scraping it off. True restoration is the taking away every thing foreign to the original idea, as dirt and modern additions, as a common casement from a church window, or the insertion of a quoin- stone where an old one is so much worn as to endanger the structure ; but does not include the complete scraping and cleaning a whole tower, for the purpose of matching a new stone, as is now done. A new capital, or a new column, may be added in place of a lost one, hut an old and ruined one should never be re-touched. All old work is impressed with a certain spirit, — it is impossible to restore it if lost. Neither the mind nor the hand of the dead artist can ever be recalled. 70 ANCIENT AND MODERN The very word restoration should be unknown in art and cast aside, and Preservation he substituted for it. The best restoration is that in which the hand of the restorer is least apparent, and a perfect restoration where it is unseen. The spirit of the old work being so ill understood, and ignorance of its value and of the principles upon which it is based, would appear to be in part the causes of these various opinions, failures, and inodes of destruction. But to all this it may perhaps be replied, that it is all a matter of taste , — that there is no disputing about taste, — that taste is continually changing; — and that no one can be fairly charged with want of taste, or even with bad taste, because he does not happen to think with those who assume to themselves a right to pronounce judgment in all matters of this nature brought before them. But to this Lord Kaimes, in his ‘ Elements of Criticism/ has made a fitting reply: — “That there is no disputing about taste, seems to have grown into a proverb. One thing, however, is evident, that if the proverb hold true with re- spect to taste in matters of art, it must hold equally true with respect to other senses. If the pleasures to be derived from seeing works of art disdain a comparative trial, and reject all criticism, then the pleasure to be derived from the sense of hearing must be equally privileged. At this rate, no one is within the reach of censure who shall prefer the beating of a kettle to the finest concert. “And if thus all the pleasures of external sense be exempted from criticism, there would seem to be no reason why every one of our pleasures, from whatever source derived, should not be so ; and that with respect to the perceptions of sense by which some objects appear agreeable, and some disagreeable, there does not exist such a thing as a good or bad, a right or wrong, — that everyone’s taste is to himself an ultimate standard, without appeal ; and consequently there can be no ground of censure against any one, if such there be, who prefers selfish- ness to benevolence, or wrong, for its own sake, to right. ARCHITECTURE. 71 “ But to ascertain the rules of morality, we appeal not to the common sense of savages, but to that of men in their more perfect state ; and we make the same appeal in forming the rules that ought to govern the Fine Arts. In neither can we safely rely on a local or transitory taste, hut on that which is the most general and the most lasting among polite nations. For if we have recourse to general opinion and general practice, we are betrayed into endless perplexities. History shows that there is nothing more variable than taste in the Fine Arts / 5 That there must therefore exist a rule or standard in nature for trying the taste of individuals in the Fine Arts, as well as in Morals, would seem from analogy to be certain ; so that the search after it, however fruitless for a time, must eventually be successful. A great deal has been said and written about a Stand- ard of Taste ; and if by it is meant the determining par- ticular objects, or the qualities of those objects which all shall regard as beautiful, it must be a vain attempt ; as, for instance, one may feel and understand the beauties of a fine painting, but be perfectly deaf to the most exquisite music ; another, again, may be alive to the beauties of poetry, hut at the same time insensible to the merits of the finest picture. Taste depends on the suppressing and elevating, the order- ing and arranging, of the thoughts and emotions of the mind so as to produce a general harmony of the whole ; and it is only practice, reflection, and comparison with the higher stand- ards that give the power successfully to approximate to ex- cellence ; and these aids will suffice only when the original constitution of the individual is favourable to it ; so that the greater the cultivation of these powers, the higher the au- thority. It would appear, therefore, that at least degrees of beauty may be estimated ; and it is in this sense that a scale, if not a standard of taste, may be framed. But it must not be forgotten, that education can only improve and refine , but 72 ANCIENT AND MODERN can never create a feeling for the beautiful either in Nature or Art.* But the Fine Arts should be the subjects not only of Taste , but of Reason, and the great object must be to establish Practical Rules for the guidance of those engaged in their cul- tivation, as well as for that more numerous class who are to judge, of them; these Practical Rules being derived from Principles previously established. The utility and necessity of Principles can hardly be exaggerated.f If understood, there would have been fewer books, and of a better kind; for so long as hooks on the Fine Arts consist merely of the author’s indi- vidual opinions, there can he no end of them. A book, for instance, filled with such statements as — ‘The pyramids have no beauty, 5 — ‘the Parthenon is not sublime, but teems with the beautiful , 5 — ‘ Cologne is as vastly superior to York Minster, as York Minster is to Lincoln, 5 — without any reason being adduced, or a reference to the Principles which they illustrate, may be extended to an indefinite length, and as many books written as there are authors to write them ; but to the public they merely show what the writer’s individual opinion is, and no more, and are, in any case, only so far valuable as the taste of the author is known to be above the ordinary standard. General Laws,% apart from their importance, are delightful * This may he rendered clearer by considering the case of those who attempt to learn music ‘without an ear/ — years being often wasted in the fruitless effort. f While thus urging the importance of Principles , care must he taken not to confound them (as they mostly are) with Rules . Any violation of an Architectural Principle must take so much from the beauty and perfec- tion of an Architectural Composition : hut a Rule, such as, “ the height of a column shall be exactly eight of its diameters,” may he infringed with impunity, as the column may be seven and three-quarters, or eight and a quarter, or a half, according to the nature of the design. Indeed, the knowing when and how to depart from rules without forgetting them, is one of the great prerogatives of genius ; hut no genius, however great, can depart from a Law. ARCHITECTURE. 73 from their simplicity, and by reason of the easiness and uni- versality of their application to an infinite variety of cases. The laws of motion are, with the greatest simplicity, boundless in their operations.* To those, however, who conceive that the attempt to discover Principles would be a mere waste of time, and that, when found out, they would be practically useless , — it may be said, that before the discovery of the Law of Gravitation, Astronomy, as a science, did not and could not exist ; but now that it is discovered, although so extremely simple. Astronomy is the furthest advanced and the most complete of all the sciences. And to those who think that the simplicity and obviousness of First Principles make the attainment of them not worth the trouble it costs, it may be said that the greatest triumph of Philosophy is to refer many and seemingly many various phenomena to one or a very few simple principles ; and that the more simple and evident such a principle is, provided it be truly applicable to all the cases in question, the greater is its beauty and scientific value. Until these Principles therefore shall be discovered, and the mode of their application pointed out, there can be no certain means of judging of the real nature and merit of an Architectural Composition. This is surely a great evil to all, but more espe- cially to the Artist himself, who, however great his merit, has little or no chance of being correctly appreciated. And this in- capacity to form a correct judgment, in the absence of guiding principles, is unfortunately not confined to Architecture, as may be evidenced to those who feel any doubt on the subject, by the fact that Michael Angelo, after the lapse of three * A great number of books have been written, more especially of late, which profess to contain and elucidate the Principles of the Fine Arts ; but upon examination they prove to be merely the individual opinions of the several authors, the so-called principles being found to be ap- plicable only in a limited number of cases ; and those the cases chiefly cited by the authors themselves. D 74 ANCIENT AND MODERN hundred years, during which time his works have been looked at and written about, is still admired and copied for his form; and that the cartoons of Raphael are parcelled out into pic- turesque groups and jR aphaelesque figures , to be gazed at separately; — the merit of any one of these compositions as a grand whole, and upon which their claims to the admiration of posterity chiefly rest, being disregarded. But as the knowledge of an Art does not come by intuition, but requires for its attainment a long course of previous study and practice, correct taste or sound judgment is hardly to be expected of those who have not had these advantages; and especially as regards Architecture, it may be safely affirmed that no very great progress can be made by its Professors, and no correct appreciation formed of its merits, until the Laws which regulate Architectural Beauty, and the leading Principles by which to regulate and test an Architectural Composition, shall be discovered.* Many other causes besides these, however, have combined to retard and misdirect the progress of Art generally ; and among them the want of accurate and intelligible definitions of the various words peculiar to the Fine Arts is surely not the * The necessity for Reason as a guide to Taste cannot be too often urged. It would, as is almost obvious, revolutionize Art, — do more for its advancement than all the other helps combined, and would not only be the test of what is done to-day, but would single out from the remains of antiquity, for study and imitation, its great and noble works, and reject the rubbish with which they are too often confounded, and in which they are sometimes buried. Men would not be found falling into ecstasies of wonder and admiration at the Elgin Marbles, and be the next hour equally struck with the mountains of marble (called statues) in St. Paul's or Westminster. They would not be found, as many now are, praising the new Palace at Westminster, and in the same breath, and frequently in the same words, a new-fashioned tea-pot or glaring hearth-rug. Neither would they, who now pass for persons of taste , be able to retain the title, who are found to collect in the same apartment an Etruscan vase and a French flower- stand of novel pattern, — a landscape by Turner, and a gaudy print of a royal marriage. ARCHITECTURE. 75 least. Although the nature and limits of this work do not admit of a dissertation on their ambiguity, one or two may be noticed, though a distinct work on the subject would be most useful at the present time.* The words Invention , Originality , Simplicity , Sublimity , Beauty , among many others, may be instanced :f at present, when used with any definite meaning, they are peculiar to the author, and therefore applicable only in the cases where they are used. The word c simplicity,’ as applied in the Fine Arts, and as being so important and of such extensive application, should be particularly well defined. One thing is commonly said to be simpler than another when it contains fewer parts , and it is so far correctly applied; but it must have a far more extensive meaning. Simplicity is one of the grand leading principles which should characterize every Work of Art : without it, it must be comparatively worthless ; for it is the characteristic of the purest and noblest. It is generally allowed by all who have any real preten- sions to correct taste, that the simpler a thing is, the more beautiful it is : but if the simplest building (the one containing the fewest parts) be the finest, then the Parthenon would have been finer with but six columns in front instead of eight ; a window with but two mouldings in the architrave must be finer than another with six ; and Raphael’ s cartoon of c Christ giving the keys to Peter ’ must be a finer composition than the 1 Death of Ananias,’ — - the figures and objects being fewer in number. Simplicity must regard not only the number of parts, but their form and arrangement . But of all the causes which have combined to retard the progress of Architecture, the misuse of the term ‘ picturesque’ * Not a Dictionary of the Fine Arts, hut a comprehensive explanation and accurate definition of all words peculiar to Art, and used adjectively. f There is another class of words of recent introduction, but unfor- tunately unintelligible, as Msthetical sentiment! Objective ornamentation! Picturesque leafage! They are in common and frequent use in the journals professing to criticise Works of Art. 76 ANCIENT AND MODERN lias had, probably, the most wide-spread influence; and though it may seem to many to be quite useless to dwell on the meaning of a word, yet, as Mr. Ruskin truly says, — cc probably no word in the language (exclusive of theo- logical expressions) has been the subject of so frequent or so prolonged dispute ; yet none remain more vague in their acceptance ; and it seems to me to be a matter of no small interest to investigate it.” He goes on to say that “a recent critic on Art has gravely advanced the theory, that the essence of the picturesque consists in the expression of ‘ universal decay ;’ and it would be curious to trace the steps of any reason- ing which on such a theory should account for the picturesque- ness of an ass-colt as opposed to a horse-foal.” He himself thus defines it : “ That peculiar character which separates the picturesque from the characters of subject belonging to the higher walks of Art, may be shortly and decisively ex- pressed. Picturesqueness in this sense is Parasitical Sub- limity. Two ideas are essential to picturesqueness, — the first, that of sublimity, — for pure beauty is not picturesque at all, and becomes so only as the sublime element mixes with it ; — and the second, the subordinate or parasitical position of that sublimity.” One more attempt to define the picturesque (if ever so erroneously), at least as regards Architecture, may surely be pardoned. The term ‘picturesque’ is commonly and con- stantly applied to single buildings, and even to geometrical elevations on paper. But a building can only be picturesque in combination with others, or with a landscape : it cannot form a picture , or be the subject of a picture by itself. The Temples at Philae are picturesque as standing on an island in the middle of the Nile, and thus forming a grand picture; — the Athenian Acropolis is picturesque as consisting of a number of buildings finely grouped; — and Magdalen College at Oxford is picturesque as being a collection of build- ings beautifully combined and situated. But in none of these cases can any single building, separated from the rest, be con- ARCHITECTURE. 77 sidered picturesque. The model of the Parthenon in the British Museum, which can be looked at by itself, and with- out reference to any thing about it, — that is, without other buildings or any thing else to form a landscape, — no one will call picturesque.* But if confusion arises from the misemployment of words and the want of accurate definitions, it is certain that no less confusion springs from the habit of confounding together the various sources of pleasure to be derived from the contempla- tion of a Work of Art. A Work of Art, as an object of beauty, should be judged of by the effect it produces, 'per se , on the mind of the spectator, and without reference to its destination, or utility, or other extrinsic quality. f * When a building (considered by itself) is said to be picturesque, some other words will, upon examination, be found to express what is meant, — that is, when any thing at all is intended beyond a vague and unmeaning admiration, — such as that lately evinced for Stonehenge, when it was seriously proposed to restore it. The restoration of Stonehenge ! f After what Mr. Ruskin, — whose talents and fine taste cannot be too • highly appreciated, — has done for Landscape Painting, it must be a matter of regret that he has so signally failed in Architecture, where his eloquence is as fully needed. He seems to look at a building, not by itself, or for its intrinsic merits, — as all should do when any attempt is made to analyse it for the purpose of pointing out its merits or defects , — but as grouped with others ; that is, with the eye of a painter, or as connected with some tra- ditional associations or religious feelings. But the proper course should be, first to point out the intrinsic merits or defects of an architectural work, and then to tell of its uses and associations, and so add to its interest. In the ‘ Seven Lamps of Architecture/ Mr. Ruskin proposed to himself a most noble object, — to light and point out the way for others to follow; and he has accordingly named the Styles best suited, as he thinks, for modern imitation, but, unfortunately, without fully explaining their cha- racteristics and capabilities. Something more than mere assertion and individual opinion is required to prove that the Early Middle Pointed is a finer style than that which immediately followed it. Mr. Pugin has written several books to prove that the Pointed style is that most suited for England ; while Mr. Gwilt contends as strenuously 78 ANCIENT AND MODERN The Parthenon was, no doubt, looked on with feelings of delight by the ancient Greek, as the most beautiful creation of architectural skill ; and those feelings must have been greatly heightened by its sacred use, and still more so when, on the occasion of the Great Panathenaic Procession, all the proud as- sociations connected with the sacred origin of his ancient city were made to crowd on the memory of the beholder: and although neither of these latter feelings can operate now to increase the admiration felt for this wonderful structure, still, if perfect, it would be as intrinsically beautiful as it was then. Purpose and association render more vivid and lasting the impression made by a fine Work of Art, but do not alter its intrinsic character. But still, no building, however perfect, can yield its full measure of delight, unless the eyesight be aided by a feeling of its appropriateness to its destination ; as it is one of the perfections of a Work of Art, that it fulfils the purpose for which it is intended ; and age and association are perhaps necessary to complete the charm. The sense of the Beautiful, which pervades all Nature, cannot be too highly prized, nor its cultivation be too earnest ; as upon the strength of the original feeling implanted by the Creator, and upon its cultivation, all appreciation and delight not in Art only, but in the grandeur and loveliness of the creation, rest. The whole creation may indeed be said to administer to the sense of beauty ; and perhaps one purpose of its being called into existence was to give it scope and exercise. “Beauty,” says a great writer, “is an all-pervading presence. It unfolds in the numberless flowers of the spring: it waves in the branches of the trees and the green blades of grass : it haunts the depths of the earth and sea, and gleams out in the hues of the shell and the precious stone. The ocean, the mountains, the clouds, the heavens, the stars, the for Italian ; and the late Mr. Repton, after examining and rejecting all other styles, fixed on the Hindoo as the most appropriate. ARCHITECTURE. 79 rising and setting sun, all overflow with beauty. The universe is its temple.” If the Creator has impressed all Nature with beauty, and his creatures with the sense, when cultivated, universally to perceive it, — it becomes a duty as well as a pleasure to awaken it in those who are insensible to it, and should be the great and leading motive in the Artist’s mind. 80 PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. PLATES. PLANS, ELEVATIONS, SECTIONS, ETC. Plate I. Plan of a double cottage. Each cottage shows the least accommodation which should exist for a man and his wife, without children, and contains an entrance lobby, a living- room with a fire-place and two dwarf cupboards, a bed-room, a wash-house with an oven, and a safe, sink, and a small dresser. The privy, fuel store, and dust bin, are at the back, at a a (not shown on the plan for want of room) . Plate II. Elevation. Plate III. Longitudinal Section. Plate IY. Entrance doorway, window, and chimney-pot, a larger scale. PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. 81 D 5 Plate I. 82 PLANS, &C., OF COTTAGES. Plate II. PLANS, &C., OF COTTAGES. 83 Plate III. 84 PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. Plate IV. PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. 85 Plate V. represents a plan for a single cottage, with ac- commodation for a man and his wife, with three or four children. It consists of an entrance porch (in which agricul- tural and other implements may be kept), a living-room with a fire-place and dwarf cupboard, a kitchen or wash-house with a fire-place, oven, sink, safe for food, and a dresser with shelves above, two bed-rooms, a privy, and a dust and fuel house. Plate VI. Elevation. Plate VII. Longitudinal Section. Plate VIII. Entrance doorway, window, and chimney-pot, to a larger scale. BED- ROOM PLANS, &C., OF COTTAGES. Plate V. PLANS, &C., OF COTTAGES. 87 Plate VI. 88 PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. Plate VII. PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES 89 90 PLANS, &C., OF COTTAGES. Plate IX. A ground plan of a two-storied cottage, with accommodation for a man and his wife, and five or six children. It contains on the ground floor, an entrance passage in which are the stairs to the upper floor, a living room, wash- house, kitchen, dairy, privy, and a dust and fuel house. Plate X. is a plan of the upper story, and contains three bed-rooms, the larger one for the man and his wife, and the smaller ones for the hoys and girls. Plate XI. Elevation. Plate XII. Longitudinal Section. Plate XIII. Entrance doorway and window, to a larger scale. The plan lately proposed of dividing the upper rooms into compartments for single men, — the ground floor to be kept by a man and his wife, — might be readily adopted here, and in all houses having an upper floor. PRIVY 91 PLANS, &C., OF COTTAGES. Plate IX. 92 PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. Plate X. PJjANSj &c. of cottages. 93 Plate XI. 94 PLANS, &C., OF COTTAGES. Plate XII. PLANS, &C., OF COTTAGES. 95 Plate XIII. 96 FLANS, &C, OF COTTAGES* Plate XI Y. Plan of a doable two-storied cottage. Each cottage contains, on the ground floor, an entrance-porch with a large cupboard, a living-room, and a kitchen or wash-house, in which are the stairs to the bed-rooms (to save room and expense) : the privy, fuel, and dust house are at a a. Plate XY. Plan of the upper story. Plate XYI. Elevation. Plate XYII. Longitudinal Section. These cottages are intended for the better sort of mechanics, foremen, farm bailiffs, &c., and would be well adapted for small retired tradesmen. PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. 97 E Plate XIV. 98 PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. Plate XV. Plate XVI. 100 PLAN Sj &C. OF COTTAGES. Plate XVII. PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. 101 Plate XVIII. A ground plan of two houses forming part of a street, suitable to a country town, or village, or the outskirts of a large town. Each house contains on the ground floor, a kitchen or wash-house, in which are the stairs to the upper floor, (under them boxes for fuel and dust,) and a living-room. Plate XIX. Plan of the upper story, consisting of three bed-rooms and a water-closet. Plate XX. Elevation. Plate XXI. Longitudinal Section. Plate XXII. Entrance doorway, window and chimney-pot, to a larger scale. The idea of placing the entrance doors alternately, so that a street or court runs on either side of the houses, was suggested by Mr. Weale, the Publisher. It has the advantage of saving much space in confined localities, is more open to the air, and less crowded than the common plan. The en- trance door being placed as shown on the plan, opening into the kitchen, leaves the living-room free and quiet. 102 PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. Plate XVIII. PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. 103 Plate XIX. 104 PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. Plate XX, PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. 105 E 5 Plate XXL iwiiiiSiiBin 106 PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES Plate XXII. PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. 107 Plate XXIII. A ground plan (the upper stories being similar) of a double-lodging bouse, for towus and localities where ground is valuable, for poor families, each consisting of a man and bis wife, with one or two children. The staircase is common to both houses, thereby saving room and expense. Each domicile is quite distinct, and shut off from the rest ; and consists of a living-room with a fire-place and two dwarf cup- boards, a bed-room, a small passage, in which is a sink, and out of which a water-closet, a large box for fuel, and a dust shaft, from the uppermost story of the house to a common receptacle in the basement. Plate XXIV. Street Elevation. Plate XXV. Elevation for a smaller house. Plate XXVI. Transverse Section. No back-door is shown on the plan, and a great improve- ment in the building of streets in towns would be, to lay out the wdiole of the space enclosed by rows and houses as garden- ground (not as at present, in separate damp plots), and with one or more common entrances between the houses. A trifling sum from each of the inhabitants would pay one of their num- ber for the trouble of keeping it in order. Many parts of London, at present so unhealthy, from the filth and damp collected in the little yards, &c., at the backs of the houses, might be thus rendered healthy and cheerful. SINK 108 PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. Plate XXIII. Plate XXIV. 110 PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES, Plate XXV. PLANS, &C. OF COTTAGES. Ill ESTIMATE OF COST. As the cost of a building varies so greatly in different localities, according to the price of materials and labour, no separate estimate is given; but from a careful one made of the cost of the smallest of these plans (Plates I. II. and III.), an idea may he formed of the expense of structures of this class. It might be built of brick or stone for between 50 and £ 60. If the walls were of Pise, the floor of plaster, and the timbers rough, and especially in localities where workmen are to he found used to this kind of work, it might be built for £ 30 ; probably for less. A good plan to lessen the cost of building a cottage would be to make the future occupier himself assist in its erection. In country localities this might always be done, as agricultural labourers in their leisure hours are in the habit of turning their hands to all kinds of work. And when cottages are built on an extensive scale (as in cases where a nobleman or landlord determines to build a village), the cost of labour might be altogether saved by making the future tenants, all of them, assist in building the cottages, under the superintendence of an experienced work- man ; and where the building materials are found on the estate, hardly any outlay of money would be incurred. Mr. Loudon says, on the cost of dwellings for the Poor, — “ No landed proprietor ought to charge more for the land on which cottages are built, than he would receive from it, if let as part of a farm ; and no more rent ought to be charged for the cost of building a cottage, and enclosing the garden, than the same sum would yield if invested in land ; or at all events, not more than can be obtained by Government securities. These conditions,” he continues, “are advanced on the sup- position that the builder is actuated as much by feelings of human sympathy as by a desire to make money, and hence they are addressed to the wealthy, and especially to the pro- prietors of land and extensive manufactories or mines.” APPENDIX. The following Specification is intended to apply generally to buildings of this class, and will serve to show more particularly the nature of the materials and workmanship employed. But as it would be impossible to form a Specification which should be adapted to every case, a mere outline is here given, and it must be considered as rather the framework upon which a Specification is to be constructed, suited to each case, than as a model of an instrument of this kind. 114 SPECIFICATION. SPECIFICATION OF WORKS TO BE DONE IN THE ERECTION OF COTTAGES. Excavator - The ground is to be excavated for the con- struction of the foundations, drains, cesspools, and all the other works for which the ground may require to be excavated ; and to fill in again, and level* the ground about the founda- tion and other works. To remove and cart away all the earth and rubbish, and to leave the house and ground perfectly clear at the conclusion of the works. Bricklayer The walls are to be executed with sound, hard, and well-burnt . . bricks, laid in mortar. The mortar to be compounded of one- third, by measure, of well-burnt stone lime, and tWo-thirds of clean sharp sand, free from salt, both to be well beaten and worked up together. To lay the whole of the brickwork in English bond ; the exterior to be worked fair and finished with a neat flat-ruled joint ; the interior to be worked fair for colouring, or left rough for plastering. It is to be well bedded and flushed in with mortar, and no four courses to exceed . . inches in height. To construct for soil -drainage, a barrel drain, . . inches bore ; from . . to . .in . inch brickwork, stuccoed on the lower-half of inside with cement, — or, the drain to be con- structed of glazed earthenware pipes, jointed in cement. To construct a cesspool . . feet in diameter and . . feet deep, to be steined round with SPECIFICATION. 115 Bricklayer- Mason ■ — . . inch brickwork, and covered with a York- shire stone cover. To construct the rain-water drains from . . to . . of . inch glazed earthenware pipe, jointed in cement. To construct a rain-water tank . . feet diameter and * . feet deep, of . . inch brickwork in cement, to be covered with a Yorkshire stone cover. To put a course of slates between two beds of cement throughout the walls at the level of the ground surface, to prevent the rising of the damp. To put to all openings in the brickwork plain arches closely set, to be finished externally with a neat flat-ruled joint. To build up, core, and parget the chimney- flues. To put to each fire-place a . . inch brick trimmer, and a chimney-bar of wrought iron. To thoroughly bed in mortar all the wall- plates, wood-bricks, lintels, bond-timber, and other work requiring to be set in brickwork, and to bed in and point round with lime and hair mortar all the door and window frames. To properly set with fire-bricks the grates and copper. To construct an oven with rounded bricks, domed over and cased inside with fire-bricks ; and to fix an iron-plate door, and carry up a proper flue. To pave the * . with hard, sound, well- burnt * . bricks laid on edge in mortar, upon dry rubbish. To pave the . . with . . inch paving- tiles laid angle- wise in mortar, upon dry rubbish. - To put to the external doorways Yorkshire stone solid tooled steps, with mortise-holes for receiving the ends of the door-posts ; and to provide and fix a wrought-iron shoe-scraper. To put to all the windows . . stone sills, properly sunk and weathered. To put to each fire-place a hearth and back- 116 SPECIFICATION. Mason hearth of . . inch Yorkshire stone, and a stone curb round the hearth, as a fender, . . inches high x . . inches thick, chamfered on the outer side. To put to the fire-places of the living-room and kitchen a . . shelf . . inches wide, . . feet in length. To provide and fix in the kitchen a York- shire stone sink, . . inches thick, with a hole cut to receive the waste-pipe. To cut in the stonework all necessary holes, mortises, rebates, and grooves, as required. Slater To cover the roof with good stout slate, securely fixed with zinc nails, two to each slate. Every part of the slating is to be pro- perly bonded, the eaves to be laid double, and the ridge covered with black ridge- tiles. The under side of the slates is to be pointed with lime and hair mortar. To fillet the slating, wherever requisite, against the brickwork, with cement, strong iron nails being driven in to secure it. Or, To cover the roof with good plain tiles, laid to a proper gauge in lime and hair mortar ; each tile to be secured by an oak peg. The ridge to be covered with proper ridge-tiles, secured by T-nails. Carpenter All the oak timber to be . . ; all the other timber to be . . , or . . , and the deals to be . . The timber and deals are to be entirely free from sap, shakes, large loose and dead knots, and every other defect. All the timbers are to measure the full scant- lings shown on the drawings ; no joists, ceiling joists, quarters or rafters, are to be more than . . inches apart. To put wood -bricks, where necessary, for fixing the joiners’ work. To put lintels where requisite. To construct the ground floor joists of . . inches X . . inches, on plates inches X . . inches. SPECIFICATION. 117 Carpenter' Joiner- - The joists of upper floor to be • • inches X . • inches, on wall-plates . . inches X . . inches. Trimmer and trimming- joists to be \ inch thicker. To frame quarter partitions of . . heads and sills . . inches X . . inches; door- posts, side-posts, plates above doors, and braces, . . inches X . . inches ; quarters, . . inches X . . inches. To construct the roof of timbers and wood- work of the following scantlings and sizes : Wall-plates . . inches X . . inches ; purlins . . inches X . . inches ; collar- beam . . inches X . . inches; rafters . inches X . . inches ; ceiling-joists . inches X ♦ . inches ; ridge-piece . . inches X . . inches ; slate battens . . inches X . . inch. Roof over lean-too : Wall-plates . . inches X . . inches ; rafters . . inches X . . inches ; slate bat- tens . . 2 inches X . . inch. - To construct the floors of . . of . . inch . . deal ; wrought and laid folding, — or, straight joint. To fix a . . inch deal skirting . . inches high, in . . . To construct the stairs (if the cottage have an upper floor) of . . inch deal treads, with splayed nosings, framed into . . inch string bearers, with newel, and balusters, one on each step, and splayed hand-rail. To put to the external doorway, proper fir door-cases . . inches X . . inches, with the door-posts tenoned into the door-step. To put to the front doorway a . . inch deal square and bead-but six-panel door, to be hung with strong wrought- iron hinges, one . . inch barrel bolt, and a good . . inch iron-rimmed lock. Or, To put to the front doorway a . . inch deal door, formed with vertical ledges, rebated and beaded joints nailed to back braces, 118 SPECIFICATION. Joiner . . inches X . . inch, to be hung with strong wrought-iron hinges, one . . inch barrel bolt, and a good . . inch iron-rimmed lock. The back door to have in addition a Norfolk thumb-latch. The doors of out -buildings to be of . . inch deal. To fit up all the internal doorways with four- panel . . inch square-framed doors, with . . inch deal panels, hung with wrought-iron hinges, good . . inch iron-rimmed locks, and stout Norfolk thumb -latches ; . . inch single re- bated linings : or, hung to . . inch jambs and heads, having a bead on both sides to cover the plaster joints. To fit to the window- openings deal-cased frames with oak sunk sills ; to have inch sashes double hung, with iron weights, iron axle-pulleys, lines, and fastenings. Or, to fit to the window- openings, solid fir, wrought, rebated, and beaded frames, with oak sunk sills, which are to have . . inch deal casements filled in with cross bars, hung with but-hinges, and provided with proper fastenings. To fix to the inside of window-openings . inch deal window-hoards, jambs, and soffits. To put in the recesses of the fire-places in . . dwarf closets, with . . inch tops, on proper bearers, . . inch deal fronts, and . . inch deal square-framed door, hung >with . . inch but-hinges, and to have . . inch good closet locks ; and to put to each of the closets a shelf of . . inch deal. To fix in the kitchen a dresser . . feet long . . feet wide, of . . inch clean deal, with two drawers of . . inch deal fronts and . . inch deal dovetailed rims and bottoms, strong legs and bearers, . . inch deal foot- board, and above, — three . . inch deal shelves. The privy to have a seat of . . inch deal, with deal riser and cover. SPECIFICATION. 119 Plasterer To lath, plaster, set, and whiten ; the ceilings and partitions in . . To render and set the walls of . . ; the same to be coloured twice with a good stone colour,-— or, prepared for paper. The privies are to be lime-whited inside. Smith To provide and fix a . . inch cast-iron guttering to the eaves throughout, to be securely fixed to wrought-iron brackets. To fix cast-iron rain-water pipes . . inches square, with heads, and shoes delivering into drains. To provide and fix in the kitchen fire-place a grate, having a . . inch oven and , . boiler. The other fire-places to have . . grates. To provide and fix a copper in scullery. To provide and fix a bar to each window on ground story. To provide and fix cast-iron air- gratings in the external walls, where directed. To provide and fix casements of wrought iron. To provide all other requisite iron- work. Plumber — To lay the valleys of roofs with milled lead . . ifes. to the foot,— or, . . . To provide and fix a pipe to conduct water into the cistern from the town or other supply, and a pipe from the cistern to sink, with brass cock. Or, To provide and fix an iron pump, with pipe to rain-water tank. To put from the sink to the drain a strong lead waste-pipe, with a large bell- trap. — To properly prepare and paint the whole of the Wpbd and iron work four times with good , f/ncl, proper pi} colour Or, To stain and twice varnish all the wood- work. — To glaze the windows with good second Painter— Glazier * 120 SPECIFICATION Glazier Newcastle glass, properly bedded, and back- puttied. Paper-hanger — To prepare properly and hang the whole of the plastered sides of the . . rooms with paper at . . per yard. Yards , gardens , Properly form and level the surface of the and yards or gardens. External walls . The enclosure -walls of gardens to be . . inches thick and . . feet high, and to be formed of . . . The whole of the works are to be executed and finished in a good and workmanlike manner, according to this Specifica- tion, and with the materials and workmanship described therein, and according to the drawings of plans, sections, elevations, and details, all of which are to be strictly attended to, as to form, dimensions, and all other particulars therein shown. No extra works are to be charged for, but such as are agreed upon at the time, and an order in writing given to the contractor. THE END. Hughes H Robinson, Printers, King s Head Court, Gough Square, Date Due GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 3 3125 001 4 3623