Chapter VII: Part 7

For effecting this all the gases from our coal combustion would have to be conveyed along the same tunnel with the sewage to centralizing conduits converging to a point, where an immense chimney, 600 ft. high, should be erected, to discharge these gases into the atmosphere, the ascensive power being obtained either from the retained heat of the gases, which would probably be found quite sufficient, or if not, artificial heat could then be applied to effect the object. The chimney should be of the internal diameter of 100 ft. at the top, and 140 ft. external diameter at the bottom. This would take the smoke from 500 chimneys and every particle of foul emanation from the sewer, and every leak or opening to the upward air from these sewers would not then emit foul gases, but draw in fresh air with a pressure or suction of three and a half pounds per foot, and with a velocity of 40 feet per second. This gentleman says: “It is idle to talk of trapping, and thus confining gases evolved under ground; exit they must and will have, and when you imagine you have secured them in one place, you will find them pouring out in another.” He makes this plain by an illustration. He took an old-fashioned detached house; after entering into possession he found frequently very disagreeable smells, especially after rain, a change of wind, or a fall of the barometer; it may be remarked here that it was not necessary to take an old-fashioned house to find out this; in more modern built houses in London, after a fall in the barometer or rain, such a thing is repeatedly occurring. Mr. Spence, to cure the evil in his old mansion, exhausted all the remedies which the philosophy of London schemes acknowledges; he trapped all the exits from the sewer with the most approved patent girds; all slopstone pipes were cut and water-luted. But this was of no use, the smell came through the very walls and floors, and one bedroom on the first floor, which showed no connexion with the sewer, was quite uninhabitable. He adopted a plan which succeeded: a branch from the main sewer was brought right under the kitchen grate, from that a pipe of cast iron, four inches in diameter, was carried up through the brickwork, and the open top projected into the chimney a yard and a half behind the kitchen fire, above the fire. When this fire was again lighted, in a few hours the house was perfectly sweet, and the distant bedroom, uninhabitable before, has been slept in ever since. When this nuisance occurs in a London house the only remedy is to open the doors and windows to get rid of it, as we are not allowed to meddle with the sewers. Disagreeable effluvia in dwellings often occur, and baffle every endeavour to trace from where they proceed; in every case it is from choked-up drains or the sewer, and the decomposition of animal and vegetable matter therein retained.

As for Mr. Spence’s scheme, its grandeur almost stops its execution. It is well known that in all large manufactories, and in gas works, a tall chimney serves to draw out the smoke from the numerous fires, and it forms a smoke-outlet for them all. In most of these places the fuel is used up so completely that it is only the gases of combustion that are drawn away. Mr. Spence’s scheme has been successfully tried in its application to private residences, and also on a large scale to the new Assize Courts in Manchester. It was adopted by one of the architects in the competitive designs for the New Law Courts in London.

If these tall shafts and furnaces were applied in London, it may be questioned whether the smoke in cooling would not deposit the soot in the sewer, and this must be removed, if not run off by water. The flues connecting the house fires with the sewer would be partly horizontal, and these would certainly fill with soot, and no machines we have at present in use could clean out these flues from above. The operation must be performed from within the sewer, and then these flues being unsupplied with drain-eyes at their entrance to the sewer, would form so many open channels for the passage of the sewer gases into the houses. This would be the case in a very great degree where there were no fires in the stoves and their register doors were open. It would require an immense consumption of fuel in the high stalks to cause a current to prevent it, and the furnaces must be close together to lessen the cooling effects of cold currents of air from flues not in use.

As to the mere ventilation of the sewer itself, it could easily be effected by single drain pipes 6 inches in diameter, placed at intervals, from the sewer to the ash-pit of any neighbouring furnace. It would be probably to the advantage of the furnace itself, as even the tall stalks must sometimes make black smoke. A legislative enactment should require their owners to let them perform this service. It might require strong furnaces and plenty of them to effect it. A suggestion for getting rid of that “monster nuisance, London smoke” was made known in the _Builder_ about 1859, by Messrs. Bruce Neil. It is thus described: “The plan consists in placing small tanks containing water over the chimney (the chimney-pots being fixed inside the tanks, and made of a spiral and bent form). The chill of the water gradually condenses the smoke, which becomes decomposed and destroyed, being precipitated at the bottom of the tank in the form of mineral tar. The water is turned on and off daily. It will be here observed that in the event of a fire in the chimney the flames cannot spread, as they are immediately quenched by the water in the tank. According to Mr. Bruce Neil’s calculation, the smoke of 80 tons of coal, if collected, will yield upwards of 28 barrels of tar, of 2½ cwt. each. He proposes that the Legislature, or the Society of Arts, should offer a premium to the person who will undertake to rid us of this monster nuisance and convert the smoke into tar, so as to make it applicable to commercial purposes. In the adoption of the above plan a slight alteration in the mode of ventilating our apartments is all that is required, he tells us.

As to the possibility of converting smoke into tar by such means as are above described, some doubts might be expressed if it could really be done; the remedy would be worse even than the disease, every household using yearly 20 tons of coal would have in that time to remove 7 barrels or 17½ cwt. of tar from their roof. The _Builder_, in publishing this suggestion, did not give any diagram or sketch showing how the process was to be effected. Mr. Bruce Neil no doubt made one, as he speaks of the alteration required in the ventilation of our apartments; a drawing would at least have explained how the water was to collect the soot, and how it was to have access to the flue in case of its being on fire.

The suggestion of collecting soot at the chimney-top by means of water was a valuable one, and there is no doubt it could be done to some extent, but not by encircling the pots with cold water, which would chill the smoke and prevent the soot from rising. A

Half elevation. Half section.]

design is here given, fig. 23, to show how it could be effected.

It will be seen that the chimney-pot or funnel has a zinc cover carried by stout ironwork surrounding it; _a_ is the water, _b_ the pipe to convey it away; it would be self-acting, and being washed by every shower would not be likely to get out of order. The rain-water must be looked for as to supply--to pay for high service for the roof of our houses to the water companies would not do.

Our climate is more damp than cold, and a considerable quantity of rain falls on our roofs. The zinc cover is spread out, so as to retain as large a portion as possible of the rain-fall. In winter, when there is most smoke, there is most water, with little or no evaporation. A pool of water could be thus collected, and the smoke projected over it would lose some portion of its soot, which could be floated away by the pipe into a receptacle provided for it in the back yard. The water might be sent into the drain and the soot left; or it could be sent into the drain as well.

The arrows in the diagram show the direction of the smoke, and the cover is so spread out and curved as to render it unlikely for any violent wind to flow out both water and soot into the street beneath.

Certainly coal smoke is a great nuisance; it is yearly pointed out as such by our paper the _Times_, in one, probably two, very excellently written leaders. Even the youngest member of the press, the _Echo_, in one of the common London fogs occurring in April, 1868, thus remarks: “The most sad and remarkable circumstance about the fog of yesterday was that the newspapers and people in the streets spoke of it as a ‘visitation,’ as a ‘gigantic pall,’ as if, indeed, the black darkness was something as strange and unaccountable as a fall of frogs or fishes from the sky. Of course it was nothing but our own familiar coal smoke which stopped the way of the sunlight. It is most lamentable that Londoners are becoming so used to this filthy nuisance that nothing more than a passing exclamation is uttered when it is forced down upon them in such volumes as to produce almost the darkness of midnight at midday. If ‘cleanliness is next to godliness,’ then the people of London must have been yesterday the most ungodly people in the world, for nothing would remain clean which was exposed to the fog of that morning. A plague of locusts would not create more terror and sense of ruin in any foreign capital, where every article of dress and furniture and house decoration, both external and internal, would have been regarded as spoiled by the loss of freshness. But London received its coat of dirt yesterday, and to-day only wonders with the remark ‘how dark it was!’ Will nothing move us to abate the nuisance? Is there no hope but that distant one of the exhaustion of our coal-beds? Must we inhale coal-blacks, and always contemplate dirty houses and grimy furniture? Is it not possible by smoke sewers, or some contrivance or machinery, to relieve us of this plague?” It is very possible it could be done with the greatest ease, but at some first expense; and in some generation or other it will be written that it found London foul and left it sweet, and there will be a time when this will be appreciated; and the man who gives the city the pure atmosphere of a small country town will receive all due honour and acknowledgment, that is, when he is in his grave and securely buried.

The public have so long been accustomed to be choked with smoke, and their health affected by deleterious gases, that they look upon the proposal of any scheme to secure pure air as the hallucinations of dreamy philosophers or inexperienced Utopians.

None of our present flues can, in the very slightest degree, stop these aqueous vapours from ascending into the atmosphere, neither can they effect any purification of the smoke, or retain the blacks for any useful purpose; and it is of no use disguising the fact that any contrivance or appliance, to effect either of these most desirable objects, must consist of an additional construction to the flue, which will be attended with additional expense, and require extra attention. Therefore any such appliance, if introduced, should be effectual, and repay such additional cost to its owner, by a saving, or at least a more economical use of fuel.

The appliance to the flue the author has to recommend, he considers will not only cause an economical use of the fuel by not permitting the present waste of heat, but it will purify the smoke, and retain the blacks for any useful object to which they can be applied.

The principle of the best-constructed flue at present is to get rid of all vapour, smoke, and soot as soon as possible, without the slightest consideration for the people outside. That the smoke should not return to annoy the occupants within the house is the aim of the constructors, and to secure this, the waste of heat in the chimney, and the consequent waste of fuel, is considered of no importance, for is it not the hot smoke that carries up the soot and ventilates the apartment?

This operation of the flue could be taken advantage of. In the construction of chimney-flues in a wall they are often turned at an angle to the right or left to pass an obstruction, such as a fireplace or timber placed within or against the wall. A flue could easily be taken out of the wall and returned, and if the part so taken out was formed in cast iron with a small cistern of water at top, it would become a warm-water pedestal, and could moderately warm or air an apartment in which it was placed; the author calls this the flue pedestal, and it is represented in the following cut.

It is about three feet six in height, not much higher than a small cabinet. The door could open, and a small tap supplying warm water for domestic use would be seen. Thus the upper rooms of a house could be warmed or aired by the fires below in perfect safety, and the present waste of heat in the flues prevented. This would be economical, as in most cases no fires would be necessary in the upper rooms.

The flue thus brought out in iron could contain a fine spray of water, that would draw up the smoke, and take down its vapours and soot at the same time into the sewer.

Fig. 25 shows a section of the flue thus brought out. The wall is two bricks thick, the flue _a_, is 9 inches in diameter, _d_ is the cast-iron flue, and another, _e_, shaped like a funnel, is placed behind it, to collect the soot and water, and pass it off through the pipe _h_. The cistern is partly within the walls and partly covering the two flues. It is not necessary that the water in the cistern should supply the spray: that might be done by a separate pipe with a tap to turn off and on as desirable; _b_ is the moveable pedestal covering the whole.

The adaptation of this simple contrivance to any kind of domestic chimney-flue is not a very difficult operation. It is only necessary to take out the brickwork in front of a flue of a height of 4 to 5 feet, and then introduce the iron flue, gathering up the brickwork beneath it; the section, fig. 25, supposes the iron flues to be in an external wall; should it be required in a party wall the soot goes off at _g_ _g_, to be conveyed outside the building in the nearest way; doors are provided for the purpose of sweeping; any down

draught of air in the chimney might expend itself in the soot flue, and the smoke having passed the spray could not return. The spray of water should be equal to the whole width of the flue, and proportioned in strength to the work it has to do; the smoke from a whole group of flues might be conducted to one powerful spray, one upper flue or chimney would then suffice for the roof, while the soot and flues in any number might be formed into one before passing to the sewer.

The pipe _h_, shown in fig. 25, would not form an open communication with the sewer; it would be supplied with a flap-cover or drain-eye, like the common house drain at its extremity. This would open only when sufficient water and soot was behind it, and close when it was passed. It would not require sweeping, the water keeping it clear. It should have another kind of drain-eye to that at present in use, the lid, or flap of which is hinged from the top, the soot floating on the surface of the water, would require the flap to open from below. Fig. 26 shows the kind of drain-eye that would be required.

If it was not for the difficulty of the present form of drain-eye to our houses, the soot flue might discharge its contents into the house drains at once, below the trappings; there is probably no absolute necessity at all for drain-eyes at the termination of house drains, their use is to make precaution doubly sure, to prevent the rising of the gases from the sewer, and to keep out the rats, to prevent them, by getting through the traps, from entering the house.

Experiments were made with a shower of water in Mr. Cubitt’s descending flue. It will be seen by inspecting the figures 1 to 8 that these flues could easily be formed into one, and taken into the drain; the experiment did not succeed, as none will, that brings heavy smoke in opposition to a water-fall. The smoke must go with the current or water-shower, and not against it.

The flue pedestal, with its water-spray, is the whole of the contrivance by which the author believes the smoke of the domestic hearth could be got rid of, or rendered inoffensive. What the action of the water would be on the gases that escape from the fuel he cannot say, but he presumes it could not be other than beneficial.

He experimented on the subject a few years ago, and had a stove and flue erected about ten feet in height; the lower part of the stove was of brick, the upper part with the cistern of zinc. The coal fire was lighted, and as soon as black smoke appeared at the chimney-top, the water-valve was lifted and about 16 fine jets of water were sprayed against a piece of loose perforated zinc, suspended in the flue; this zinc is shown in fig. 25; in the second flue _e_ (it should have been marked _f_, but by a mistake in the cutting it is made _d_), the smoke had to pass through under this perforated zinc to get to the chimney above. On the instant the water was applied, the smoke appeared at the chimney-top of a light colour, and it came out of the soot receptacle, placed a little height above the ground, nearly as much as it did at top, and of a similar light vapourish character,[H] a sure sign that it was drawn down by the current of water. Soot in large quantities was soon seen in the receptacle; the author has not ascertained the quantity of soot which would be obtained by this process from a ton of coals, but he believes it would be very considerable, possibly two sacks or more. As clean unmixed soot is worth in London 2_s._ 6_d._ per sack, if this soot were retained it would pay for the extra expense of the water, and the retaining of it, and to carry off the water would be an easy operation.

The “blacks” are good things at present in their wrong place; they could in the way proposed be very easily got rid of, and if it were possible to cut into all the chimneys of London and apply the remedy, the whole of the soot, which at present escapes into the atmosphere, might be caught and passed into the drains; it would there probably fully deodorize them. It is certainly not possible, from the herculean nature of the task, to disturb the whole of the chimneys of London, but the worst only might be operated upon, such as the chief kitchen flues of the great establishments, which are continually sending out black smoke.

Among the chief offenders are our bakers, nearly twenty of them being fined weekly for this by the magistrates, and for fires occurring in their chimneys. It appears that the Smoke Nuisance Act bears hardly upon them; the smoke-consuming apparatus forced upon them by the Act has utterly failed in its purpose, and it is impossible for them to comply with the requirements of the Act, and carry on their business in a satisfactory manner either to themselves or the public. They have applied to the Home Secretary for relief, and a bill to repeal so much of the Act 16 and 17 Vict. that relates to bakehouses has been in contemplation.

There would be no difficulty in placing a flue pedestal in their flues at any height above their oven fires; it would not only relieve their neighbours from the annoyance of black smoke from their chimneys, but it would secure the chimneys themselves from taking fire. The water need only be turned on when required, when black smoke was being made, and if they chose to collect the soot the expense of the operation would be trifling, if anything, beyond the first expense of the flue pedestal, in the end.

In large country houses the flue pedestal would warm the upper rooms or passages, and cause a more equal temperature in the building; this, together with the practicability of collecting the soot for agricultural purposes, might be an inducement to its introduction. Water could be lifted to the roof of a country mansion by that ingenious contrivance the hydraulic ram, and passed off to its original source when done with, the soot being left behind.

The beautiful self-acting machine, known as Gwynne and Co.’s improved hydraulic ram, is peculiarly adapted for raising or lifting water to any required elevation. It is necessary to have a fall of water to work it, and the greater the height of the fall, the more effective will be the machine. In favourable cases it will raise water thirty times higher than the fall working it. The greater the height of the lift, of course the less will be the quantity raised in a given time. This machine can be made to deliver comparatively large quantities of water, either in tanks on the roofs of houses, or in farmyards for filling ponds. It will work day and night without any attendance or expense after it is once fixed. Two or more rams may be used to force through the same pipe, or rising main. Where a continuous stream of water to work the machine cannot be obtained, a spring, or even rainfall, or drainage may be stored up in a reservoir or dam, and made to work the ram.

The expense of these machines is not excessive, as the following table will show:--

+-----------+-----------+-----------------------+-------------------------+ |Diameter of|Diameter of| Approximate Number of |Price of Ram, complete, | |Feed Pipe. | Delivery |Gallons of Water raised|with all the accessories,| | | Pipe. | in a day of 24 hours. | but exclusive of Pipes. | +-----------+-----------+-----------------------+-------------------------+ |Inches. |Inches. | | £ | | 2 | 1 | 800 to 1150 | 12 | | 3 | 2 | 3000 to 4000 | 24 | | 4 | 2 | 4000 to 5000 | 34 | +-----------+-----------+-----------------------+-------------------------+

A small room or enclosure must be erected to contain the machine.

The question of how far the removal of smoke from the atmosphere would affect the various gases of combustion floating therein is a question for the chemist. The plan that has been here proposed is founded on the supposition that Nature’s law, relative to the diffusion of gases, permits only carbonic acid gas, the chief product of combustion, to remain in the proportion of 1 in 2000. The introduction of so much water in the sewer, where its presence already is considered an injury to the sewage, is an objection, but the present system of drainage requires a plentiful supply of water, to prevent stoppages or choking. Should the dry earth system ever be generally introduced, the present sewers would serve to remove liquid sewage and all products of combustion. The operation of the sewer in any way in receiving this smoke and soot, would permit the full and cheering light of the sun to shine alike in country and town.

_DESIGN No. 36._

A LECTURE HALL, OR LITERARY INSTITUTION.

This design was made to refront an old chapel in the country which had been purchased for the purpose of forming a Literary Institute. The interior

was one large room, the lecturer’s table at the back, a recess and fireplace behind, a large gallery in front, under which were formed two small rooms, with a

passage from the grand entrance between. The entrance-door with a bust of Socrates over it, under the arch, was made large, to give an important character to the front. A section of the niche over the doorway is given, some details of the angle rustication, together with an elevation of the entrance-door.

_DESIGN No. 37._

ENCAUSTIC TILES.

A slight digression from the subject-matter of the preceding pages may serve to break monotony, and introduce to the notice of the reader an ornamental object--the encaustic tile. They are

now of universal use, both for floor and wall decoration, and have become general favourites for such purposes. A few suggestions, therefore, for the purpose of making them more artistic and pleasing will not be out of place.

The present patterns are almost entirely of a conventional kind, or according to strict geometric forms. The same pattern is repeated all over the surface, without variation, and however excellent the pattern may be, it is designed on the same principle as that of a printed wall paper.

The design just given puts all geometric forms aside, and introduces a free-hand treatment, allowing the pattern to be varied on every surface laid down.

The first tile shows eight points in which the stem of the pattern (suppose that of a flower design) meets in them all. The second tile shows the stem; the third and fourth the flower pattern varied. One tile might have more flowers than leaves, another all leaves or buds, and as all the tiles would fall in their right places, they depend only on the care of the workmen who place them; the pattern might be varied according to the number of tiles of different pattern.

For wall linings a trellis work might be shown on the tile, having a blue ground; some tiles might be without either leaves, stems, or flowers, and the design would show a flowered trellis against the sky. The figure given on page 461 shows this.

These tiles are beginning to be used on columns. Some good examples are to be seen in the South Kensington Museum Galleries. In columns with trellis work a white marble ground with leaves and roses twined round it naturally, would look a great deal better than formal lines of stiff ornaments.

Some of our latest Gothic architects who were at the same time artists, did not trouble themselves to draw out according to rule the geometric lines for the foliation of their Gothic windows. They knew the principles thoroughly, but merely made the vertical lines correct, and then sketched in the foliation with a free hand. This gave an outline greatly superior to the usual stiff conventional forms. Some examples of this may be seen in one of the author’s books, now in the Fine Art Library of the South Kensington Museum, in which the free-hand designs (rubbings) are placed by the side of the same patterns drawn out geometrically.

The vignette shows foreign cut-wood patterns for roof ornament; the section the method of forming the zinc gutter.

_DESIGN No. 38._--RESTORATION OF CASTLE GUNNARSTROP, SWEDEN.

It has been remarked in the Introduction, that the localities in which a residence can be placed greatly affect their picturesque appearance. The north and west Highlands of Scotland, in our own country, and a similar class of scenery in Sweden and Norway, greatly aid by their natural beauties the best effects of the architect, and generally in northern Europe, including Denmark with the above-named countries, those accessories can be largely taken advantage of. An instance of this can be found in the design now under consideration. In this castle the gables are carried up to a greater height, and made more ornamental and of greater importance than with us. In the year 1852 the author was making a design for a villa for the Count de Bark, a Swedish nobleman. It was to be erected on the heights bordering the Sound near Copenhagen, and was seen from the sea in passing, peering above the trees. The upper part of the villa was made as picturesque as possible, with a tower, battlements, and turrets. The lower part of the building was very plain, and the plan merely contained a few living rooms and servants’ apartments; it was much unlike our style, and is therefore not given here: only the view from the vignette is afforded in this description. The Count’s uncle occupied the old castle, the Vrams Gunnarstrop in Sweden, then very much out of repair and unfitted for the requirements of modern domestic life.

It was planned originally on a grand scale; the fronts had high triangular gables in steps, and decorated with cut granite ornaments, but the whole was

very plain. The north front was in two floors, and the angle towers of the building had only two floors. The portions between one storey--that of the ground floor--thus had to be raised. The ground floor was given to the servants, and the southern portion of the building was to remain for a time in its then existing state. The plan shows _a_, the grand staircase, adorned with columns supporting the upper landing. It was 27 ft. in length by 26 ft. in width, and led up to an ante-room _b_, in the centre of the building, 26 ft. in length by 12 ft. in breadth. It opened into the first and second drawing-rooms, _c_ and _d_: one 30 ft. in length, the other 40 ft., and both of a width of 26 ft.

The dining-room _e_, entered from the chief drawing-room, was 40 ft. in length, with a width of 22 ft.; _f_ shows the gallery or library filled with book-cases, and leading to the day-room _h_; the chief bedroom is shown at _i_ adjoining, _k_ is the lady’s dressing-room, _l_ the gentleman’s dressing-room and bath; _m_ is the nursery, with a servants’ staircase and closet adjoining; _g_ is the servants’ serving-place at the entrance of dining-room. The light portions of the plan show the additions made; the black, the old portions of the castle. The two towers contained staircases to the attics which were formed in the high roofs.

The principal elevation faced the west. The perspective view of this front is given. Its length is 130 ft., and the height of the principal entrance from the ground to the top of the gable is 60 ft.

The south and west sides were of an equally picturesque character, but neither had any central gable. The south had triple dormer windows joined in the centre with one dormer window at each side. The two towers were seen rising above the roof, and a wide terrace with open stone Elizabethan balustrading extending the entire front, with steps down to the garden in the centre below. The terrace was 130 ft. in length. The west side had the two gables, one at each end, with three tall dormer windows in the roof; these were connected by wood balustrading, and a window with three lights was placed below each. The granite-stone ornaments in the old fronts were replaced in the new fronts.

The vignette gives a view of a small garden fountain, designed from one in the old garden at Blickling in Norfolk. The plinth is hexangular in plan, with the scrolls projecting on the three sides. To the top of the jet its height is about 9 feet.

_DESIGN No. 39._

SUMMER VILLA FOR THE COUNT KINSKI, AT TEPLITZ.

This villa was designed about the year 1852, for an Austrian nobleman, who wished to have a villa in the English Elizabethan character. The plan was arranged after his own figured sketches, and it is given here as showing the requirements considered desirable for such a building in a summer place of

retirement, or palace for a foreign nobleman’s occupation. The porch was approached on four sides by flights of steps 12 ft. 6 in. in diameter; it opened into a hall _b_, 20 ft. in length by 14 ft. in width. The drawing-room _c_, of noble size, with two bay windows, was 36 ft. in length by 22 in width. The dining-room _d_, in the opposite side of the hall, was 28 ft. in length by 18 ft. in width. The butler’s pantry _k_, and the servants’ offices and kitchen _g_, with a large store-closet _h_, and scullery _i_, adjoined. A bread-room is shown at _j_, _l_ is the servants’ hall, _m_ a china-closet, _n_ a store-room, and _o_ the servants’ staircase, _q q_ are the servants’ entrances, and _r r_ the closets.

Returning to the principal portion of the building, the chief staircase, _v_, opens from the entrance hall, _e e e_ are nurseries, and _f_ is the library. On the first floor, _a_ is the balcony over the porch; this was to be used for smoking, &c., _b_ is the best bed-chamber, and _c_ the boudoir to the same, _d_ is the second best bedchamber, and _e_ its boudoir, _f_ is the third best bedchamber, and _g_ its boudoir, _h_ is a bedroom without any boudoir, _i_ is the housekeeper’s bedroom, _k k k_ the men’s sleeping room, _i_ housemaid’s closet, _j j_ closets, _l l_ linen-closets, _m_ a closet or bath-room, _n_ the principal staircase, and _o_ the servants’ staircase.

The attic plan was devoted to the sleeping rooms, _b b b_, of the female servants. Here plans are made

(the building being so large) on a smaller scale than the other plans in this volume.

The perspective view merely exhibits the common forms of Elizabethan character. The tower which formed the entrance was 70 ft. in height from the foundation to the top of its roof, the height of the ground-floor rooms was 14 ft. 3 in. They had rich plaster friezes, and the staircase had carved oak Elizabethan balustrading. The second-floor rooms were 12 ft. 3 in. in height, and were very plain in character. The upper floor of the tower was open, but could be closed by sashes; this was intended for a smoking retreat. A small detail of one of the gabled windows in front is given below. Altogether, the design had a most picturesque effect, and its style met with approval. It combined utility with elegance,

and completely answered the objects for which it was constructed.

Another villa was designed for an Austrian nobleman, the Prince Clary: a view of it is given in the first illustration of this volume, through the window of the architect’s study. It was intended as a summer retreat for the Prince and his friends when engaged in a fishing-excursion on the noble river the Elbe, on the banks of which it was placed. It contained a large centre dining-room, 48 ft. by 22, with a saloon or drawing-room, 40 ft. by 20 ft., and extensive accommodation for the kitchen and servants’ departments. The upper storey contained 14 best bedrooms, each with an ante or dressing-room, besides bath-room and the sleeping apartments for the domestics.

_DESIGN No. 40._

HARRINGTON HOUSE, QUEEN’S PALACE GARDENS.

This building, with which the present collection of designs closes, is probably the most unpicturesque example in the volume. Its exterior has been frequently criticised; whatever its merits or demerits may be, it certainly is wholly unlike, while at the same time it is not inferior, to the strange style at present so popular with the younger branch of architectural professors, which appears to be a

mixture of the Byzantine and Romanesque styles, joined with the Roman Gothic. Some call it the Missal style, others the Northern Italian. The sole recommendation of it is that it comes more expensive to carry out than any other. This house has at least the reputation of being a very comfortable one, and as more than usually adapted to receive large assemblies and fashionable parties. Indeed the noble Earl who erected it was so pleased with it, that on entering, on its completion, he addressed the following note to the author:--

H. H., Kensington Palace Gardens,
_31 May, 1854_.

My dear Sir,--

I take this opportunity of expressing to you my thanks for having
constructed a house, in my humble judgment, _without a fault_.

Believe me most sincerely yours,

(Signed) HARRINGTON.

To C. J. Richardson, Esq.

And after having resided in it nine months, he again wrote as follows:--

H. H., Palace Gardens, Kensington,
_2nd February, 1855_.

My dear Sir,--

I pray you to accept my cordial thanks for your most able
architectural skill in the construction of my house. I have lived
in it one season, and have not discovered in it a single fault.

Believe me most truly yours,

(Signed) HARRINGTON.

To C. J. Richardson, Esq.

The site upon which the house stands was taken by the Earl from the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s

Woods and Forests, and it certainly is, or was, one of the best sites for building in the metropolis. It adjoins Kensington Gardens, looking on the old winter garden of Queen Anne. Agreeable and admirable a

site for building as this was, in 1853, it remained for some time utterly neglected. The first speculator had been ruined, and only one or two of his houses (one erected by Mr. Owen Jones, the architect) were

standing in the road. Soon after the Earl of Harrington acquired the land, and erected this building, the whole of the road, on each side, was covered with first-class mansions.

The terms of the agreement were, that the Earl should take plot No. 9 and the northern portion of plot No. 10, having a frontage of 196 ft. to the Queen’s Road, and a depth of about 260 ft., for a period of 91¼ years, from the 5th July, 1851, at a peppercorn rent for the first year, of 73_l._ 10_s._ for the second year, and of 147_l._ a year for the remainder of the term, also a rent of 5_s._ a year in lieu of land-tax for every year except the first.

The Earl was to expend a sum of not less than 6000_l._ in erecting upon the ground a dwelling-house of the first-class style of building. The house was to be insured in the sum of 6000_l._, and the Earl was to pay jointly, with the adjacent occupiers, the expense of lighting and keeping up the road, which was a private one, and to pay the gatekeepers at the lodge. The rest of the covenants of the agreement were such as are usually found in such documents.

The house was, until the present year, the only Gothic one in the district, the Earl insisting upon having this, his favourite style, admitted. It stands in the centre of the road at the highest level, and is well up out of the ground. The principal floor is 7 ft. above the outside road of approach, and 14 ft. above the level of the public road. The whole of the walls stand on a basement of concrete, and the lower flooring is 5 ft. above the level of the foundations. The basement story is 14 ft. in height, and of entirely fireproof construction. The best rooms on the ground-floor are 17 ft. 6 in. in height, the secondary rooms are 15 ft. high. All the principal staircases are of stone; the ground plan on page 479 shows the

entrance hall, _a_, approached by 12 steps; it is 30 ft. in length, by 21 ft. in width; _b_ is the principal staircase, situated on one side of the saloon in the centre of the building; the latter is 41 ft. long by 21 ft. wide. The dining-room _e_, and the library _c_, on each side of the hall, are respectively 30 ft. by 22 ft. The great room, with the bay window, entered from the saloon, is the picture gallery _f_. This room is 41 ft. long by 30 ft. wide, without the bay. The drawing-rooms _d_, _d_, on each side, are each 25 ft. by 20 ft.; _g_, the conservatory, measures 40 ft. by 21 ft.; this, with the two drawing-rooms and the picture gallery, can in less than half an hour be thrown into one by the removal of the large folding-doors in the picture

gallery, which can be taken away, frames complete, by simply removing a few screws. A length of drawing-room is then gained of 125 ft.

The principal staircase is shown in elevation on page 477; the plans are here given to a larger scale.

The lower plan shows a portion of the first flight and the servants’ passage, _a_, under the first landing; _b_ is their staircase down to the basement, this should have been shown on the left-hand side. It is the footman’s staircase, adapted for him to ascend and

descend readily from or to the basement, and the passage _a_ permits him to enter either side of the house without being seen. The upper plan shows the two flights, right and left, rising from the principal landing. Each of these has 22 steps. Three more in the centre lead up to the gallery round the saloon; the section of the staircase, given on p. 482, clearly shows this arrangement. The staircase front is in Bath stone. The only ornaments are the decorated corbels supporting the small angular projections or buttresses necessary to receive the iron standards of the railing above. One of the corbels and a panel of the iron railing is given. This is carried up the stairs on both sides and round the gallery, and is richly coloured and gilt. The only remaining portions of the ground plan to be described are the secondary rooms. A side entrance is at _j_, and the waiting room, _i_, is also at the side; _h_ is the servants’ staircase, going from the basement to the attic. On the other side of the building _o_ is the Earl’s dressing-room, with a study or writing room by its side. This has a lift, _n_, from the kitchen, enabling it to be used as a serving room. The picture gallery has a flight of steps descending to a large ornamented garden at the back of the house, _n n_ is the stable yard, and _k k k_ rooms over the stable.

The section through the complete building, given on page 486, shows the general character of the interior. The rooms are wholly without ornament; all have plain cornices formed of running Gothic mouldings. The

only decorated portion is the saloon (_inf._), the coved ceiling of which has the shields of painted and gilt coats of arms of family connexions, together with

mottoes and monograms. The skylight is filled with richly coloured embossed glass, every pane having a shield of arms, its ceiling being panelled with painted enrichments on a blue ground. A view of the saloon is given on p. 487; it contains in the centre a statue

by Theed, of Lady Chandos Pole, the eldest daughter of the Earl. The statues are shown in the plan by the letters _m m_. The ground floor is supplied with warm-water pipes; these are shown by the dotted lines. They are sunk in the brickwork forming the substructure of the flooring, and covered with open ornamental ironwork. The hall has two warm-water pedestals. The whole of the rooms and conservatory are so warmed.

The latter part of the interior resembles in some respects a small chapel. A half-section of a portion

of its roof is given on p. 488; it measures 22 ft. from the floor to the collar-beam. The corbels, from which the roof springs, are decorated with shields of arms, surrounded by a garland of strawberry leaves.

In the plan of the one-pair floor _a_ is the boudoir or morning room; _b b b_ are bedrooms; _c c c_ dressing-rooms, and _d_ is the bath-room. The gallery is shown as completely going round the saloon; its ceiling is of ground glass arranged in panels, each of which is

moveable, with a skylight over the whole. There is plenty of light therefore afforded for the paintings with which the walls are covered.

The small attic plan shows these skylights on three sides only, likewise the sleeping-rooms _b b_, and the housemaid’s closet _c_. Under this plan is that of the upper room in the tower with its two slate cisterns, each capable of containing 800 gallons of water. They are supported by strong trussed girders fixed in the walls. This upper room is approached by a

cottage staircase, the plan of which, with its 22 risers, is shown in cut on p. 490. It enables the room to be approached without any structural appearance being seen from without. A half elevation of the exterior, and another of its section is given above. It is well supplied with light.

The building contains upwards of forty rooms; the basement is very large, and contains considerable accommodation. The mere enumeration of these would require every letter in the alphabet to point them out in an engraving, but as it is desirable to show how closely a large establishment of servants can be packed together, the basement plan is given. _a_ is the kitchen, _b_ the scullery, and _c_ the larder. The kitchen is provided with a lift _f_, and a small service window; _d_ is the pastry-room, and _e_ the still-room, with the lift; _g_ is the dairy, _h_ the washhouse, _i_ the laundry, _j_ the butler’s pantry, _k_ the steward’s room with its strong closet; _l_ is the housekeeper’s, with the cook’s room between it and the still-room, _m_ is the servants’ hall, _n_ the men’s sleeping room; _o o_ are wine-cellars, _p_ the butler’s wine-cellar, _q_ the footman’s stairs under the principal staircase, _r_ the warm-water furnace, by the steward’s room, placed at the back of his strong closet; _s_ is the stable, containing eight stalls, one loose box, and a harness-room; _t t t_ are cart-sheds, _u_ is the cowhouse, _v_ the dung-pit, _w_ the coach-house, _x x_ two of the three coal-cellars, _y_ the dust-pit, and _z z z_ are the closets. The carriage-road to the side entrance is formed over the cart-sheds and coal-cellars. These are arched over in brick and covered with a thick layer of Brown’s metallic lava, and are provided with proper drainage. The boot-cleaning place and that for lamps are between the coach-house and the cart-sheds.

The exterior of the building has been censured on account of the Gothic outline being too flat, the roofs too low, and all the windows having common sash

frames. With regard to the latter, it may be considered very probable that if the Gothic race of architects had continued with us to the present day, they would have adopted plate glass for their windows, and put aside their lead-lights and small panes of common glass. One of the greatest improvements that could be made in our cathedrals, not excepting even St. Paul’s, would be the reglazing the windows in the modern style.

As a specimen of the architectural style of the building, the centre bay-window of the principal front is given, with its section and plan. It is 9 ft. 6 in. across, and 21 ft. 4 in. high, and stands directly over the chief entrance. The construction of a projecting bay-window coming over an archway requires a short description.

The three diagrams on page 495 show the manner in which such windows are corbelled out. The upper

one is a plan of the bottom stone course, immediately over the key-stone of the arch; it shows also the centre stone of the second course upon it. The middle diagram shows the two courses from the back. It will be seen that the middle stone of the first course does not bear upon the arch, but is supported by the two end stones let into the wall. The last diagram is a plan of the upper course at top. Slate dowels were used, and an iron bar, shown in plan under elevation _a_, 3 in. by ¾ in., was placed across the course tailing into the walls on each side; and two bars _p p_, each 2½ by ¾ in. and 12 ft. in length, tied it to the flooring of the room. This is shown likewise in the plan, the dotted lines dividing the length of flooring; _d_ is the upper course of stones, and _c_ one of the principal beams of the floor.

The bell-turret stands 20 ft. above the roof. This is carved in oak; an elevation, section, and plan is given. Only those parts of the building are intended to be here illustrated which have some peculiarity of design or construction.

A building of this size would require about 150 working drawings to be made for it, and a considerable number to be given to show its construction.

It was completed in about two years, at an expense of 14,814_l._; but this did not include the price of the warming apparatus, nor that of the lightning conductor fixed to the bell-turret.

Pedestal to steps.]

Whatever opinions may be expressed in regard to the architectural details of this erection, the author at least can plead, as its owner stated in the letters, copies of which have been given, that the essentials of a house, convenience, comfort, and complete suitability for all domestic purposes, were accomplished. These objects being attained, any real or imaginary faults perceived by professional critics may be palliated if not forgotten.

INDEX.

PAGE

Introduction, 3-48

“Albert Hall of Arts”, 131

Architectural history, 16

Architectural orders, 20 _et seq._

Architecture and gardening, 46, 312

Architecture, English, 25

Architecture, Grecian, &c., 11

Architecture, Mexican, &c., 26

Architecture, origin of, 8

Architecture, principles of, 27

Architecture, Roman, 23

Architecture, Suburban, 29

Architectural symmetry, &c., 31

Arnott’s, Dr., system of warming, 357

Arnott’s ventilator, 414

Aspect of a house, 36

Asphalte as a paving, 235

Atmosphere, the, and smoke, 431

Bacon, Lord, on house construction, 256

Balconet, an iron, 331

Balconet, design for a, 123

Balusters for a staircase, 277

Balustrade, a garden, 363 _et seq._

Balustrade, Elizabethan, 181

Balustrade for a staircase, 282

Balustrades, stone, 247

Balustrading, cut wood, 279

Balustrading, designs for iron, &c., 299

Balustrading, house and garden, 204 _et seq._

Barge-board, 247

Bath-house, design for a, 214

Bower, garden, rooms, 242

Boyd’s flue, 414

Bricks, ventilating, 157, 170

Buildings, foundation of, 151

Carving by machinery, 278

Casements, iron, 220

Castle, Gunnarstrop, Sweden, 464

Ceiling, a dining-room, 288

Ceiling and cornices, 44

Ceiling, drawing-room and library, 290, 291

Ceiling for a drawing-room, 166

Ceiling for a hall, 286

Ceiling, ornament for a, 61

Ceilings, ornamental, various, 313 _et seq._

Ceilings, plaster ornament for, 161

Chalk concrete, 83

Chapel, design for a Roman Catholic, 210

Cheshire wooden houses, 233

Chimney-piece, ancient, at Enfield, 228

Chimney-pieces, designs for, 80, 81, 319

Chimney-pot, ornamented, 329, 330, 423

Chimney stack, ancient, 74

Churches, concrete, 96

Clunch, 246

Concrete as a foundation, 152

Concrete, chalk, 83

Concrete churches, 96

Concrete construction, 82

Concrete cottages, 83

Concrete, nature, cost, &c., of, 91

Concrete, remarks on, 93

Concrete sewers, 96

Concrete walls, 92

Construction, fire-proof, 156

Construction, concrete, 82

Corbels, 172

Corbel, French cut-wood, 403

Corbels, ragstone, 392

Cornice and ceiling, 44

Cornice, design for a plaster drawing-room, 101

Cornice for a drawing-room, 166

Cottage, design for a picturesque, 62

Cottage, double, design for a, 66, 72

Cottage, gardener’s, 50

Cottages, Hampshire, Kentish, &c., 88 _et seq._

Cottage or lodge, design for a small, 58

Cottage or lodge, design for a huntsman’s, 78

Country house, design for a small, 174

Country villa, design for a, 182

Cubitt’s flues, 407

Dab houses, 251

Damp walls, 152

Damp, wash to prevent, in walls, 159

Deals, stained, 45

Decoration external and internal, 42

Denley’s flue, 413

Door, entrance for a hall, 458

Door ornaments, 69

Doric order, 20

Drain-eye, 450

Egyptian architecture, 19

Elizabethan balustrades, 181

Elizabethan villa, 280

Encaustic tiles, 460

English architecture, 25

Escutcheon, design of an, 69

Escutcheon, key, 172

Finials, 109

Finials, roof, 80

Fireplace for a hall, 284

Fireplace, the, 404

Fire-proof construction, 156

Fire-proofing, 158

Flue construction, 405 _et seq._

Flue pedestal, the, 446

Flues, Cubitt’s, 407

Flues, various, 405 _et seq._

Fogs, London, and smoke, 443

Foundations, concrete, 152

Foundations of buildings, 151

Fountain, an ancient nymph’s, 47

Fountain, garden, 49

Fountain, garden, design for a, 469

Fountains, various designs for, 307

French villas, roofs, zinc work, &c., 273

Frieze, external, 173

Frieze for dining and drawing-room, 178

Frieze, plaster, for a drawing-room, 65

Gable, ornamental, 170, 220, 300

Gardens, ancient, 312

Gardens and architecture, 45

Garden, architectural, 313

Garden bower rooms, 242

Gardener’s cottage, 50

Garden fountain, 49