In the first number of these papers we pointed out the fact that the
cottages and small houses in fortified villages exhibited a totally
different character from those in open and unwalled villages. Owing
to the space being confined within the walls, any increase in the
number of inhabitants had either to be provided with accommodation
by adding to the height of the existing habitations or by setting
up dwelling-houses in out-of-the-way places. Our sketch of Lyme
Regis shows the outlet of a river which here flows into the sea; the
fortified walls are continued along the banks; the principal street of
the village is carried over the river by a bridge consisting of a lofty
and elegantly proportioned Gothic arch, evidently of thirteenth century
date. Cottages or small habitations cling to the walls supported upon
wooden corbels, and are bracketed out from the parapets of the bridge,
giving the latter more the effect of a gateway than of a bridge. The
whole scene is strange though very picturesque, and those who are
accustomed to the ordinary English village, with its detached cottages,
surrounded by gardens, are naturally surprised at the singular effect
brought about by such changed conditions. Those, however, who know
the fortified villages of Germany, France, and the Low Countries, are
quite familiar with such scenes, and regard them as usual in villages
prepared for war, as contrasted with the ordinary villages of our
country where peace was the normal condition.
[Illustration: GEORGIAN COTTAGE, AMERSHAM.]
It is indeed a matter of congratulation that our English ancestors were
able to live in abodes unsurrounded by fortifications, and to pursue
their humble avocations without the dread of invasion by some foreign
foe; but as it does not seem to be the design of Divine Providence
that man should pass this life without troubles and anxiety, civil
wars were not unfrequent, even in this happy isle. And even when this
affliction was absent, our towns were visited by pestilence, for our
historians tell us that in the neighbourhood of Warwick alone thirty
villages were depopulated and allowed to fall to ruin during that
fearful visitation called the “Black Death.” Their very sites cannot
now be traced, and their names are mere tradition. Even where they were
partially spared, the population of many villages was so reduced as to
cause a very singular arrangement. We refer to the distance between
the church and the village. Now there can be no doubt that parish
churches in the country were nearly always in former times erected in
the villages or towns they were intended to serve, and the only way of
accounting for their now being at a distance from one another is by
supposing that some great pestilence has at some period swept away the
population of that part of the village which adjoined the church. That
the pestilence should attack that particular portion of the village
more than another is highly probable, because its proximity to the
church and churchyard would render it more liable to infection. This,
however, is a very gloomy subject to contemplate, and we refer to it
only to account for certain peculiarities which it has introduced into
old villages.
Our other sketch represents a cottage or village house of much later
times, probably the Hanoverian period, built of various coloured
bricks, in some places arranged in patterns. The great peculiarity of
the design, however, is its diminutive scale. Were it not for the fact
that the presence of any human being near to it immediately dwarfs it,
the front might be that of an important house. This is a well-known
fact in architecture. There is nothing for bringing down the scale of a
building like a very tall girl. An architect we know built a beautiful
little church on a small scale, but he was shocked to find that a very
tall, and it must be confessed graceful, girl sat close to the first
column of the nave. Our friend said, “Really that girl completely
dwarfs my columns. I shall have to speak to the clergyman and see
whether she can be prevailed upon to take a seat in a less conspicuous
place.” He suggested this idea to the reverend gentleman, who seemed a
little confused.
“Well,” said he, “I fear that can scarcely be done, as that young lady
will in all probability become more closely connected with the church.
The fact is, we are going to be married next month.”
It is rather a strange thing that a tall man does not “bring down” the
scale of a building to the same extent as a tall woman. Probably the
dress of the latter is accountable for this.
The diminutive scale of the house at Amersham has its counterpart
in many Georgian buildings—Hamper Mill and the old school-house at
Watford, for instance. Yet we can scarcely charge the architects of
that time with an attempt to give a false scale to their buildings, as
they seem so well suited to their surroundings.
[Illustration: COTTAGES AT LYME REGIS—A FORTIFIED VILLAGE.]
LETTERS FROM A LAWYER.