Observations upon the town of Cromer

by Edmund Bartell

In the church, which stands very near the house and contiguous to the public road from Aylsham to Holt, are many inscriptions and effigies in brass, some few monuments and a handsome tomb of the Clere’s and the Boleyn’s. In a vault, under the north aisle, are deposited nineteen of the relations and ancestors of the late Earl of Buckingham, amongst whom are his father and mother, with the Honourable Henry Hobart before mentioned; the coffins are placed in upright positions and most of them covered with black or crimson velvet. The late Lady Buckingham was interred in a vault in the chancel, but upon the death of her lord her remains were taken up and conveyed to the mausoleum.

Blickling is distant but a mile and a half from Aylsham, a neat market-town, with an excellent neighbourhood; it is situated on the river Bure, which is navigable to Yarmouth, for boats of thirteen tons burthen; its distance from Norwich, over a turnpike road, is, eleven miles, and the same from Cromer and Holt.

The road from Aylsham to Cromer is very pleasing, the country all the way rich, woody and fertile. In Erpingham field the views are extremely pleasing, and within a mile of Cromer the road is highly picturesque, it winds through a hollow way well ornamented with trees, whose long arms meeting across the road frequently form themselves into arches, through which the sea breaks in at intervals with the finest effect.

A lane often presents the painter with admirable studies for foregrounds, they are, more generally than any other parts of nature, set off with rugged old pollards, stretching their long arms athwart the road, their furrowed trunks and twilled branches being enriched with stains and mosses of all hues, from the light grey and brilliant yellow to the dark green approaching to black. The bank it shelters at the same time, affording a cool retreat to the cow, the sheep and the ass, any of which are highly picturesque; and the relief given to them, particularly if the bank is rather steep and broken, by the richness of the soil, which is, also, sometimes hollowed into little recesses overhung with moss, roots and trailing plants, is beyond conception. With materials as simple as these does Morland produce the most enchanting effect; indeed, we are always inclined to be pleased with a performance in proportion as it approaches nature, provided the objects are well selected. Morland’s pictures are her very counterpart, they possess so much character and are handled with such spirit, that it is impossible for the spectator, fond of rural scenes, to examine them without feeling the most lively interest in the subject.

The opposition between the foliage of young and old trees, the colouring of their barks and the ramification of their boughs, are circumstances of great picturesque effect. A beautiful young ash, for instance, never appears to greater advantage than when, tinged with the autumnal frosts, it is opposed to the dark green foliage of the venerable oak, from whose robust form it seems to implore protection; heightened by contrast, the beauties of each are set forth in the strongest point of view, and afford an instance where the greatest opposition, both in form and colour, are exhibited in nature, and may be equally so in a picture, without in the smallest degree violating the principles of harmony.

Figures in a road are another great source of amusement, and whether in motion or at rest, are equally pleasing; they create an interest in the mind by being strongly contrasted with inanimate objects. If at some distance, we are naturally led to enquire who they may be or what their employment; and if a single figure happens to be reclining upon the bank or leaning upon his staff, we probably form in our imagination the subject of his thoughts.

The devious and irregular windings of a lane, well stored with such picturesque appendages, keep up a continual expectation; something new opens at every step, the form of every object is varied, the lights and shadows, also, are varied in the same proportion; sometimes through a fortunate opening in the fence a cottage displays its humble roof; at other times a rich distance bursts upon the view, receiving a double charm from its unexpected appearance.

Such accidental circumstances give the lane a considerable advantage over the more extended prospect, to obtain which it is perhaps necessary to travel over many miles of uninteresting country.

Section the Ninth.

Woolterton, the seat of the Right Honourable Lord Walpole, is an elegant, modern built, mansion, situated in a large park, well ornamented with wood and water, but too flat to be possessed of very great beauty. At a short distance from the house, is a ruin highly picturesque, the tower of a church, of which no part else remains; it is a beautiful small fragment, but appears to be too much skreened by the ordinary fir trees with which it is encompassed, and which seem worse than they really are, by being every where surrounded with fine timber.