80.—Charlton House, Wiltshire (1607).
Plate XXVIII.
BURGHLEY HOUSE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
GENERAL VIEW.
At Charlton, in Wiltshire (Fig. [80]), there is an example of the open arcade, which became rather fashionable, but which later generations have, in many houses, found unsuitable to our climate, and of which the arches have in consequence been filled up. The gables here are ornamented with a kind of filigree, which is more curious than beautiful. At Aston Hall, near Birmingham, the south front presents another instance of an open arcade (Fig. [81]), and a good deal of picturesqueness is imparted by the broken outline of the gables. Corsham Court, in Wiltshire, shows a more restrained treatment (Fig. [ 82]). The animated effect is obtained by a number of plain gables, and by square projecting windows crowned with flat pediments, the whole bound together with conspicuous horizontal strings. At Kentwell Hall, in Suffolk, the dignified effect is produced by the combination of two turrets with the front gables, by projecting windows carried up the whole height of the building, and by massive chimney-stacks (Fig. [83]). The approach is still on the axial line, although the present low wall is but a poor substitute for the usual enclosure; but in many of the examples cited the general effect is decidedly impoverished by the disappearance of the outer courts.
81.—Aston Hall, Warwickshire. South Front (1618-35).
