The arms of the family of Lucas are—party per bend, gules and argent, a bend, dovetailed, between six annulets, all counterchanged; a crescent for difference. Crest—a demi-griffin, wings expanded, gules, semée of annulets, argent. Motto—“Spes et fides.”
The mansion is approached from the principal Lodge Entrance by a drive through the park, which is finely timbered with forest trees of large growth. These are chiefly oaks, of which there are some remarkably fine and gigantic examples. Under these roam innumerable herds of red and fallow deer, which add much to the beauty of the park scenery. The Lodge, with its overhanging roofs, its mullioned windows, its geometrical chimney-shafts, and its advanced porch, is one of the most picturesque and pleasant in the county.
The mansion itself is situated on an eminence, and commands extensive views of the surrounding country. On the east side is the Carriage Entrance, which is a spacious gravelled court-yard, enclosed next the park by a stone balustrade. On the south side is the South or Grand Terrace, a fine promenade walk some six hundred feet in length by twenty feet in width, adorned with statuary, and overhung and shaded by magnificent trees. This terrace is supported, at an elevation from the park of about ten feet, by a massive stone wall and elegantly designed balustrade. In the recesses are fine examples of sculpture, and the balustrade itself supports a number of elegant vases, terminals, and other ornaments, placed at regular distances. The park from this point slopes gently away till it ends in a fine ornamental Lake. Looking to the eastward, down a lovely glade in the park, another and more magnificent piece of water, covering an area of over thirty acres, is seen in the distance.
The South or Grand Terrace.
On the right, while passing along to the west end of this terrace, stands the Conservatory. It is filled with the choicest exotic palms, tree ferns, and flowering plants; and in the centre, on a massive marble base, stands a magnificent sculptured group of figures in white marble. The floor is geometrical in pattern, and the appointments, the vases, the flower-stands, &c., are all characterized by good taste in their arrangement.
The Garden Front.
The surrounding grounds are beautifully undulating and diversified, and comprise the Flower Garden, Croquet Lawn, and American Garden. The latter is situated in a natural dip of the grounds, and is completely encircled and sheltered by a dense mass of oaks and other forest trees, at the foot of which is a broad belt of common laurel, rhododendron, &c. Then follows a winding walk, encircling about an acre of grass lawn, on which are planted masses of azalea, rhododendron, kalmea, andromeda, specimen coniferæ, &c., the whole producing a strikingly pleasing effect. Arrived at the end of this terrace, the visitor descends, by means of a broad flight of steps, to another terrace walk nearly a quarter of a mile in length, and flanked for most of that distance on each side with masses of rhododendrons alternated with some fine specimens of Cedrus deodara and the Chinese juniper. Again descending by another flight of steps to the left, access is gained to the Rose Garden. This “garden of roses,” which is of perfect Eastern loveliness, takes the form of a half-circle, the whole of which is filled with the choicest roses, the outer line being backed by a broad belt of flowering rhododendrons. Some idea may be formed of the size and importance of this Rose Garden from the fact that it contains upwards of a thousand standard roses, and nearly as many dwarf roses, and these comprise examples of every colour, shade, and variety that are worth cultivating. The effect, when these are fully in flower, is enchanting in the extreme.