Other features are dealt with in the descriptions of the various cottages to which they have particular reference.
THE LAYING OUT OF A MODEL VILLAGE.
Let it be supposed that land has been bought to be laid out as a model village. Whether this has been done by a company, a municipal body, or by an individual, is not material to the present purpose. Assuming that the selection of the site has had careful consideration, and that it is suitable for the development of a village, what is the first step? Before turning a sod the clearest conception of the finished scheme must have been formed. A dozen cottages or so erected before considering the future of the whole project may involve endless trouble at a later stage. The initial proceeding, therefore, is to make the general plan as complete and final as possible before commencing actual operations. Up to the present it has been the difficulty of co-operation among landlords, perhaps unavoidable, either by the piecemeal acquisition of land or the fitful demand for building, which has been the cause of many of our towns and suburbs being the reverse of pleasing. A century or so ago, when domestic architecture was a traditionally living art, and building was conducted less hurriedly, a certain charm of effect was no doubt obtained by this accidental or fitful extension, though convenience was certainly not always considered; but in the present day we should avail ourselves of the opportunity which a large or co-operative scheme offers for a convenient and agreeable disposition of buildings.
Regard of Physical Features.—As the following suggestions do not refer to any specific example of land which is to be laid out as a model village, they can only be regarded as having general applicability. The treatment of particular land depends upon its peculiar physical features. Land in a gently undulating district, for instance, must be dealt with in quite a different manner from that in flat country. The natural features themselves must be the basis of any satisfactory treatment, and they are to be made the most of, not only with regard to their intrinsic beauty, but also any material advantages they may offer.
Advisory Architect.—If a village is being developed by an individual in a private capacity it is not improbable, indeed it is very natural, that he will expect the general operations to be carried out in accordance with his particular taste or fancy, which, however, may happen to be far from practical or artistic, and his scheme is likely to suffer accordingly. So too in the case of an estate developed by a governing body consisting of men who are not qualified for the task, the possibility of failure is equally great. The best course is to employ an advisory architect about whose qualifications there is no doubt, who should work in conjunction with the surveyor from the outset. It may be suggested, now that the movement is making considerable progress, that the Royal Institute of British Architects should be asked to suggest an architect in such cases. A greater variety, however, in the plan and design of the houses might perhaps be secured by employing more than one architect. A man’s ideas are liable to run in a groove; and even if variation is introduced in detail there is likely to be a similarity in general character. Moreover, where two or more architects are engaged, a healthy rivalry might result in the designing of houses which shall fulfil all the conditions of convenience, compactness, and economy. The respective work of the various architects might be confined to particular streets, but a regular system of variation should be avoided. Method should not be too obtrusive or the arrangement too mechanical. The advisory architect must be selected with judgment, for on him will devolve the working out of the general road-scheme, and this will demand more talent than the merely practical man possesses.
The caution already urged against doing anything on the estate without mature consideration expressly applies to the cutting of roads and the reservation of spaces. Given a map of our land, the fancy is not usually slow in disposing of it; and it is only with the progress of operations, when a number of unforeseen demands make themselves disagreeably formidable, that it is seen how wanton this ready fancy has been.
The Selection of Centres.—The first questions to be decided are the number and positions of the centres, for it is to and from these that the most convenient and accessible connections must be planned, and the centres themselves should be reserved as the sites of parks, principal buildings, shops and the like.
If the land is already entered by one or more turnpike roads which may not be diverted, these should guide the cutting of the new roads, and the chief centres of the village must be made as accessible as possible from them. If an existing road only approaches the land, and only one connection is deemed necessary, the connection should be constructed to suit the village as a whole, without partiality to any one extremity, always keeping the centres in view. It is nearly always better to work to the contour of the land, taking a gentle sweep in preference to a straight line.
The site of the chief centre, not forgetting to keep in view its general accessibility, should if possible be on the highest point of the village, such a position giving prominence over the whole, as well as a more imposing elevation and dignity to the principal buildings which are to be erected thereon. The nature of the buildings would depend altogether on the size of the scheme. In the case of a garden city they would possibly include council chambers, theatre, museum, library or other monumental buildings of a like character, and as large spaces as possible should be reserved around them for extensions and gardens. A great city, in which it has been decided to build a cathedral, has found itself before now in the dilemma of having no suitable site available, and the monument of beauty has had to make the best of beggarly and ugly neighbours. It is as well to profit by the errors of the past, and the utmost should therefore be done to save a garden city or model village from ever getting congested at its chief centre.
The other centres should be places of distinct interest, such as schools, railway station, or market-place, but secondary to the chief one.