. Vanishing England . s devoured by the flames. Priceless pictures byLely and Vandyck, miniatures of Cosway, old furnitureof Chippendale and Sheraton, and the countless trea-sures which generations of cultured folk with amplewealth have accumulated, deeds, documents and oldpapers that throw valuable light on the manners andcustoms of our forefathers and on the history of thecountry, all disappear and can never be replaced. Agreat writer has likened an old house to a human heartwith a life of its own, full of sad and sweet is deplorably sad when the old mansion disappearsin a n
. Vanishing England . s devoured by the flames. Priceless pictures byLely and Vandyck, miniatures of Cosway, old furnitureof Chippendale and Sheraton, and the countless trea-sures which generations of cultured folk with amplewealth have accumulated, deeds, documents and oldpapers that throw valuable light on the manners andcustoms of our forefathers and on the history of thecountry, all disappear and can never be replaced. Agreat writer has likened an old house to a human heartwith a life of its own, full of sad and sweet is deplorably sad when the old mansion disappearsin a night, and to find in the morning nothing butblackened walls—a grim ruin. Our forefathers were a hardy race, and did not require 166 OLD MANSIONS 167 hot-water pipes and furnaces to keep them warm. More-over, they built their houses so surely and so well thatthey scarcely needed these modern appliances. Theyconstructed them with a great square courtyard, so thatthe rooms on the inside of the quadrangle were protected. Oak Panelling. Wainscot of Fifteenth Century, with additioncirca late Seventeenth Century, fitted on to it in angle ofroom in the Church House, Goudhurst, Kent from the winds. They sang truly in those days, as inthese :— Sin^ heigh ho for the wind and the rain,For the rain it raineth every day. So they sheltered themselves from the wind and rain byhaving a courtyard or by making an E or H shapedplan for their dwelling-place. Moreover, they made theirwalls very thick in order that the winds should not blowor the rain beat through them. Their rooms, too, werepanelled or hung with tapestry—famous things formaking a room warm and cosy. We have plasterwalls covered with an elegant wall-paper which has 168 VANISHING ENGLAND always a cold surface, hence the air in the room, heatedby the fire, is chilled when it comes into contact with thecold wall and creates draughts. But oak panelling orwoollen tapestry soon becomes warm, and gives backits heat to the room, making
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