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Mount Stewart, County Down, Northern Ireland, 1803-04
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Reference number
SM D3/9/1a
Purpose
Mount Stewart, County Down, Northern Ireland, 1803-04
Aspect
[8] Dance to Lord Londonderry
Signed and dated
- not dated except for 1802 watermark
Medium and dimensions
Pen on secretary paper (180 x 365, folded twice)
Hand
Dance
Watermark
T Stairs 1802
Notes
Lord Castlereagh having desired me to write to you / on the subjects of your building unfortunately, I have / not retained a single line of the Plan and therefore can / only speak from memory - and first with respect to the general / disposition of the Plan the great point seems to me to / form your entrance on the East side because by that / means you retain ^complete use and beauty of the whole of the three rooms wch / form as I take it the only object your Lordship aims by / this expence & trouble to this end therefore all other / considerations shou'd be made subservient and I hope / you will not be turned from this purpose by any circumstances / of Cellars wch if they exist by a little management & / contrivance they need be no impediment - with respect / to the Chimney under the window ^in the Music room it is by no means / an uncommon thing in he country but in France / it has been very generally used for a Century past. / I saw one last week that draws admirably it is / in a Counting House in the East India Warehouses. / The reason for adopting it in the Music room is obvious / as the room cannot afford any other convenient and / symmetrical situation.
With respect as to the proportion of the rooms as to height / I recommend your Lordship by no means to exceed 15Ft / I think 14Ft would do and I also recommend to lessen / the dimensions of your rooms because with respect / to width particularly you will find great difficulty / in stiffening the Timbers of your Floors if you exceed / 22Ft and pliability in the floors is a very disagreeable / & objectionable circumstance with respect to the / windows I beg here to remind you that / it is better to make them of a good height / proportion'd to their breadth for whatever objection / you ^may have to the light from the upper part ^that is / easily obviated by an application of blinds or / other contrivance whereas the wall once built / if the windows are too low there is no remedy / leave in the wall / make the openings for windows & shut up those you dont like when wall erected.
I strongly recommend to make very large folding / Doors so as occasionally to lay all the three rooms into / one if they are properly made the rooms will be / as warm with them as with small doors. I have / lately made two sets of these sort of doors to complete[?] / three rooms exactly in the way I wish you to adopt / these doors are 8 feet wide in the clear & 10 feet / high they are made to fold in four divisions. In common / use the two extreme valves or flaps are fix'd by / brass sliding upright bolts & then there remains a door / 4ft wide ^in the middle for common use & when the rooms are / to be laid all into one the other flaps are open'd / & the whole contriv'd to shut into boxings which / make them appear as part of the proper fitting / & decoration of the apartment. This contrivance / has given great satisfaction and I am persuaded / your Lordship wou'd find great convenience ^to have it[illegible] & thereby / this means occasionally the use of magnificent & / ample apartment for large parties.
It is better to avoid all Quoin Stones or any / dressings ^or Mouldings round the Windows they by no means add / any beauty to the work and always increase / expense. The whole ^Masonry should be of one description / in courses all the external faces with good upright / joints so as to leave no vacuities and good / level / beds. Let your cement be composed of 3 or 4 parts / of good clean sand to one of lime & use the / lime hot well mix'd together & triurated / & slack it upon the walls themselves.
I have proposed in my sketch to erect a Coach / porch or Portico at the entrance which is both ornamental / & extremely convenient at night & bad weather / to drive under - as I have not a scrap of Drawing / to guide me as to dimensions it is impossible to go into any detail if time would permit / & your Lordship would furnish me with the / Plan of the old building together with a Section.
Presumably drawing [SM D3/9/3] was then sent to Dance.
With respect as to the proportion of the rooms as to height / I recommend your Lordship by no means to exceed 15Ft / I think 14Ft would do and I also recommend to lessen / the dimensions of your rooms because with respect / to width particularly you will find great difficulty / in stiffening the Timbers of your Floors if you exceed / 22Ft and pliability in the floors is a very disagreeable / & objectionable circumstance with respect to the / windows I beg here to remind you that / it is better to make them of a good height / proportion'd to their breadth for whatever objection / you ^may have to the light from the upper part ^that is / easily obviated by an application of blinds or / other contrivance whereas the wall once built / if the windows are too low there is no remedy / leave in the wall / make the openings for windows & shut up those you dont like when wall erected.
I strongly recommend to make very large folding / Doors so as occasionally to lay all the three rooms into / one if they are properly made the rooms will be / as warm with them as with small doors. I have / lately made two sets of these sort of doors to complete[?] / three rooms exactly in the way I wish you to adopt / these doors are 8 feet wide in the clear & 10 feet / high they are made to fold in four divisions. In common / use the two extreme valves or flaps are fix'd by / brass sliding upright bolts & then there remains a door / 4ft wide ^in the middle for common use & when the rooms are / to be laid all into one the other flaps are open'd / & the whole contriv'd to shut into boxings which / make them appear as part of the proper fitting / & decoration of the apartment. This contrivance / has given great satisfaction and I am persuaded / your Lordship wou'd find great convenience ^to have it[illegible] & thereby / this means occasionally the use of magnificent & / ample apartment for large parties.
It is better to avoid all Quoin Stones or any / dressings ^or Mouldings round the Windows they by no means add / any beauty to the work and always increase / expense. The whole ^Masonry should be of one description / in courses all the external faces with good upright / joints so as to leave no vacuities and good / level / beds. Let your cement be composed of 3 or 4 parts / of good clean sand to one of lime & use the / lime hot well mix'd together & triurated / & slack it upon the walls themselves.
I have proposed in my sketch to erect a Coach / porch or Portico at the entrance which is both ornamental / & extremely convenient at night & bad weather / to drive under - as I have not a scrap of Drawing / to guide me as to dimensions it is impossible to go into any detail if time would permit / & your Lordship would furnish me with the / Plan of the old building together with a Section.
Presumably drawing [SM D3/9/3] was then sent to Dance.
Level
Drawing
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