Tamar Brewery, the most complete and extensive in the west of England, has also been established near the Canal; and new canals and wharfs are now in contemplation. At STOKE, a very pleasantly situated village, about half a mile from Dock, are the Military Hospitals, which were planned under the direction of the Duke of Richmond, but erected under the superintendence of the Barrack Board, during the late war. The occasion of their having been built, was a fatal malady that broke out on board a fleet of transports detained in the port by adverse winds, in the early part of the war. The transports were full of troops; and as the contagion spread, great numbers of them died, partly through the want of requisite accommodation when brought on shore. The present buildings were then projected; and are supposed to be well adapted for the purposes for which they were intended. The delightful peninsula of MoUNT EDGCUMBE, the seat of the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, is approached by crossing the 'water at the place called Cremill Ferry. This demesne possesses many beautiful and pleasing scenes, and presents, from the high. grounds, a singular variety of interesting and grand prospects. The mansion was completed in the reign of Queen Mary, and is built of a red lime-stone, obtained near the spot, covered with Tough stucco: the door and window cases are of moor-stone. Its form is nearly square, with a tower at each corner, and battlements at the top. The towers were originally round; but about forty years ago were pulled down, and rebuilt in an octagon shape, and of a larger size. The Hall occupies the centre of the house, and rises to the height of the second story. This room was newly fitted up by Richard, the first Lord Edgcumbe, in the Grecian style of architecture, and is handsomely decorated with Doric columns and pilasters of blue marble, surmounted by an Ionic entablature. The chimney-pieces, the tables, and several terms supporting busts, are of Cornish granite, and exhibit very beautiful specimens of all the varieties of that stone which the county produces. At each end of the hall is a gallery, and in one of them an excellent organ, lately erected. About fourteen years ago, a handsome room room was added to the house for a library, in which is a good col lection of books. The only paintings which decorate the apartments are portraits: amongst them are those of the first EARL OF SANDWICH, (blown up in the battle of Solebay;) the COUNTESS OF SANDWICH, his wife; LADY ANNE, their daughter; and her husband, SIR RICHARD EDGCUMBE, K, B. all painted by Sir Peter Lely: RICHARD, created Lord Edgcumbe; (son of the above named Sir Richard;) his two sons, RICHARD, second Lord Edgcumbe; and GEORGE, created Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, (the late possessor;) and EMMA, Countess of Mount Edgcumbe, his surviving widow: the last four were painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Here is also a curious old portrait of MARGARET EDGCUMBE, Maid of Honor to Queen Elizabeth, who married Sir Edward Denny, Groom of her Majesty's Privy Chamber. This lady is represented in widow's mourning; and the picture was painted (according to the inscription upon it) in the sixty-eighth year of her age, and the fortyeighth of her widowhood. Besides these portraits belonging to the family, there are two fine heads of CHARLES THE FIRST, and of the DUKE OF MONMOUTH; and full-lengths of CHARLES THE SECOND, JAMES THE SECOND, PRINCE RUPERT, and WILLIAM THE THIRD, The house is situated on the side of a beautifully wooded hill, in a spacious lawn, bounded with rich old timber, growing down to the water's edge. From the windows of its northern and eastern fronts, it commands extensive and finely variegated prospects of the Hamoaze, with its shipping; the river Tamar; Plymouth Sound, with the Island of St. Nicholas; the town of Plymouth, and its Citadel; Stonehouse, Plymouth Dock, and the Dock Yard; and of all the surrounding country, bounded by elevated hills, of which the most prominent are Hengist Down, Brent Tor, and many other Tors on Dartmoor. The grounds occupy an area of about three miles in circumfer ence, which includes the whole of the peninsula formed by the Tamar and its branches on one side, and the open sea on the other, and connected by a very narrow isthmus to the main land. The The deer park is on the summit of the hill, and commands not only the views described from the house, but also an extensive prospect southward, over Cawsand Bay and the Channel. The Edystone Light-house is distinctly seen in the horizon. The parishchurch of Maker, the tower of which is used by Government as a signal-house in time of war, stands on the highest ground, at the principal western entrance of the park. The views from this point are almost unparalleled for their variety and picturesque grandeur. The southern side of the hill, towards the sea, is an abrupt rocky cliff, planted with every sort of evergreen tree and shrub, among which the arbutus, the laurestinus, the Portugal laurel, and the myrtle, thrive with great luxuriance, and grow to an extraordinary size. A terrace, midway up the hill, runs through the midst of these plantations; and walks, cut in zigzag directions down the rocks, as low as they are practicable, conduct to numerous points of view, affording extraordinary variety of wild and romantic scenery, (which, from the profusion of evergreens flourishing through the winter, is equally beautiful at all seasons of the year,) and forming a striking contrast with the highly polished appearance of the northern side. The flower-garden is at the bottom of the lawn, in front of the house, close to the water's edge, at the narrowest part of the channel, through which is the entrance into the harbour, so that ships of war of the first rate pass close to its boundary. In it, and at the point forming one side of that entrance, stands a block-house, built for the defence of the port at the time of the expected invasion by the Spanish armada, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and below it is a saluting battery of twenty-one guns, which was com pletely remounted three years ago with larger cannon. The retired parts of this inclosure contain a French and an English flowergarden, with a green-house, and other buildings; also a magnificent orangery. The latter has a plain, but well-proportioned, Doric front, 100 feet in length, designed by the late Lord Camelford: in the centre of the area before it, a marble fountain has lately been erected in the Italian style. Near the water's edge is a neat a neat Doric alcove, inscribed with the following lines from Thomson: -On either hand, Like a long wintry forest, groves of masts Row'd regular, to harmony; around The boat, light skimming stretch'd its oary wings, While deep the various voice of fervent toil, From bank to bank, increased; whence ribb'd with oak, To bear the British thunder black and bold, The rolling vessels rush'd into the main." The orange trees are numerous; several of them are of unusua! size and beauty, inferior to few in England. Of other trees growing in these gardens, the most remarkable are magnolias, of extraordinary height; the Virginia, or red cedar; the ilex, or evergreen oak; and the cork tree. The woods in the other parts of the grounds abound with fine oak, chesnut, beech, elm, and lime, oriental and occidental planes, tulip trees, Carolina poplars, American and other oaks, cedar of Lebanus, and every sort of fir and pine. Every part of the place is converted into pleasure ground, and intersected with a great variety of walks; the whole has been laid out, at different times, by the proprietors themselves, no landscape gardener having ever been employed. The late Earl of Mount Edgcumbe made very great alterations, both for ornament and convenience, by planting, and other material improvements; particularly by removing, to a distant part of the grounds, the kitchen garden, which occupied a beautiful valley near the house, since converted into a lawn, which is surrounded by a lofty theatre of fine wood, open at the end to a partial view of the mouth of the Tamar, and Sound, with their opposite banks. The present Earl has just completed a considerable addition to the drive round the place, by continuing it to the western side of the hill, through woods of younger growth, and round the farm grounds; whence the harbour and river are seen in new points of view, and extensive prospects opened over part of Cornwall, and the shore of Whitsand Bay. |