There are few old mansions in England which have not been either castles or monasteries altered into houses, but there is no trace of this house ever having been either; and, indeed, its situation in a dry valley is unlike that of any abbey, and it is so immediately commanded by the surrounding hills, that it never could have been a castle or place of defence. The proposed addition of a drawing-room, an anti-room, and an eating-room of large dimensions, will alter those relative proportions, now so pleasing. It is not, therefore, with a view of improving, but with that of doing as little injury as possible to its appearance, that I venture to suggest the additions in the annexed sketch; because the terrace will tend to preserve the apparent height, which the additions to the east tend to destroy *.
*[This house is said to have been built by a Knight of Malta, in the reign of Henry VIII., in imitation of a Morisco palace which he had seen in Spain; if this be true, it accounts for the singular style of architecture.]
