Chatsworth to Wootton Lodge, by Chesterfield and Derby. - May 24. To Chesterfield the country is bleak, but the fields are divided by stone walls, and tolerably well cultivated. The railroad from Chesterfield to Derby passes through the most interesting tract of country on the line between Sheffield and London; and the road from Derby, by Ashbourne to Alton Towers, is most romantic. Wootton Lodge is a remarkably fine old place. The house is a square building, of the time of Elizabeth, imposing from the magnitude of the mass, and from its great height, considering, that it is a dwelling-house, in proportion to its width. It is situated on a prominent rock or hill, surrounded on three sides by a deep ravine, which separates it from higher hills, which are covered with oak woods. The elevation of the house, we repeat, is very imposing, and this arises chiefly from magnitude, and from the height and breadth of the many mullioned windows, and the large spaces of naked wall between them. The mass of the building is sufficiently large to constitute it grand, and the height, relatively to the breadth, being greater than what is common in buildings of this era, it joins to grandeur a character of elegance, which never can be given in buildings without departing somewhat from the common proportions, and exceeding these to a certain extent in height. The windows at Wootton Lodge are grand, and yet elegant, from the same cause by which these impressions are produced by the general mass; that is, they are as broad, if not broader, than usual, and they are decidedly higher than is commonly the case in windows of this style. It may be laid down, then, as a principle, that a building or a window, broader than is usual in proportion to the height, is mean; and, on the contrary, that a house or a window, higher than is usual in proportion to the width, is comparatively elegant. In Wootton Lodge, there are few projections in the way of bays, no towers, very little ornament, scarcely any upper cornice, and the roof, which is of lead and flat, is of course not seen. The chimney shafts are good, though few and simple. Altogether, the exterior of this house deserves the study of the architect, not for its ornaments or details, for these are few, but to find out the cause of the powerful impression which it makes on the mind. We were not within, but from the large windows and the broad space between them in the elevation, it is impossible to doubt, that the interior contains some very magnificent rooms. It is entered through a court of honour, with offices as wings or lodges to the right and left of the entrance to the court; and beyond these, on the steep sides of the hill, are the terraced gardens and walks among the rocks and aged yew trees which surround the house, except on the entrance side. On a platform facing one of the fronts, there is a curious raised garden, with a canal bordered with masonry, and containing a fountain in the form of a duck, doubtless coeval with the building. Near the kitchen entrance we observed, against the wall, a case of about 4 ft., containing an overshot water-wheel, supplied by a 0.5 in. pipe of water used for turning the roasting-jack. It is impossible, as it seems to us, not to be charmed with this place.
