Near Plymouth Devon (1811)

W. P. Sherlock
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Devon West Country Studies Not in stock
Devon PLY I/S
Illustration Reference
SC2247
Publication Details
Date
1811
Publisher
Scope and Content
Daniell, William: A voyage round Great Britain, undertaken in the summer of the year 1813 and commencing from the Land's-End, Cornwall. London: Longman & Co and W. Daniell, 1825. Vol. VIII. pp. 34 - 35.From Cremhill Ferry, the most frequented line of passage, an excursion was made on the 30th of August, to the noble demesne delineated in the preceding subject, and forming the point of the annexed view FROM MOUNT EDGECUMBE, including the Breakwater and the Mewstone Rock in the distance. The whole day was devoted to a perambulation of the grounds, and certainly among all the scenes that memory could recall, none could be paralleled with this. It is in itself most beautiful, and the range of prospects which it commands is of the highest quality and infinitely varied. Such combinations of hill and dale, of wood and water, of buildings and shipping; such a contrast of bustle and repose; in short so excellent a composition of art and nature, if the expression be allowable, had not presented itself in the course of this or any other voyage. The house, which was completed in the reign of Queen Mary, and is one of the turreted and embattled mansions peculiar to that age, stands on the side of a wooded hill, in a spacious lawn bounded by trees of luxuriant growth, ranging down to the water's edge. The northern and eastern windows of the mansion command extensive and finely varied prospects of the Hamoaze and the river Tamar; of the Sound, with the Isle of St. Nicholas; the town of Plymouth and its citadel; the extensive village of Stonehouse; Devonport and the dockyard; with an extensive range of inland country, bounded by elevated hills, among which are distinguished many of the tors on Dartmoor. From the deer park, on the summit of the hill, a wider proportion of this prospect is obtained; extending on the southward to Cawsand Bay and the Channel, and in clear weather including the Eddystone light-house, on the verge of the horizon. From this point also, looking down on the Breakwater, that stupendous work is seen to great advantage, its vastness being immediately decided by the scale of vessels of every size, from the largest to the most diminutive. A scene such as this defies the imagery of mere language; the beholder may gaze until he is mute with admiration; but it is indescribable.[Text may be taken from a different source or edition than that listed as the source by Somers Cocks.]
Author
Format
S.g.etch
Dimensions
185x251mm
Aspects
General views
Counties
Subjects
Dates
1811