The village occupied one side only of the street, as it was
called--the street consisting of two arms at a right angle, with the
Manor House near its apex. The cottages were built, mostly in pairs,
of old brick, and tiled, having dormer windows, and gardens in front
and at the sides, well stocked with fruit-trees and fruit-bushes, and
this helped the cottagers towards the payment of their very moderate
rents, which had remained the same, I believe, for the best part of
half a century.
Throughout all the available space not so occupied, on either side of
the two arms of the street, and again behind the cottages themselves,
beautiful old orchards, chiefly of apple-trees, formed an unsurpassed
setting both when the blossom was out in pink and white, or the fruit
was ripening in gold and crimson, and even in winter, when the grey
limbs and twisted trunks of the bare trees admitted the level rays of
the sun.
The farm consisted of about 300 acres of mixed arable and grass land
on either side of two shallow valleys, along which wandered the main
brook and its tributary, uniting, where the valleys joined, into one
larger stream, so that all the grass land was abundantly supplied with
water for the stock. These irregular brooks, bordered throughout their
whole course with pollard willows, made a charming feature and gave
great character to the picture.
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