Edmund Bartell

“ The sea too is one of those objects that appears to have the constant power of pleasing. Other scenes (though beautiful in themselves) by being seen constantly, either lose much of their power or become tiresome by their sameness;—it is not so with the sea—those who live constantly by the side of it, if their occupation lies within doors, seldom fail at the leisure hour of noon or eve, to pay their respects to it, even in the most stormy weather. This fondness can arise from no other source than the constant variety it produces. ”

“ The fishery, independent of the pleasure we receive from the consideration of the support it brings to a numerous, hardy, and in many instances, an industrious set of people, is not without its effect in a picturesque point of view. The different preparations for a voyage; the groupes of figures employed in different ways,—some carrying a boat down to the water’s edge,—some carrying nets, oars, masts and sails; while others, in a greater state of forwardness are actually pulling through the breakers, form a scene of the most busy, various and pleasing kind. ”

“ A lane often presents the painter with admirable studies for foregrounds, they are, more generally than any other parts of nature, set off with rugged old pollards, stretching their long arms athwart the road, their furrowed trunks and twilled branches being enriched with stains and mosses of all hues, from the light grey and brilliant yellow to the dark green approaching to black. ”

“ To the artist, also, the sea furnishes an almost never-ending source of amusement; it is a constant moving picture capable of a thousand modifications, and of being treated on canvass in various ways; it admits too of the grandest effects of light and shadow, and in the hands of such a master as Vanderveldt of producing wonderful effect. ”

“ Going down cliff at low-water the beach to the north of the jetty presents a very pleasant walk of a mile and a half to the village of Upper Runton, where ascending by a path cut through cliffs of a very romantic form, on the edge of which stand some fishermens’ cottages, you return to Cromer by a foot path close to the sea side; the country on the right is cultivated and interspersed with hills covered with furze. ”

“ Where bathing only is the inducement, the place and its neighbourhood is of very little consequence, provided it is convenient and near the sea; but where the mind and body are capable of being sufficiently active to be amused abroad, or to those whose aim is pleasure, a country affording that amusement by its variety, is certainly to be preferred; and to such as are fond of the study of landscape, variety and some degree of beauty are absolutely necessary.
As every little excursion will begin and end at Cromer, each will be formed into a separate section. ”

“ The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.”
p. 42To a mind fond of retirement, the lonely ruin covered with ivy, the cottage or the grove have infinite charms; they seem to be a refuge from the storms of life and to have the power of soothing the mind, disordered by discordant passions, to serenity and peace.
The imagination at liberty to enjoy its own reflections, revolves its misfortunes, draws conclusions and compares the present with the past, and is inspired by the situation with that kind of pleasing awe that bids him look forward to brighter prospects. ”

“ This is a very common species of landscape. The towns and villages with their churches situated on the verge of the coast, must consequently often assume this appearance when seen from situations more inland, but more particularly, when, as is here the case, the surface of the country is uneven and sometimes woody.
It is a very happy circumstance in views of this kind when a woody knoll presents itself as a fore-ground, this with a church or village in the second distance, having the whole backed by the sea, is a composition that can scarcely fail to please. ”

“ All trees have a character analogous to that of men. Oaks are in all respects the perfect image of the manly character. In former times I should have said, and in present times I think I am authorised to say, the British one, as a brave man, is not suddenly either elated by prosperity or depressed by adversity;—so the oak displays not its verdure on the sun’s first approach nor drops it on his first departure. ”

“ Whoever has seen King’s College Chapel or any other building where there is a profusion of painted glass and where the other parts are fitted up with Norway oak, the colour of which is dark brown, must have perceived a visible effect produced by the solemnity of its appearance. In all churches having any claim to antiquity the light appears to have been sparingly introduced, and to me it has always a very pleasing effect. ”

“ The beach seems to be equally as good for bathing as at Cromer, and the walking much the same, the tide at low water leaving a fine firm land.
The prospect upon the beach to the southward differs in appearance from Cromer, by the land at Happisburgh jutting into the sea, forming a promontory, which with the church and the two light-houses has a good effect.
Every one who has made a study of nature is well aware of the different appearance of the same spot as it is affected by the times of the day and the changes of the weather ”

“ My profession, that of a Surgeon, leading me daily to one or other of the scenes here described, is certainly an advantage, as the features of landscape appear extremely different accordingly as they are affected by difference of weather, of lights and shadows, and of morning and evening suns.
In watering places where there are neither public rooms nor assemblies, walking and riding become the chief sources of amusement; and for invalids it is more particularly necessary to divert the attention, by pointing put those things which are esteemed most worthy of observation. ”

“ Upon the disposition of the air depends the colouring of the landscape, of which no part of it partakes so much as the remote distance, and to this it is that we owe that exquisite obscurity and tenderness which stamp such value upon a distant prospect.
The study of nature by the rules of painting is capable of bestowing other benefits besides what acrue to the arts; it leads us to inspect every object with the minutest care, and by so doing learn to appreciate its value. ”

“ An accident in painting is an obstruction of the sun’s light by the interposition of clouds in such a manner that some part of the earth shall be in light, and others in shade, which, according to the motion of the clouds, succeed each other, and produce such wonderful effects and changes of the claro-obscuro as seem to create so many new situations. ”

“ The devious and irregular windings of a lane, well stored with such picturesque appendages, keep up a continual expectation; something new opens at every step, the form of every object is varied, the lights and shadows, also, are varied in the same proportion; p. 71sometimes through a fortunate opening in the fence a cottage displays its humble roof; at other times a rich distance bursts upon the view, receiving a double charm from its unexpected appearance. ”

“ Sea fowls as having a peculiar character of their own, and also as tending to mark that of a sea-coast view more strongly, have always been considered, and with the greatest propriety, as objects highly picturesque and amusing whether in natural or in artificial landscape. ”

“ The want of a large and well-conducted Inn is amongst those few things which are chiefly to be regretted by those who pay a visit to Cromer. Parties are frequently formed for an excursion to a watering place by those who have neither time, nor inclination, to stay sufficiently long to make it worth their while to engage lodgings; of course they complain of the want of accommodation. ”

“ What can give a more adequate idea of the power of the divine Creator than such a scene? What can give a fuller comprehension of the compass of human invention than the intercourse which is maintained between nations through the medium of navigation? ”

“ Amongst the repairs done to the church is one, which though it may be, and certainly is, in some measure beneficial, yet, as it affects the beautiful proportions of the middle aisle, the eye of taste must regret—I mean the flat ceiling, which diminishes the height of the building by cutting off the roof. Height when duly proportioned p. 4proportioned certainly adds much to grandeur. In churches and in most gothic buildings the roof terminates in a point corresponding with the other parts, and by the exclusion of which the proportion and beauty of the building is in a great measure destroyed. ”

“ A beautiful young ash, for instance, never appears to greater advantage than when, tinged with the autumnal frosts, it is opposed to the dark green foliage of the venerable oak, from whose robust form it seems to implore protection; heightened by contrast, the beauties p. 70of each are set forth in the strongest point of view, and afford an instance where the greatest opposition, both in form and colour, are exhibited in nature, and may be equally so in a picture, without in the smallest degree violating the principles of harmony. ”

“ This is daily observed in nature and as this newness of situations is grounded only on the shapes of the clouds, and their motions, which are very inconstant and unequal, if follows, that these accidents are arbitrary; and a painter of genius may dispose of them to his own advantage when he thinks fit to use them. ”

“ Having particularized the principal things within, you proceed to the park, which is very extensive and profusely adorned with p. 66wood. It has the advantage, also, of a fine piece of water, nearly a mile in length and in its broadest part four hundred yards; the northern bank is richly fringed with wood, from which you view the opposite side of the lawn, which rises gradually for a considerable space, broken at intervals by large plantations of oak and beach. A banqueting room, to which is attached a tower commanding an extensive prospect, terminates the view very agreeably. ”

“ The calm on the contrary without some assistance, as rocks, fortifications or figures, will hardly be able to support itself. It is true you may place a vessel in the fore-ground, but a ship at anchor lying with her whole broadside to the eye, however noble it may be to contemplate or pleasing by the goodness of the painting, will always be a formal object. ”

“ There are no places of public amusement, no rooms, balls, nor card assemblies. A small circulating library, consisting chiefly of a few novels, is all that can be obtained; but still for such as make retirement their aim, it is certainly an eligible situation.
The bathing machines are very commodious, and the bather a careful, attentive man. The shore, also, which is a fine firm sand, not only p. 13only renders the bathing agreeable, but when the tide retires, presents such a surface for many miles as cannot be exceeded. ”

“ Figures in a road are another great source of amusement, and whether in motion or at rest, are equally pleasing; they create an interest in the mind by being strongly contrasted with inanimate objects. ”

“ As in all human efforts there will be some defects, so it happens that Thorp Church is not entirely free; but what few there are, are so well counterbalanced by its beauties, which are numerous, that it cannot fail to be in a high degree worthy the attention of the curious. ”

“ This church, with Gunton Hall, the seat of his Lordship, may be conveniently inspected in a ride from Cromer to North-Walsham.
The house is by no means equal to the ideas we may be led to form of it from the plantations which surround it. It is, however, pleasantly situated upon an eminence which overlooks an extensive sweep of the park towards the south. ”

“ I have never seen the inside of Woolterton, and, indeed, of the park I am qualified to say but little, having surveyed it in a very casual way; but from what I have seen and from the report of others, it appears to be a residence worthy of its noble owner, who generally resides on the spot, and whose private character is highly estimable. ”

“ Planting has been done with a liberal hand and the healthy appearance of the young trees, p. 56when the situation so near the sea is considered, promises, hereafter, amply to reward the owner for his perseverance.
The difficulty of raising trees where there two such enemies as the cutting winds from the sea and a numerous breed of rabbits, deters the proprietors of estates from planning the number of hills which at present lay waste; there is, also, another unfortunate circumstance that attends planting, which is the slow growth of timber. ”

“ It is a very handsome pile, built with flint and freestone, consisting of a body and two aisles, covered with slate; the tower, which is square, with an embattled top, is an hundred and fifty-nine feet in height.
The entrance at the west end, is a beautiful specimen of gothic architecture, now in ruins; as is the porch on the north side and the chancel. p. 3The flinting in many parts of the building, for the beauty of its execution, is, perhaps, scarcely any where to be excelled.
The inside of the church, which is kept in good repair, is capable of containing a very great number of persons ”

“ With materials as simple as these does Morland produce the most enchanting effect; indeed, we are always inclined to be pleased with a performance in proportion as it approaches nature, provided the objects are well selected. ”