ill it joins the house. Along its course are a number of
yew-trees. In the centre of the open space is a quaintly disposed
grass-plot, dotted about with stunted box, and in the centre of that
stands a weather-beaten stone sundial.

The house itself is a large irregular pile of dull red brickwork, with
great stacks of chimneys in the rear; the body of the building has
evidently been erected at different times. Some part is evidently in the
style of Queen Elizabeth's reign, another in that of Queen Anne; and it
is plain that on the site of the present structure has formerly stood a
castle. There are, indeed, traces of the old moat still visible round
the rear of the house. One of the ancient towers, with small deep stone
windows, still remains, giving its venerable support to the right hand
extremity of the building, as you stand with your face to the door. The
long frontage of the house consists of two huge masses of dusky-red
brickwork, (you can hardly call them _wings_,) connected together by a
lower building in the centre, which contains the hall. There are three
or four rows of long thin deep windows, with heavy-looking wooden
sashes. The high-pitched roof is of red tiles, and has deep projecting
eaves, forming, in fact, a bold wooden cornice running along the whole
length of the building, which is some two or three stories high. At the
left extremity stands a clump of ancient cedars of Lebanon, feathering
in evergreen beauty down to the ground. The hall is large and lofty; the
floor is of polished oak, almost the whole of which is covered with
thick matting; it is wainscoted all round with black oak; some seven or
eight full-length pictures, evidently of considerable antiquity, being
let into the panels. Quaint figures these are to be sure; and if they
resembled the ancestors of the Aubrey family, those ancestors must have
been singular and startling persons! The faces are quite white and
staring--all as if in wonder; and they have such long thin legs! some of
them ending in sharp-pointed shoes. On each side of the ample fireplace
stands a figure in full armor; and there are also ranged along the wall
old helmets, cuirasses, swords, lances, battle-axes, and cross-bows, the
very idea of wearing, wielding, and handling which, makes your arms
ache, while you exclaim, "they _must_ have been giants in those days!"
On one side of this hall, a door opens into the dining-room, beyond
which is the library; on the other side a