[main letter by Lady Elisabeth:]
Laycock Abbey
9th Sepr
[illustration]
My Dear Henry <1>
Mr Feilding <2> being gone & Strong <3> not come there is nobody but me to write to you & the provoking part is that Bankes <4> says it should be decided because otherwise they must soon be forced to stand still till they know about the flue. I hope my drawing on the other side is clear, it seems that from A to B is the place you designed for the Fire place but [illegible deletion] there a most moderate Chimney piece would touch from side to side ce qui aura l'air mesquin. <5> When Strong was here last, it seems he said to Banks that would never do, but that he must make it from B to C which you said the other day you did not like, however they were going to do it so when they discovered exactly the same objection viz: there was only the same space. So now what will you have done? or will you leave it to me to settle the best I can. You might trust my taste better than Strong's sans vanité. <6> Banks proposed putting it in the Corner line E as is often in old houses, & then the Grate would not project so far but would form the curve X. The only alternative to all these is to put the fire place opposite the opening near D (but my paper dont extend so far) by which means when you sit with your feet to the fire the light would fall on the book you are reading - either of these last would look better than squeesing the Fire places into so small a space which would be atrocious. In the Angle it would be remarkably comfortable & suitable to an old House, you would write close to the fire & the window which is always pleasant. It is so difficult to explain ones meaning at a distance that I intended to do nothing at all in it, but your Sisters <7> persuaded me to write to you & said it was such a pity to let the Gallery be spoilt either owing to Strong's bad taste or to your not being on the spot, so that I am writing in the greatest hurry as the post is going but only hope it is clear. I wish you would put it into my hands only till your return. If you decided on having it opposite near D it would be an agrément de plus, <8> having the other fireplace on the other side as that is already built (as far as the flue I mean)
I hope I have not buried my meaning in an Ocean of words, but really you should not have gone so far off without giving me some control over Strong as to taste
Adio
[added note by Horatia:]
It seems to me that the fireplace in the angle would warm the room more than in any other
Yr affte
Horatia.
Whatever your answer is write by return of post. -
W. H. Fox Talbot Esqre
Post Office
Leamington
Warwickshire
Notes:
1. WHFT's reply to this letter is Doc. No: 02052.
2. Rear Admiral Charles Feilding (1780-1837), Royal Navy; WHFT's step-father.
3. Strong's identity has yet to be established. However, Awdry met Mr. Strong at Box [see Doc. No: 02006], the Wiltshire hamlet whose quarry originally provided Lacock Abbey with its stone. It is possible that Strong was there temporarily to select stone for the renovations at Lacock Abbey, but given the expansion of the area in the 19th c., perhaps Strong was resident there. The 1841 census for Box (the earliest one available) points to two possibilities. The first, James Strong (b. 1796), was a mason, but the Lacock mason, Charles Selman Banks (1805-1881) did most of the masonry at Lacock at this time. Thomas Strong (b. 1781) was a builder, and seems the more likely candidate.
4. Possibly Charles Selman Banks (1805-1881), stonemason, Lacock.
5. Which would have a mean appearance.
6. Without vanity.
7. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808-1881); WHFT's half-sister, and Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810-1851), WHFT's half-sister.
8. Further charm.