d held down
by the spars."[12]

[12] _Old West Surrey_, by Gertrude Jekyll, p. 206.

[Illustration: Missbrook Farm. Capel, Surrey.]

Horsham stone makes splendid roofing material. This stone easily
flakes into plates like thick slates, and forms large grey flat slabs
on which "the weather works like a great artist in harmonies of moss
lichen and stain. No roofing so combines dignity and homeliness, and
no roofing, except possibly thatch (which, however, is short-lived),
so surely passes into the landscape."[13] It is to be regretted that
this stone is no longer used for roofing--another feature of vanishing
England. The stone is somewhat thick and heavy, and modern rafters are
not adapted to bear their weight. If you want to have a roof of
Horsham stone, you can only accomplish your purpose by pulling down an
old cottage and carrying off the slabs. Perhaps the small Cotswold
stone slabs are even more beautiful. Old Lancashire and Yorkshire
cottages have heavy stone roofs which somewhat resemble those
fashioned with Horsham slabs.

[13] _Highways and Byways in Sussex_, by E.V. Lucas.

The builders and masons of our country cottages were cunning men, and
adapted their designs to their materials. You will have noticed that
the pitch of the Horsham-slated roof is unusually flat. They observed
that when the sides of the roof were deeply sloping, as in the case of
thatched roofs, the heavy stone slates strained and dragged at the
pegs and laths and fell and injured the roof. Hence they determined
to make the slope less steep. Unfortunately the rain did not then
easily run off, and in order to prevent the water penetrating into the
house they were obliged to adopt additional precautions. Therefore
they cemented their roofs and stopped them with mortar.

[Illustration: Cottage at Capel, Surrey ]

Very lovely are these South Country cottages, peaceful, picturesque,
pleasant, with their graceful gables and jutting eaves, altogether
delightful. Well sang a loyal Sussex poet:--

If I ever become a rich man,
Or if ever I grow to be old,
I will build a house with deep thatch[14]
To shelter me from the cold;
And there shall the Sussex songs be sung
And the story of Sussex told.

[14] I fear the poet's plans will never be passed by the rural
district council.

We give some good examples of Surrey cottages at the village of Capel
in the neighbourhood of Dorking