GREENWICH PALACE from the ROYAL DOCKYARD at DEPTFORD in 1795. From an engraving by I. C. Sladler, after a drawing by I. Farington, R.A. Such foolishness as this, however, did not mark every Georgian scheme, for the great Regency scheme of town-planning will ever remain as a prominent and beautiful example of the possibilities of London. It provided for its future as well as its own present, and we of this age can appreciate the extent of the debt of London for this great scheme when it is compared with the miserable littleness of nearly all later schemes. I am claiming this scheme for Georgian London. It is eminently a part of it, typical of it, typical of the best part of it, and the scheme itself is a remarkable instance of broad-minded and farseeing policy in town-planning, at a time when townplanning, as a science, was undreamed of. It is well worth relating in detail, for it is a story to be proud of, and it begins by the recognition of precisely the same principle which we have noted was wisely advocated in Parliament when the rebuilding of London after the Fire was being considered, and it was a Government official who formulated this principle. In 1793 the Surveyor-General of Crown Lands directed the attention of the Treasury to the opportunity which would be afforded, upon the expiration of the leases of the Marylebone Park estate, for laying-out the estate in an elegant manner, thereby at one and the same time increasing the Crown revenue and adding to the public amenities of the neighbourhood. The estate, which was formerly the outer park attached to the royal mansion of Henry VIII. at Marylebone, and comprised 543 acres, was let on leases expiring in 1803 and 1811, the greater part being held by the Duke of Portland. The Treasury took the matter up, and offered a premium of £1000 for the best design for laying-out the estate, but after waiting some years the Commissioners of Woods and Forests reported that architects would not bestow their time nor risk their reputation in competitions of the kind, and only three plans, all by the same person,' were received. The Commissioners accordingly fell back upon the departmental architects, and in 1810 instructed Mr Leverton and Mr Chowne of the Land Revenue Department, and Mr John Nash of the Department of Woods, to submit schemes for 1 A Mr John White, the agent of the Duke of Portland for the portion of the Marylebone Park estate held by him. This Mr. White vigorously opposed the scheme finally adopted. |