University of Virginia Library

The Ideal.

The individual or community which has no ideal is to be pitied.
For, whatever may happen, there is always a better chance for those
who maintain a high ideal than for those who, without one, adventure
themselves against the chances and difficulties that surround us.
Nothing is more disheartening to the idealist and reformer than to
find not only thousands of individuals but whole communities
without a guiding star of faith and hope.

How fortunate is a place like Port Sunlight, when we compare
its history and possibilities with those of London! It is pleasant to
realise that what has become a problem of such a very serious kind
in London after so many years of haphazard and chance, is happily
barred out of the horizon in the definitely schemed plan of the
garden city or the model village. But it is one thing to have a

2. THE DELL BRIDGE.

DOUGLAS AND FORDHAM,

Architects.

scheme or an ideal and another to have a good one. Moreover, as
to whether it is good or bad, or wholly or only partially good or
bad, the scheme does not always show until it has been some time in
operation. In time the awkward corners may be rounded off, or
they may become more acute, but the actual life of the community
in any so-called model village or town soon proves the value or
the unimportance of those features which have been part of the
design.

What most impresses itself on those who study the industrial
village of Port Sunlight is the fact that it is the definite outcome
of a genuine ideal. Whether its present state has surpassed
the hopes of its founder or has failed to realise them, we can at
any rate see that this was meant to be something better than
what had been before, and that no effort was to be wanting
to secure this. We are sure that the inconsequent charm and
the haphazard picturesqueness of an old English village were
not the main objects in view, but that the aim was a conveniently
planned and healthy settlement laid out with all possible artistic
thought on sound business lines. Garden grounds, roads, and
open spaces were to be ample without being wasteful, houses

3. CORNICHE ROAD BEFORE RECLAIMING OF RAVINE.

were to be picturesque but sensibly planned. Avenues were
to be planted and gardens laid out with needful limitations as
to size and direction. The
individuality of separate
gardens was to be subordinated
to a definite idea
of communal amenity.
Variety of plan was to be
obtained only within a
certain economic range.

It is surely often realised
that many of our beautiful
gardens could not have
been laid out in a complete
and detailed scheme from
the beginning, but that a
good deal of their success
has been evolved from a

4. POOL BANK.

5. TENNIS LAWN.

gradual development of possibilities. So also whilst the picturesque
charm of an old town or village may result from the
chances and changes of many years, we cannot expect that fully
developed schemes for new settlements can attain perfection at
the outset. The constant maintenance of an ideal in the life of
a town or village is, therefore, of the greatest import, and no
niggardly spirit should stand
in the way of changes for
which time alone may prove
the need.

The best conceived plans
for the present time are not
necessarily the best for the
future, and an insistent look
out for possible improvements
is the only safeguard
for the future even
where the most careful
design and thought have been
devoted to the beginnings
of such a successful enterprise
as that which is here
recorded.

6. CHRIST CHURCH FROM BOLTON
ROAD.

7. BOLTON ROAD LOOKING TOWARDS BEBINGTON CHURCH.