The great charm of Mount Edgcumbe, however, consists in the five-mile drive through the Park, along a road that everywhere skirts the harbour or the sea. It is perpetual hill and dell; a mimic ruin, intended as a view tower, and answering its purpose well, is the only object remarkable on the higher grounds, if we except the church—Maker Church—neither venerable nor picturesque, but containing many interesting memorials of the Edgcumbe family;[13] but down in the dales (in nearly all of them) are the pretty “lodges,” where the keepers and gardeners reside, and where simple “refreshments” of milk and hot water are provided for the crowds who are weekly visitors to the domain. One of these we have pictured on page 64. Lady Emma’s cottage—Lady Emma being the first Countess of Mount Edgcumbe, wife of George, first Baron and Earl of that title—is charmingly situated in one of the most lovely of the dells of this domain, surrounded by soft grassy turf, and overhung by lofty trees; the cottage itself is completely embosomed in creeping plants, and has a rustic verandah exquisitely decorated with fir-cones and other natural productions, so disposed as to give considerable richness to the effect of the building. The little valley in which it stands, hollowed out with great regularity by Nature, and sloping gently down towards the sea, is one of the sweetest spots on the whole estate. The footway winds round the upper part of the valley, and at the head of the dell is a spacious alcove composed of Gothic fragments, called the “Ruined Chapel,” from which a glorious view is obtained. In the grounds the most famous points for the attraction of visitors are “Thomson’s Seat;” the “Temple of Milton;” a recess called the “Amphitheatre;” a charming alcove, the “White Seat,” which commands a splendid prospect; “the Arch,” which overlooks the Sound; and the “zig-zag walks,” which lead down along the cliffs and through the woods, and are the favourite resorts of visitors. [Illustration: _The Mansion._] The gardens are three in number, and called respectively the “Italian,” the “French,” and the “English” gardens, in each of which the special characteristics of planting and arrangement of those countries are carried out—the conservatories, fountains, orangeries, terraces, etc., being, in each instance, built in accordance with the tastes of the three kingdoms.