Dr. Weatherhead has described the local scenery with accuracy. Beulah, the
estate upon which the spring is situate, is within the village of Norwood,
seven miles south of London, upon one of those elevations known as the
Norwood hills. "From trigonometrical observation," observes Dr.
Weatherhead, "it has been computed that the height of these hills is about
390 feet above the level of the sea at low water.[1] Thus placed above the
fogs of the plain, and removed from the smoky and contaminated atmosphere
of the metropolis, the air has long been celebrated for its pure and
invigorating qualities." Norwood was in the memory of several of the
inhabitants still living, an entire forest of oaks, and the well-known
resort of tribes of gipsies.[2] The country from Camberwell thence is,
therefore, in great part a newly-peopled district. Its outline is very
uneven, perhaps more so than any other portion of the environs of the
metropolis. The road runs over or through many little crests or hills, and
sinks into sheltered valleys, where you see newly-built habitations
nestling together, and almost reminding one of the aboriginal contrivances
for warmth and comfort in less civilized countries. The road-side is set
with "suburban villas" which would make the spleen of Cowper blaze into
madness; though few of them exhibit any pretensions to elegance or
snugness. Neither would two newly-built churches in the prospect allay the
anti-urban poet; their starved proportions contrasting but coldly with the
primitive simplicity of a village church. The _country_ itself is
nevertheless picturesque; the prospect is of enchanting beauty, and as
you approach Beulah, you obtain occasional glimpses of the subjacent
valley which you enjoy more at leisure and at a _coup d'oeil_ in the Spa
grounds.

The Spring lies embowered in a wood of oaks, open to the south-west whose
dense foliage shelters and protects it. It is now the sole vestige of the