Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/gardensoldnewcou02unse GARDEN S OLD&NEW THE COUNTRY HOUSE "&IT S GARDEN' ENVIRONMENT GARDENS OLDSNEW THE COUNTRY HOUSE & ITS GARDEN ENVIRONMENT THE SECOND VOLUME EDITED BY JOHN LEYLAND ILLUSTRATED PROM. PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHARLES LATHAM LONDON PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICES OF COUNTRY LIFE Jf 20TAVIST0CK STREET COVENT GARDEN j&x GEORGE NEWNES LIMITED 7-12 SOUTHAMPTON STREET STRAND NEW YORK : CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS PAGE PAGE zAgecroft Hall, [Manchester . 22 1 Inwood House, Somerset XXX., XXXIV. zAlbury Park, Surrey XXII. Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire . XXXV. zAldenham House, Herts. >>3 Kentwell Hall, Suffolk . igi -Jlmesbury Abbey, Wilts. 126 Leighton Hall, Welshpool 2 32 'Ba/carres, Fife shire . XI., 22 Linton Park, Kent XIX. ‘Barncluith, Lanarkshire 216 Littlecote Hall, "Berks. 248 ‘ Barrow Court, Somerset 182 Lochinch, Wigtownshire . XXXVI. "Borde Hill, Sussex . XXXIX. Longleat, Warminster . 171 cBrokenhurst Park, Hants 14 [Mapperton House, Beaminster 132 Castle Ashby, of art h ants XV. [Mar gam Park, Glamorgan Frontispiece Chastleton House, Oxon. 130 y y y y y y 93 Chirk Castle, Denbighshire 101 [Marks Hall, Essex . XXXVI. Chiswick House, Middlesex XXXI ., XXXVIII. [Melford Hall, Suffolk . 77 Compton Wynyates, Warwick / ig [Mere Hall, Droitwich 143 Cranborne [Manor House, Dorset 135 [Moyns Park, Essex >97 SDanby Hall, Yorkshire XXVI. [Munstead Wood, Godaiming 39 "Drakelowe Hall, Burton-on - Trent 1 78 Vfewbattle Abbey, Midlothian 208 "Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfriesshire 1 36 Okeover Hall, Derbyshire . XXXII. c Drummond Castle, Perthshire 1 Orchardleigh Park, Frome 57 Easton Hall, Grantham, Lines. 163 Orchards, Surrey . 97 Eaton Hall, Cheshire 203 Packwood House, Birmingham . . 38 Eydon Hall, Uforthamptonsliire 7 > Pain’s Hill, Surrey . XLIV. , XLV. Frogmore and Windsor 236 Parham Park, Sussex >47 Fy field [Manor, Wilts. . XXIX. Penshurst, Kent . XXXIII. Grimston Park, Yorkshire 9 Pitchford Hall, Shropshire 89 Groombridge Place, Kent XII., XIII., 259 Powis Castle, Montgomey 64 Gwydyr Castle, Denbighshire 20 St. Fagan’s, Cardiff 239 Hackwood Park, Hants. . XXVII. Sedgwick Park, Horsham 83 Had don Hall, Derbyshire 43 Shrub lands Park, Ipswich 26g Hadsor, Worcester 282 Smithills Hall, Lancs. 233 Hampton Court, Leominster X., XIV. Stoke Edith Park, Hereford . XVIII. Hampton Court, Middlesex . XVI., XVII., XXX. Stoke Park, Slough XLI I. Harewood House, Yorks. 103 Stoke ‘foe hford, Grantham . . 187 Hartwell House, Aylesbury XL. The Dyne, Hants. XXIII., XXVIII. Hewcll Grange, ffedditch XLIII. Westwood Park, "Droitwich 22(5 Highnam Court, Glos. XX , XXL Wickham Court, Kent . / 6l Hoar Cross, Burton-on-Trent 3' Wilton House, Wilts. . XXIV., XXV. Holland House XLI. Woodside, Herts. 213 THE gardens illustrated in the following pages are the types and exemplars of every class of English gardenage, though it may be observed that the formal character is chiefly exemplified in them, because, indeed, in various developments it largely prevails. They disclose a view of much that the greatest workers in our garden development have accomplished — most of them inspired to their task by traditional methods and the inherited love for the things that are old, a few influenced by later views, which greatly affected the character of garden plan and design, all glorying in the supreme beauty of the multitudes of flowers now in cultivation, and some kindled to their achievement by the enthusiasm of individual taste. In these days the love of gardening and interest in its history and character grow from more to more, and we cannot live anywhere without finding intelligent understanding, and appreciation of the many various forms of garden beauty. The great gardens of England are taken as patterns in other lands, and among ourselves are regarded as sources of inspiration in any garden plan. Not every man can have a pleasaunce to his mind, but there are few who, in the glorious examples of our gardenage, cannot find some feature or suggestion for their need. The conflict of ideas which has arisen in regard to the higher character of garden design, giving rise to a considerable volume of polemical literature, is n itself an encouraging sign, because it shows how real is the interest felt in the garden and how zealous the quest for knowledge of its right character and its many beauties. The controversy is not new, for did not Martial, in the garden of Lucullus, express his preference for the untamed beauties of Nature over the results of the custom which then prevailed of placing tonsile box trees amid the groves of myrtles and planes ? The more modern controversy shows how far we are from the days in which to most people the garden was merely a place wherein flowers and bushes indiscriminately grew. There has sprung up a craving for order and plan, and a demand that the garden shall stand in much closer relation to the house it adorns than was at one time thought GUARDIANS OF AN OLD GARDEN STAIRWAY. X. GARDENS OLD AND NEIV. THE GREAT YEW ARCH, HAMPTON COURT, LEOMINSTER. eiitC 1, with a truer understanding of the manner in which tl v.vrs shall be cultivated, holding their large place in the _ a- Jen design. '1 : - older dweller in these islands, like the modern, loved i well. It was a place for quiet and retirement, a; : : : the welcoming of friends and their diversion, a place beloved for its shady alleys in the hot days of summer, for actable freshness of the evening air on the terrace, pie. i 'it i of the green lawns where the English- hi well-turned bowls. In the pages of Shakespeare cenes occur. There is that in “ Richard II.,” • ladies would dance, or tell tales, or sing, and 1 were pe l, reminding the Queen how often I- it : • “ i ’ iinst the bias.” It was an ordered realm, “oil A ! i m ’ likeness,’ the gardener, in contrast p-rdi ordered commonwealth. In such pleasaunces . It-.’ : m h, ;ui I it is delightful to find them, sometimes, • of Edzell in his viridarium, even transacting ;ht there. The garden i^, indeed, a place where, \< i ,l.i o- pen ive meditation, the days may well pass profitably if unnumbered. In the Introduction to the in t cries ot “Gardens Old mt was given of the successive phases , • : ner' art, ind, after a more brief view of that . t may be suitable here to develop a little ertain special characteristics therein dealt with, I to speak of some special garden features described in of t! t and exemplified in g n lens of the present, i sted that wh le some look upon the garden as an hou into its surroundings, others have J it as an approach of wild Nature to the r dwelling- tVhal ■ ^;i itl is that neither house nor pleti in itself, ea h being the complement ti have 1 een regarded as the ideal by some ■ Brown, and notably by Repton. Hut there i certain recoil from the new manner, which, itr'>nger, induced Hnglishmen again to study more e ol ler manner of garden design, while retaining lev could of the beauties of the new. It may be to quote what was said in the Introduction to ■ ies of this work by pointing out some of the uties ot the garden as it is now conceived, he w in logics out from his terrace with its mossy k, | 1 liance, shakes out its purple a w< I of his own. Roses are clustering on the , i elow in the sun, mingled of the aromatic azalea. Along the edge tl .u r border is glorious with the queenly nk’ -hood, the tail hollyhock, the spiked ed lychnis, radiant phloxes, proud pasonies, of its charms must indeed be. sought in a pleasaunce that is ordered and possessed with some character of formality. To such a garden belongs the terrace, which, in a multitude of forms, has been adopted in all our gardens, and has been imported into every style; for it has been the effort of many to secure some variety of level, and at each break in the ground it has been found satisfying to the eye to raise some stronger mark or barrier than the mere edge of a short declivity. The garden architect and sculptor have here found their opportunity, and there are examples of their work in this volume that will appeal to very many. Let us now enquire a little more in detail into the character of those old pleasaunces of which we read in many books, premising that those who would pursue the subject further may do so with delight in the fascinating pages of Mr. A. F. Sieveking’s charming volume, “ The Praise of Gardens.” Reference has been made to the Tuscan villa of Pliny. Now, there was in that ancient pleasaunce a terrace embellished with figures and with a box hedge, beyond which INTRODUCTION. XT. 11 IE FORMAL GARDEN, CASTLE ASHBY. XU. GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE POND . GARDEN, HAMPTON COURT INTRODUCTION. xzii. z '.ANAL AT HAMPTON COU1 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. xt Hi. ft THE GEOMETRICAL GARDEN, STOKE EDITH PARK. EASTERN END Ol HIE SOUTH TERRACE, SIOKE EDITH PARK, f Ifi V i : INTRODUCTION. xix THE SECOND TERRACE, LINTON PARK. XX. GARDENS OLD AND NEW. was a descent to a lawn surrounded by a walk of cut evergreens. Beyond the lawn was a circus, such as has since existed in many gardens, and it was fenced in by a box-covered wall. It was observable, as the younger Pliny wrote to Apollinaris, that up to this point Art had done everything, but that beyond were meadows and fields interspersed with thickets owing many beauties to Nature. Pliny had also a dining-room opening upon one end of a terrace, and looking out over the country, and there were other features which were precursors "f that English garden which possessed the character that has been alluded to. It was a garden generally upon the plan of a parallelogram, often having several rectangular enclosures. Nine large complete squares or “knots” were in the famous gardens at Theobalds. Gervase Markham, who added much to the well-known “ Maison Rustique ” (1616), gave many shapes for gardens; they might be square, round, oval, or diamond-shaped, and he commended it as desirable fine banqueting-house in the garden of his mind. Four such houses were in the Countess of Bedford’s garden at Moor Park in Hertfordshire, two being at each end of the terrace walk, and two at the terminations of the arcades which ran out from the house to enclose a quadrangular space. Such enclosed gardens and garden-houses indicate that great use was made of the pleasaunce, and that men lived much therein. In the time of Louis XIV. the fashion spread greatly, and the French carried their houses, as it were, into their gardens, by building dining and drawing rooms in the open air, with salons, cabinets de verdure, and theatres amid the groves, where the masques of Moliere were many times enacted. It is obvious that in these garden structures the architect had rare opportunities, and perhaps no more choice examples of such work can be found in England than in the charming creations of Montacute. Bacon, having in view his terraces and houses, said of the THE SOUTH i i, Mid rLc in level above level, “ which is hr/ be lutifull to the eie, and very beneficiall to your m 1 fruit trees, especially if such ascents have the i if tin ''Un rising upon them.” I he famous Palissy, the potter, v i o was also a gardener, regarded the r,|e as f • form lor his pleasaunce, with an issue ! it int a meadow. The garden was to be divided, as English i ens, into foui equal parts by allevs, with a little amphitheatre in the middle, and at an arbour, and four others at the ends of I • • hours, refreshment-places, or banqueting- were a common feature in the surroundings of old h houses, and ften extremely beautiful. , i 1 1 < <.in] ns^ed on ail r with a stab l\ arched hedge, and a carpenter ion pill/ its support, and many us in : < ni'iu dev ices were added. Bacon also had a WALK, H1GHNAM. garden that it was “ best to be square,” and the famous John Thorpe made one design with the note that nothing should be “out of square.” John Parkinson, who produced his “Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris” in 1629, remarked that, though the orbicular or round form had excellencies, he thought the four-square form the most usually accepted with all, since it did best agree with any man’s dwelling. “ To form it therefore with walks, cross the middle both ways, and round about it also with hedges, with squares, knots and trails, or any other work within the four-square parts, is according as every man’s conceit alloweth of it.” The Pond Garden, still existing at Hampton Court, which is illustrated, has been much altered, but has its original rectangular enclosure formed by low brick walls, in the corners of which are the bases of stone piers, which once supported heraldic beasts, carrying the King’s Arms. Perhaps this was the parterre called Paradise, with its banqueting-house, which attracted the notice INTRODUCTION , xxi I'HB LAWN HAULY MORNING, HIGHNAM CARDENS OLD AND NEW, xxii. THE WATER GARDEN AT ALBURY INTRODUCTION , rxm. THE VYNE— OAK AND DOVECOTE GARDENS OLD AND NEW. xxiv. of John Evelyn. Thus is one garden of the time described : •• AIv garden sweet, enclosed with walles strong Embanked with benches to sytt and take my rest, The knots so enknotted it cannot be exprest With arbors and alyes so pleasant and so dnlce.” The great garden of the Countess of Bedford, which Sir William Temple described so well, was one of the best old examples of the rectangular garden. Such square parterres were often duplicated and multiplied. They displayed the old spirit of enclosure, and gave unrivalled opportunities to the terrace builder and the garden hedger. The greatest possible contrast is found between such hardens as these and that imaginary garden which Addison describes in the Spectator. Ad¬ mitting that there were as many kinds of gardening as of poetrv, he spoke of his own as a place which a skilful gardener would not know what to call. “ It is a confusion of kitchen and parterre, orchard and flower garden, which lie so mixt and interwoven with one another, that if a foreigner who had seen nothing of our country should be convey’d into my garden at his first landing, he would look upon it as a natural wilderness, and niie of the uncultivated parts nf our country . As for mv self, you will find, by the account which 1 have already given you, that my compositions in gardening are ,i'.t _ the r after the Pindarick manner, and run into the bcautifu: wildness of Nature, ithout affecting the nicer ele¬ gancies of Art.” There can scarcely be a question as to which is the better garden of th tw •> that which is ordered and planned, or that which seems no garden at all. Some things Ad iison certainly advo- at- J v hich are excellent. He would have had many ever- gree s in the garden, and often i, i iiid red that those who were like himself, and loved to live in gardens, had never thought tr . mg a wint-r garden, which should consist of such trees only as never cast their leaves. That lesson has surely been learned, and in all our ■ it gardens evergreens, either in formal shape or in natural profusion, largely . • it in tii winter-time the garden is neither I HP ITALIAN COLUMN WITH LEAD FIGURE, WILTON. ! oke I w ith some tolerance upon the d girdening, which had come in when “Life of Shenstone” he speaks of his rural pleasure and his ambition of rural u | ct a little sense of humour where ti lls how the Arcadian poet began to sify his surface, to entangle his s. “ Whether to plant a walk in lace a bench at every turn where tii view — to make water run and to stagnate where it will be ds where the eye will be pleased, antation where there is something to be hidden — demand any great powers of the mind 1 will not inquire. Perhaps a surly and sullen spectator may think such performances rather the sport than the business of human reason.” Yet Johnson saw merit in a man who was doing best what multitudes were contending to do well. In France, Rousseau in “ Julie ” describes a garden that was unordered and unsymmetrical. There were rose bushes, raspberries, and gooseberries ; patches of lilac, hazels, alders, syringas, broom, and clover, which clothed the earth whilst giving it an appearance of being uncultured. He imagined that a rich man from Paris or London, becoming master of such a place, would bring with him an expensive architect to spoil Nature. Pope’s objection to formality — though he had a formality of his own — has been referred to. He sneered at symmetry. “ Each alley has a brother, And half the garden just reflects the other.’ Walpole could see nothing in Kip’s “ Views of the Seats of the Nobility and Gentry” but tiresome and returning uniformity — every house approached by two or three gardens, consisting per¬ haps of a gravel walk and two grass plats or borders of flowers, each rising above the other by two or three steps, and as many walks and ter¬ races, and having so many iron gates that he was re¬ minded of those ancient romances in which every entrance was guarded by nymphs or dragons. We have seen that he greeted the ha-ha as the step to freedom, and Kent as the man who leapt the fence. “ Adieu to canals, circular basons, and cascades tumbling down marble steps, that last absurd magnificence of Italian and French builders. The forced elevation of cataracts was no more. The gentle stream was taught to serpentize seemingly at its pleasure, and where discon¬ tinued by different levels, its course appeared to be con¬ cealed by thickets properly interspersed, and glittered again at a distance where it might be supposed naturally to arrive.” 'I o Goldsmith, in that time when the old English gardening was dispraised, it appeared that the English had not yet brought the art of gardening to the same perfection as the Chinese, though they had lately begun to imitate them, and were yet far behind in the charming art! Thomas Whately, whose “Observations on Modern Gardening” appeared in i77°i thought that the new art was as superior “ to landskip painting as a reality to a representation. It was an exeition of fancy, a subject for taste, and all Nature was within its province. The art had started up from being mechanical to the rank of the fine arts, which joined utility with pleasure. Repton, in his “ Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening,” 1794, seems best to have expressed the ideal of those who practised the art. The garden must display natural b auties and hide natural defects in every situation. It should give the appearance of extent and freedom, by introduction. XXV. THE ORANGERY, WILTON. XXZ'I. GARDENS OLD AND NEW. AN OLD GARDEN SEAT. ill\- disguising or luding the boundary. It must ,uslv conceal every interference of Art, however expen- h\ which scenery is improved, making the whole r the production of Nature only, and all objects of mere nience or comfort, if incapable of being made ornamental, beo ming proper parts of the general scenery, must be ,ed or concealed. It may appear to many, and not :t r< ason, that this ideal was one of deception An ssion of size and extent was to be given where it did not ;i:,d t : at whL h was the product of Art was to be made ; ir as if it were the w7ork of Nature, while objects Farm, and the examples at Hagley, Hayes, and the Leasowes became celebrated, though the work of the Hon. Charles Hamilton at Pain’s Hill in Surrey was one of the finest examples of the landscape period, deserving to rank with Brown’s work at Blenheim, and it happily remains as an illustration of a real success to this day. As we have said, there were many who recoiled from ’the landscape style, and no one expressed the rev ilsion of fe.-ling better than Richard Payne Knight in his “ Analytical Enquiry into the Principles of Taste,” published in 1805. He remarked that, in former times, the house, being surrounded by gardens as uniform as itself, and only seen throng h vistas at right angles, every visible accom¬ paniment was in union with it, and the s y s tern atic regularity of the whole was discerni- b 1 e from every point of sight ; but when, accord¬ ing to the new fashion, all around was levelled and thrown open, the poor square edifice was exposed alone, or with the accom- pa nimentonly S I ONE SEAT, DANBY. INTRODUCTION , xxvii. STONE l'HKRACH SEAT A I HACKWOOD GARDENS OLD AND NEW. xxriii. of its regular windows and porticoes amidst spacious lawns interspersed with irregular clumps or masses of wood and sheets of water. He did not know a more melancholy object, for it neither associated nor harmonised with anything. He added that the view from one of these solitary mansions was still more dismal than that towards it. Mr T. James was a writer of much later times, who, in “ The Flower Garden,” 1852, had scathing things to say of the evil davs upon which gardening had fallen, and the natural or English style of which we were proud. He jibed at the unmeaning flower-beds disfiguring the lawn in the shapes of kidneys, and tad¬ poles, and sausages, and leeches, and com¬ mas, and he thought, surveying the various styles that had pre¬ tailed, from the knotted gardens of Elizabeth, the pleach-work and ntricate flower borders uf James 1 . , the painted Dutch statues and canals of William and Mary, the winding gravel paths and lace¬ making of Brown, to poor Shenstone’s senti¬ mental farm, and the landscape fashion of his own day, there could be little reason to take pride in any advance in national taste. What may be said or the landscape gar- deneis is that they opened the way for a greater love for the flower world, and for delight in the natural form and beauty of blossom and tree, mak¬ ing them a great addi- 'ion to anv barren geo¬ metry. No doubt the real truth lies in what Cardinal Newman said in his “Idea of a Universe,” that every- own Pcr~ A SUNDIAL fectinn, be it higher or scale of things ; that the perfection of one is not I an ther ; that things animate, inanimate, I-, are all good in their kind and have a best of tin;:, .\v< , In : P an object of pursuit. 'A ' t: tlv ight in our minds, let us now reflect a of the individual merits of gardens such as • | jn these pages, and first let us recognise the 1 • in the enclo lire, the variety of level, the 1 th< go* 1 tall hedges of yew or hornbeam which to — tl e good old system, as Mr. James said, terraces and angled walks, and dipped hedges, against " i.vv; and h verdure the bright, old-fashioned flowers We may e< that in su< h a manner of tin ■ is a proper transition from the architecture to the natural beauties of the paddock and the I e fine r< :tangular gardens of varied character • v. t ite, Venn House, Ashridge, Ham House, Athel- hampton, Newstead, Hoar Cross. Balcarres, and in many gardens. Here may be found who vould excel in such character of design. The hedge which encloses does not necessarily exclude what is without. Indeed, from the elevated terrace, there is oftentimes a wide outlook over the features beyond. The hedges should certainly be of the best, and they may be seen in excellent taste at such places as Blickling Hall, Brockenhurst Park, Melbourne, Etwall, Drummond Castle, and in a multitude of other great gardens in the land. Topiary features may be introduced according to the garden - maker’s taste. They may be no more than some pleasant variation of the well- cut hedge, like the “bulwarks” at Sedg¬ wick Park or the stately composition in ilex and yew at Brocken¬ hurst. Such hedges may be used to accen¬ tuate design, as in the fine planned garden at Drummond Castle. It is not necessary, nor always desirable, to introduce exaggerated qunin ness, though some love the conventional forms of verdant sculp¬ ture such as are found at Levens, at Hesling- ton Hall, at Cleeve Prior, at Hampton Court, Leominster, and at other places, includ¬ ing, as by a kind of recrudescence, the modern gardens of Elvaston, Derbyshire. At Pack wood the shapely yews are grouped in ordered ranks to typify, as by a green allegory, the apostles, the younger brethren, and the mul¬ titude gathered to hear the discourse of our Lord upon the Garden Mount. Let it not be imagined — Levens itself is a demonstration to the c 0 n t r a r y — t hat such quaint features are incompatible with at THE VYNE. a Profuse growth of flowers. In great planned gardens, such as we find at Wilton, Longford, Belton, Trentham, Castle Ashby, and Stoke Edith Park, the features which are, or may be, enclosed become rich and elaborate. Fancy is exerted to devise plans for such “ knotted gardens.” There was a time when the flowers themselves were banished from like parterres, and when variously coloured earths were employed to give the colour which in these days is imparted by the radiant things that grow. The love of flowers has banishel that species of artificiality. There are examples in this volume of very magnificent planned gardens, which are gems in their setting of wood and lawn. i hey can rarely be satisfactory, indeed, unless, as in such a fine, reposeful example as that at Newbattle, the elaborate beds compose with fine belts of trees, which bring into the garden composition that element of shade and harmony which is necessary to balance such bright and varied features. But, when we reach these elaborate expressions of the gardener’s art, we are far away from the quaint old enclosed gardens from which such things sprang. Now, the raised INTRODUCTION. XXIX. terrace, flanking or surrounding the garden, is own brother to the enclosing yew hedge. We may see in the noble gardens at Hatfield illustrations of much of the best character of old English gardening. Grand is the effect at Montacute — admirable also at Bramshill — and if we had no example remaining, it would be easy to conjure up the beauty of a mossy terrace and an old balustrade, with a peacock there loving to flaunt its glories in the sun, from which to overlook a well-arranged parterre, where perhaps a fountain decked the centre, or a goddess vested in the lovely hue of lead adorned the scene. We may turn then, as at Montacute, into some beautiful garden-house, and here the garden architect has scored many a triumph. No better exemplar to the modern . worker could be taken than those admirable buildings. But, of course, garden architecture is not confined to the building of summer-houses upon terraces. Some may like to have their retiring-place aloft in a tree, like the quaint old summer-house in the lime at Pitchford Hall. The bowling green-house at Melford Hall is another excellent example, and the magnificent dovecote or columbarium in the garden at the Vyne, with its mellow brick, giving character to its classic features, and its tiled dome, shadowed by the majestic oak, might be an inspiration to many. The garden-houses at Severn End and Charlton, Kent, are equally noteworthy. Let us, however, return to the terrace, which might form an inexhaustible theme. Its character must depend primarily upon its situation. It does not always flank a garden. Sometimes, in multiplied form, it constitutes, as at Barncluith, the garden itself. It has its variety of character also in its particular forms. It may comprise balustraded walls, or plain or even embattled parapets ; it may be composed with green slopes, or it may take character from its hedges. It is often of stone, but sometimes, as at Packwood, there are fine examples of excellent work in brick. It has its flagged ways, its turf walks, and its gravel paths. The terrace can rarely fail to be associated with the stairway, and here again there is extra¬ ordinary variety of character . Andrew Reid, whose “Scots THE SUNDIAL, Gard’ner’’ was pub¬ lished originally at Edinburgh in 1683, and was the earliest Scottish book on the subject, desired, if it were possible, that a straight pathway should lead down to the centre of the terrace, and there, by a double stairway, give access to the garden below. In some cases the terracing is of very fine architectural character. What better could be wished than the famous terrace shadowed by the limes at Haddon, with its romantic memories of Dorothy Vernon and of her flight with young John Manners ? Admirable again are the terraces at Cranborne Manor, illustrated in these pages, and the fine classic example at Clifton Hall, Nottingham. The terraces at G mombr. :ge, with their stairways and various features, are a study in themselves, and there are examples at St. Catherine's Court, Bath, and Wollaton Hall, Nottingham, which are hJigi.tful. The magnificent terraces at Drummond Castle, overlooking the characteristic garden there, have merits that are con¬ spicuous. We find in some place a lately description of architectural terrace,- with massive features of classic stone¬ work, as at Margam Park, Balcarres, Harewood, and Linton Park. At the other end of the scale are terraces which are no more than green grass slopes, with level tops, rising one- above another — a kind of moulding of the g ro . see at Lochinch, having very beautiful effe t. examples of fine work in gardening will serv> really wide is the choice and how many are f. presented to those who have realised the beau garden design. In mentioning the terrace we are led naturally t features, and among ti vase and the 1 upon which mans craftsman has lavis his skill. Now th are objects found nearly all garden formed within the la^ 200 yt :ars. They are often of stone, not seldom of marble, and in mai ny instances of lead, that metal which under the influence of the a 1 1 mosphere assumes a hue so delightful in any garden picture. There are fine leaden vases at Chiswick House, at Iford Manor, S merset, and at Penshurst, to name no more. Mag¬ nificent examples in stone are at Sion House, at .Margam — a noble specimen on the orangery terrace in the garden there forms the frontispiece of this volume — and in many other places. We shall indeed scarcely find in a good garden a terrace or a garden s e at w i t h 0 u t flower vases to adorn it. Note the 1 0 v e 1 y examples at Hack wood, a Groombridge, and in very many of the garden pictures in this book. The sculptor has achieved manv excellent things in bringing his skill to bear upon these garden adornments, and nothing could be fairer or more beaut: ul than a characteristic vase well tilled with a wealth of radiant flowers, or more attractive n some situations than a nobly sculptured urn. The garden sculptor has also adorned our gardens with classic figures and the gay creations of fancy. He ha> produced many an excellent work in lead, and in old gardens it is delightful to encounter some idyllic figure in this material, FYFIELD MANOR A' .X.X . GARDENS OLD AND NEW THE LION GATE, INWOOD. ONE OF THE IRON GATES, HAMPTON COURT. INTRODUCTION. XXXI. standing perhaps against some wall of well-clipped green. Pan upon his pedestal is at Rcusham, a shepherd at Canons Ashby, and characteristic arcadian figures are at Powis Castle and Enfield Old Park. A kneeling slave, “ black but comely,” is at Norton Conyers in Yorkshire, and a like figure is in the lovely garden of Guy’s Cliff in Warwickshire. Again we find gleaming marble, though the use of that substance requires judgment and care, and the situation must be appropriate to emphasise and yet to harmonise its beauties. 'I here are fine bronze statues also, as welcome as those of lead, as at Leighton Hall in South Wales, where we may see the son of Daedalus plunging headlong into a miniature /Cgean. There THE GARDEN GATES, CHISWICK HOUSE. the black slave kneeling to support an urn at Melbourne, Derbyshire, and at Renishaw Hall, in the same county, two leaden centurions keep watch at the approach to one of the gardens. Leaden figures such as these have an attraction not easy to explain; but, of course, lead is not the only substance in which the garden sculptor may excel. He may give us the also we may find excellent bronze vases, and elegant little amorini adorning the terrace borders. Great is the variety of garden sculpture, and endless the play of fancy in garden planning and adornment. Paul Hentzner, who made a journey into England in the year 1598. noted the glories of the palace of Nonsuch, with its pyramids of marble, its double fountain xxxii. GARDENS OLD AND NEW sprouting out like a pyramid, upon which were perched small birds that streamed water out of their bills, while another fountain was in the Grove of Diana, where Actaeon was turned into a stag as he was sprinkled by the goddess and her nvmphs. What it is necessary to avoid is an over-elabo¬ ration, destroying repose, such as Matthew Arnold noted at Knebworth, where he found the grounds full of statues, kiosks, and knick-knacks of every kind, a strange mixture of the really romantic and interesting with what was “tawdry and gimcracky.” Let us not forget that truly appropriate feature of an old garden, the moral sundial, or, as Charles Lamb calls it, “the primitive clock, the horologe of the first world.” Nature herself is truly a dial, for, marking the seasons by her change, she tells the hours also by the opening and closing of many a flower. The sundial counts no hours save such as are serene, as Queen Alexandra’s dial proclaims at Sandringham. They pass, but the garden monitor has only the stealing shadow when all things are gay. Sometimes dials are shaped of the House, Wrest, Kew Palace, and elsewhere. The forms are usually simple, hut they rarely fail to be satisfying. In Scotland sundials have a charac'er all their own. What that character is may be seen at Holyrood, Glamis Castle, Drummond, Balcarres, Pitmeddin, and Stobhall. These dials have elaborate features, and the gnomons are various and curious. The sundials at Newbattle are not excelled by any in Scotland, and are more architectural than sculptured works. The principal dial is extremely fine, and there is a copy of it with some variations at Tyninghame. The hand of the garden architect may also be devoted to the production of charming garden seats, and their stonework accessories. Excellent examples are at Aldenham House, Hackwood, and Danby, not to catalogue any more. Sometimes opportunities may be made and used well, as in the stately stonework known as Six Months of the Year at Barrow Court, where the changing seasons have their repre¬ sentatives in the semi-circle. There have been many who would limit the scope of the architect to the house, and who have THE ENTRANCE GATEWAY, OKEOVER HAEL • grow, and Andrew Marvell may have referred in th.it delightful garden of his poetry : ' II( i< at the fountain's sliding fool, Or at some fruit-tree's mossy root, Costing the body's vest aside, Mr sou] into tli«' boughs does glide; 'Tie re. like a bird, it sits and sings. Then whets and claps its silver wings, And till prepared for longer (light Waves in its plumes the various light. How well the skilful gardener drew ( )f flowers and herbs this dial new, Where from above the milder sun Does through a fragrant zodiac run ; And as it works, the industrious bee Computes its tune as well as we. Dow could such sweet and wholesome hours Be reckoned but with herbs and flowers r” B it. in th ■ fashioning of sundials, the work is generally thf of the sculptor or architect. How beautiful are the forms that have L n to dials we may ee at Eydon Hall, i p ( jswick House, Northenden, Belton regarded him as an intruder in the garden sphere. I hose who have followed these remarks, and have examined the pictures in this volume, cannot hold that view. They will recognise, on the contrary, that there can scarcely be any great garden in which file architect does not exercise his skill. His work may consist in file making of terraces, witli their stairways, and in the building of garden-houses, such as have been alluded to. It will include the construction of bridges, and the designing of appropriate gateways, which are ever a striking feature of the great homes of the land. How beautiful gateways may be made many of these places disclose. There are examples at Hatfield, Charlecote, Bramshill, and other noble places which are not to be surpassed. We are tempted to reflect upon the cause of such labour being expended upon the approach to the house and the garden. The gate was the symbol of hospitality, the place where file host would welcome his guests, and where he would bid them God-speed. It was the portal of the pleasures he would bestow upon them, and lie sought to dignify it as INTRODUCTION. xxxiii. AMU lLRRAU: Sill'S, I’RNSHURS 1 XXXIV. GARDENS OLD AND NEW. the token of his estate and his goodwill. Upon gates and gate¬ houses great artists have therefore lavished their skill, and from the famous portals of the baptistery at Florence onward to the examples of this day, the gateway has many a time been a creation notable for character and beautiful design. In turning over the pages of this book, the reader will discover several admirable examples of such work. It was not merely, the old workers said, that their stonework should be good, that the loftv pillars supporting the vase or the heraldic beasts holding the family arms should be well proportioned and well wrought in style appropriate. There must also be provided the gates themselves, the best work of the craftsman’s hand. As at Hampton Court and at Drayton House, the gates might be associated with grilles or clairvoyees ; but, whether with these or without them, there was abundant opportunity for the skill of the smith. We may note the gates at Grimston Park and Chirk Castle among many that are excellent. The famous gates at Hampton Court are masterpieces indeed, and perhaps never has iron been so skilfully wrought as under the direction of Jean Tijou, who designed them, and who, it may be wistaria and flanked by ivy-covered piers, is an example that many might follow. The ironwork at Inwood has been alluded to, and the low garden gate and railing in floreated ironwork may also be noted as an admirable example of handicraft in this manner, while the fruit-bearing Cupids on the gate-posts are suggestive of such adornment. We may now turn to another beautiful garden feature in which Nature triumphs over Art — the cool and grateful pergola and the quaint pleached walk. They will suggest to many the gardens of sunny Italy, giving grateful shade from the noonday heat, and recall to others the secluded gardens of Shakespeare, like Leonato’s, and the “ Pleached bower, Where honej'suckles, ripen’d by the sun, Forbid the sun to enter.” They may think, too, of quaint Queen Mary’s Bower of wych- elm at Hampton Court “for the perplexed twining of the trees very observable.’’ There are examples of beautiful pergolas at Compton Wynyates, at Aldenham House, at Orchardleigh, Frome, and a delightful apple walk at Lilleshall, Salop, THE ITALIAN GATE, INWOOD. ting to remember, was also employed by Wren to i the iron gates of the choir of St. Paul’s. The actual raftsman was Huntingdon Shaw, of whom his epitaph lpton Church rightly says that he was “ an artist in his Let not the maker of gardens aim at anything so as. 1 or a palace the gates of Tijou and Shaw are rUn- enough ; 1 ut rather let us welcome such handsome ists at Compton Beauchamp, Berkshire ; Ragley, n Conyers, Yorkshire; Bulwick Hall, m; ton ; Sb neleigh, Warwickshire; Belton, Lincolnshire; _h Hall, Derbyshire. Excellent as a modest work g irden gat' w hich is illustrated at Inwood, hanging ■n t: ■ Simple brick piers, topped with quaint heraldic Notable, again, is the gate at the foot of the terrace it P- nshurst. A more elaborate example is the entrance t Okeover Hall, which is also illustrated here. It is anJ enriched in the ironwork, and is flanked by ted piers tone, upon which stand well-wrought A simple gateway at Chiswick House, overhung by deserves to be noted. A beautiful modern example may be cited at Great Tangley Manor, Surrey, and there is a sweet- scented rose pergola at Heckfield Place. A lovely lily-lined walk is depicted here. Obviously such features must be welcomed in all gardens. They will import into a formal enclosure a delightful natural character, and invention may he exercised in devising picturesque supports of sturdy sufficiency, and trunks of trees with the bark on them for horizontal framework, upon which climbing flowers or fruits shall plenteously grow. Let such walks be of the greenest turf, and ever delightful to linger in must they be. The grass path, indeed, whether it be that of a pergola, or an avenue, or a way through a wood, is a beauty in any garden or pleasaunce. There are examples at Munstead Wood, with tea roses and various kinds of clematis for covering, and at other places described in this book. The bowling gieen, which has come into new favour, demands for its perfection the skill of an experienced groundsman, who, by judicious sowing, watering, and cutting, can produce the level emerald INTRODUCTION, XXX XXXVt GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE UPPER LAKE FROM THE EAST, MARKS HALL. THE ENTRANCE TERRACES, LOCHINCH INTRODUCTION. XX XVII. mead. How the Englishman sped his biassed bowls in the old times is written in many books, and interest in the game has seemed to revive with the new growth in the love of the garden. There are fine examples of bowling greens in advantageous situations at some great houses in England, and nowhere better than upon the marvellously beautiful terrace at Clevedon in Somerset. Norton Conyers and Sutton Place, Guildford, are other houses distinguished by the possession of charming bowling greens. A grass walk or a green lawn must needs be associated with the long bed of generous proportions, full of herbaceous flowers, that often forms its margin. Here the tall larkspurs, the glorious delphiniums in all their shades of blue, phloxes, hollyhocks towering aloft, queenly lilies, the red lychnis, and many another stately blossom may rise as the back¬ ground to things of smaller growth which fill so well that attractive feature in a garden — the well - managed border, formed by one who has every season in mind. In such beautiful garden - age the lovers of the formal style and those who cling to what is natural may meet upon com¬ mon ground, for they are, or should be, one in their love of flowers, and the trimmest ar¬ rangement will be the more beautiful if it welcome those hardy flowers which are ra- diantfrom spring all through the summer until the fall of the year. The pictures of such beds at Borde Hill, as illustrated with this Introduction, and again at Munstead Wood, have suggestions of beauty that will surely fructify practically in the gardens of many. Let us turn now to some other distinctive features of the greater gardens, which nevertheless are interesting, attractive, and suggestive for those less dignified. Such are stately columns commemorative of famous men, or like that which rises at Wilton — a Corinthian pier, with a goddess in lead as its topmost adornment. Such are the stately avenues associated with the style of Le Notre, exemplified in the triple radiating avenues at Hampton Court, and the great avenue through Bushey Park. Here we find the long canal, still and beautiful, reflecting in its silvery surface the mights trees that rise on either hand. One of the magnificent canals at Hampton Court is illustrated here, and is as fine an example as we could wish of gardening in the stately sty! Such work, it is true, belongs to the park, rather than to t: garden proper, but it has come to us from a time when tl spirit of the garden was extended into the landscape be A stone-margined water at Albury is also depicted, rich in i water-lilies, in order to suggest how glorious are tl opportunities offered to those who can work in tin manner of the grand style of gardening. Magnificence in the splendid “Emperor’s Walk’’ at Grimston Park. It found in the fine pond with its flanking yews at Sedgwi* Park, known as the “White Sea” and the “ FortificstL Could we wish anything finer than the nobl - Ij i_- Fountain at Brockenhurst Park, begemmed with 1 !:•- A LILY-LINED PERGOLA. with superb hedges, and with a splendid double stairway leading up to the stately garden beyond ? I he stateliness alluded to does not imply re¬ moteness. It may have the fine and simple characters de¬ picted at High- nam and else¬ where. It may even be brought into modest gardens, to invest them with some character of dignity. And yet dignity is not perhaps what most people seek in gardens — a remark which brings us back to a reflec¬ tion already made, that the garden, like the house, is the ex¬ pression of him who possesses it. Abundant are the illustrations in these pages of the many forms and features which may make gardens attrac¬ tive. The avenue, which may be described as the leading feature of a stately garden, conducts us out from the house to the neighbouring country, and thus we are led to speak of tne landscape character of gardens. It was an old fancy that the formal features of the parterres neighbouring the house might aive place, as one withdrew, to more of natural c aracter, until at length nothing of the artificial remained. That is an idea which may commend itself to many. There is much to be said for it, and an examination of the pictures included in this volume will disclose how successfully the plan has been applied. At least of this we max’ be sure, that no rigid line necessarily divides the geometrical or formal gardens from the landscape features that lie beyond. How sweet and beautiful a landscape garden may be made GARDENS OLD AND NEW, xxxviii. THE CEDAR WALK, CHISWICK HOUSE. INTRODUCTION. i A S I (JAUDhN, BOKL)t xl. GARDENS OLD AND NEW. we see in the illustration of the lake in the hollow at Pain’s Hill. Here it is difficult to suspect the presence of the hand of Art, which, as Wordsworth said in another connection, has, indeed, worked in the very spirit of Nature. It is delightful to walk in the woods and by the streams at Aldenham House. Let it not be forgotten that the well-managed wood, with its varied trees, its rhododendrons, azaleas, and perhaps its lilies, certainly its gorgeously-hued fungi in the autumn, may be a veritable masterpiece. We may look over a fine landscape garden at Prior Park, Bath, or wander among pleasant ways in the gardens and woods at Wollaton, Nottingham, or seek the solace of rock gardens by woodland paths like that illustrated at Hartwell House. There are landscape features at Guy’s Cliff, as we wander by the flower-bordered Avon, and in many another place. Chatsworth is an illustration of how stately grandeur may lie in the midst of a superb landscape, and compose a garden picture wholly satisfying to the eye. historically until it assumed the particular forms in which it exists to-day. We have seen what were the form and features of gardens in the old times, and what views have been entertained as to the character they should possess. We saw that the old garden was distinguished by the spirit of enclosure, and we have considered in what way the enclosure was made. We have discovered that the enclosed garden, possessing formality in a greater or less degree, was the garden of the old Englishman. Then we observed how the changing taste of successive generations modified the conception of the garden plan. The spirit of seclusion had been broken down, and men had learned to look around them to the world at large. Hence, in course of time, we saw how the new spirit came in, which, rejecting the older inspiration, thought it right to take Nature in an intimate sense into the garden plan. We were able to recognise that there were absurdities and extrava¬ gances on the one side and the other, and that the landscape A LAVED WALK AT HARTWELL HOUSE. •»i served that fine trees and water, with a of the land, are the main features 1o be •ii ground. With these some objects must be would the landscape garden scarcely be a Where there is water, there may well be a • with what success the Palladian style is which adorn l it lens of Wilton House I here is a famous classic bridge of three the Derwent at Chatsworth, which Caius (the father of Colley Cibber) adorned with illustrate here an excellent example of a fine _>•, picturesquely placed in relation to a in. A not less admirable and beautiful ed, in a bi oad sense, the arc’e ling. It has described, without entering detail, the broad character of the garden gardener went to excesses as great as ever his predecessor had perpetrated. Then we saw how a recoil resulted from the baldness of the mere landscape garden, and how once again the taste of the garden-maker accepted in various forms the older plan. Then we recognised how glorious have become the opportunities offered in the marvellous beauties of the flower world to the gardener of these days. The true lesson to be drawn from the survey is one of eclecticism in selection com¬ bined with order in plan. Nothing that the garden designer and the garden lover can give should be rejected, whe her it be in architectural adornment, in the orderly arrangement of trees and bushes, or in the wealth of flowers which modern times have so marvellously multiplied. The relationship of the garden to the house is the one essential to be borne in mind, and he who would make a beautiful and a sweet garden must regard as his best achievement a right interpretation of the relation which exists between his garden and the dwelling-place it adorns. INTRODUCTION. xli. THE WATER GATH, HOLLAND HOUSE xlii GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE WESTERN WALK, STOKE PARK, SLOUGH. INTRODUCTION. xliii. 4- FOUNTAIN AT HFWFLL GRANGE, REDDITCH. xliv. GARDENS OLD AND NEW. The pictures in this volume are the best help to such inter¬ pretation. The fitting character of garden things, be they in harmony or contrast, is found in them. It may be seen archi¬ tecturally in the water gate at Hoiland House, in stately garden fashion in the long walk be¬ neath the cedar and between the hedges at Stoke Park, Slough, and in the fine fountain and dainty arrangements at Hewell Grange, Redditch, and again in the wealth of floral charm and the sweetness of landscape asN ciation at Pain’s Hill. These are but examples of many things suggested by these pages. An examination of them should fascinate, while a diligent consideration of the features and dispositions they disclose must be a liberal education in the gardening art. There is endless satis¬ faction in beau¬ tifying a house in its garden environment. This has been an occu¬ pation which has engrossed the attention or formed thediver- sion of many distinguished men. As all art is but a vehicle of expression, so they have sought, in this verdant form of it, to manifest their taste for the delight of their friends and the satisfaction of themselves. They have seemed to be in some world of enchantment where ever new vistas and other opportunities opened to them. Those who in these days are attracted to the work of garden creation or adornment will find both example and encourage¬ ment in these pages. THE DUTCH GARDEN, PAIN’S HILL. THE ROSERY, PAIN’S HILL. I'HE LAKE AND '1 HE HOLLOW, IN THE TERRACE GARDEN AT DRUMMOND CASTLE. f r ) TO enter an old Scottish garden — characteristic intro¬ duction to a garden survey — is to penetrate a world of rare and individual charm, where even the green things that grow in orderly ranks reveal much of history. The ancient hostility between England and the Scots, by force of nature, as it were, had thrown our northern kinsmen into close sympathy with France ; and when Mary came to the Scottish crown, she brought with her some¬ thing of the spirit of another land. The refinements of the Renaissance and some of the lighter graces of the South began thereafter to be grafted on the sturdy character of the dwellings of her opulent subjects. The rugged grandeur of the castles of the old Scottish thanes, which crowned many a dizzy height and lifted their embattlements above rocky preci¬ pices, whence their warlike inhabitants had looked out over the lower country, as eagles from their eyries, took on something of the charm of houses in gentler climes. Those tourelles on the chieftain’s fortress bespoke plainly some kinship with the chateaux of France, and those who know Mr. Billings’s wonderful work on the castellated and ecclesiastical architec¬ ture of Scotland will be aware how imposing is the character and how beautiful the detail that resulted from the combination of styles. As with the house, so with the garden. The well-hedged enclosure, the straight paths between yew and juniper, the formal parterres, and the classic stonework of these noble pleasaunces, still breathe the spirit of the South, and in a few chosen places, as on the terraces at Drummond Castle, where tender blooms flourish, one may now almost fancy one’s self in some garden of sunny Italy, where stately stairways, by terraces fragrant with the blossoms of oranges, shadowed by the tall spires of cypresses, and adorned with busts and antique urns, lead up to white palazzo walls out in the full light of the sun. The Scottish garden-maker had an advantage which the lover of the terrace will not overlook. In England the fighting o o o Tnifflri " liMBl mKK ] Bu&ircr THE OLD CASTLE AND THE NEW. 2 GARDENS OLD AND NEW , 1HE THIRD TERRACE, EAS 1 T)R UMMOU^D CASTLE. 3 baron, as many influences made for greater peace in the land, had been tempted down from the height where his castle frowned into the more delectable life of the wide valleys and plains. His descendants might love the pleached alley, the shadowed bower, and the terrace ; but in many cases the opportunities for the latter were denied them. In Scotland, however, the castle on the hill remained a place of power far later than in England, and, when the new spirit came in, the materials for fine effects lay on the slopes below ready to the garden designer’s hand. Drummond Castle is a typical example of a situation in which the natural character of the rock has enabled three terraces to be formed upon the steep, with a splendid character of architecture and fine gardenage ; and the garden is most worthy of special notice, and of unstinted admiration, because, though the thunders of civil broil and strife have passed over it, though attainder has shorn its old inhabitants of what they loved — lost in the at Stobhall, and whose descendants, as Earls of Perth, possessed it for some 250 years, followed by long forfeiture. The seventeenth century garden at Drummond Castle was laid out chiefly by John Drummond, second Earl of Perth. To him we attribute many beauties of the steep, improved since his time, with its glorious stairways, and chiefly the formal garden below, with its flower-beds rich in colour as a Persian carpet in the summer, and beautiful with evergreens in the winter, beds set off and relieved by box and yew hedges, cut and trained in quaint fashion, and by fine cypresses and rare conifers. About the year 1630 this noble¬ man was actively engaged in improving his estates and laying out the grounds. He succeeded to the title in 1611, and died in 1662. Douglas, in his “ Peerage of Scotland,” says of him that “ he was a nobleman of learning, probity, and integrity, of unshaken loyalty to the King, benevolent to his friends, prudent and economical in the management of his affairs, and THE PLANNED GARCEN FROM THE TERRACE. passion and zeal for a cause forlorn — though modern influences have threatened it, it still remains steadfast to the character of its seventeenth century origin, and still maintains the traditions of that age unmarred, with many an addition to its beauties, but not one to break the spell. It is accordingly an appropriate thing to devote some little space to the history of Drummond Castle and its former possessors, before describing the character of its gardens. Sir Malcolm Drummond, successor of many of the name, an adherent of King Robert I., fought at Bannockburn, and for good and faithful service received a grant of land in Perth¬ shire. Another Malcolm Drummond was at Otterburn, concerning which famous fight Sir Philip Sidney said that he never heard the old song of Percy and Douglas but he found his heart moved more than with a trumpet. It was the first L01J Drummond who, about the year 1491, built the castle in Strathearn, on removing from the former seat of his family, just in all his dealings.” Here must a tribute of admiration be given to the taste and judgment of the second Earl of Perth, who was instrumental in forming the garden, which remains as a fine exemplar of his time. Like all his descendants, he was a strong upholder of the Stuarts, and in 1641 he joined the association on behalf of Charles at Cumbernauld, and later on was fined, with his son, Lord Drummond, in the sum of ,£5,000. This son, afterwards the third Lari, was taken prisoner at Philiphaugh in 1645, when Leslie defeated Montrose. James, the fourth Earl, Lord Chancellor of Scock nd, a strong adherent of James 11., resigning his estates and offices, was allowed to depart to France, and died at St. Germains in 1716, having received from King James the titular title of Duke of Perth. His son was with James in the expedition to Ireland, and took part in the rebellion of 1715, afterwards being attainted, upon which the titles of Earl of Perth and Baron Drummond became dormant. The Scottish estates THE THIRD TERRACE URUMMOU^D CASTLE THE SUNDIAL OF 1630 IN THE GARDEN C GARDENS OLD AND NEW. were saved, having already been assigned to the Earl’s son James. This sturdy descendant was also a Jacobite, and in the rebellion of 1745 was in high command at Preston, Carlisle, Stirling, and Culloden. His estates remained forfeited until 1784, when, under an Act of Parliament, another James Drummond cf the same house, descended from John Earl of Melfort, obtained possession, and was created Lord Perth and Baron Drummond. At his death, however, the titles became extinct, and the estate passed to his daughter Clementina, who married the Hon. Peter Robert Burrell, afterwards Lord Gwdyr, and later on Lord Willoughby de Eresby in right of his mother. On the death of their son, Lord Wil ioughbv, the estates devolved upon their elder daughter Clementina, Lady Aveland, Baroness Willoughby de Eresby in her own right, mother of the present Earl of Ancaster, who was raised to the latter dignity in 1892. Drummond Castle is approached from Crieff by crossing the River Earn, and following the Muthill Road, which for the first three-quarters of a mile is a noble avenue of great beech trees, with a few chestnuts and limes, and then for the rest of the way becomes a splendid lime avenue. A great gale in November, 1893, wrought vast havoc among these trees, and also in the castle avenue, as well as in the park, many splendid trees having then been 0 v e r- t brown ; but judicious planting is now filling the gaps. By a high and massive gate of elaborate w 0 r k man- ship, said to be nld Italian, the castle avenue is entered, and is certainly a delightful w a y t 0 traverse, is narrow, and has scarcely 10m for two carriages to pas s — t here are, indeed, sidings at sundry points s to be done -and it is lined on each side by great h 1 mb t tre s, which in most places over-arch the way, ns a sort of tunnel of green, and has much charm in .i' undulating character, rising and falling as we go all the way m a straight line for a mile and a quarter. The trees are n ri "\v.r, and form a fitting opening to the romantic icel 1 m<- lie. The modern castle is of 1 ter, but of somewhat plain construction. Passing ough an archway into an exterior court, and thence by r; h under the ancient fabric into the interior court, e find the newer structure on the east side. Both buildings . in one of the pictures. We may enter the eon, with its ancient gate and guard-room nd the -.fair to the balcony to survey the land- It is a prospect of fertile Strathearn, with many is, stretching away to Invermay and Duncrub, e “( »1< nartney’s hazel shade” and the pine- of Turlum.frorn which the prospect is still more nt. I" t'ne north lie wooded and broken slopes, hue of an artificial lake, with much forest d theGrampians close in the prospect. Drummond ( structure— was well battered by Cromwell. It was strengthened and garrisoned by Royal troops in 1715; but lest it should ever fall again into the hands of enemies of the Stuarts, Lady Jean Gordon, titular Duchess of Perth, in a spirit worthy of Sparta, caused the greater part of its walls to be levelled to the foundations during the rising of 1745. The square tower was built on the old lines and remains to tell the tale, and its chambers are used as an armoury and picture gallery. There are portraits of Charles I. and Charles 11., of Maitland of Lethington, of Montrose and Claverhouse, with many family pictures, and the robes of the first Lord Drummond, who built the castle. It goes without saying that the internal plenishings of such an abode are befitting its ancient character. The garden lies below the castle wall, and has many special elements seeming to belong appropriately to Scottish gardens. The second Earl of Perth had already made his garden when John Reid, gardener to Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, Aberdeen, produced, in 1683, “ The Scots Gard’ner,” in which he indicates something of the character that was then found in the nort ern gardens, though in few places with the magnificence attained at D ummond Castle. He says that the pleasure grounds of his time were usually divided into walks and plots, with a “ bordure ” round each plot, and at the corner of each might be a holly or some such bush trained up in pyramidal form, or approaching the spherical, ‘‘the trees and shrubs at the wall well p 1 y e d a d pruned, the greens there¬ on cut in several figu-es, the walks laid with gravel, and the plots within with grass (in several p'aces whereof may be flower- plots), the bordures boxed and planted with a variety of fine flowers, orderly i n t e r m ixt, weeded, mow’d, rolled, and kept all clean and handsome.” In the lower garden of Drummond Castle this character is found, but it is associated with the mag¬ nificent terracing, exceeding the dreams of m >dest John Rei 1. The castle looks down upon the beautiful old-fashioned pleasaunce, which we may now approach by this noble series of terraces formed in the cliff itself, the descent being by stately stairways. Tender things flourish here which do not usually look kindly upon northern skies. Tropaeolum speciosum flowered on this southern slope in the open air for the first time in Scotland ; Citrus decumana fruits freely ; and the Agave americana flourishes. In the summer of 1832 one of the latter plants reached a height of 23ft., and in 1851 of nearly 30ft. There is a very happy conjuncture of flowers in the garden with the varied hues of evergreens, though these predominate, thus making winter beautiful at Drummond Castle. This radiant garden lies some 30ft. or 40ft. below the southern part of the castle rock, and, in an oblong shape, it covers some ten acres. 1 hey are acres of singular beauty when surveyed from ' any one of those three grand architectural terraces, and the plan of the garden is curious, original, and distinctive. It takes the form of a St. Andrew’s Cross, in the midst of which rises a splendid multiplex sundial, erected for the second Earl of Perth by John Mylne, his architect, in 1630. Two broad grass walks cross one another CDKUM MOT{D CASTLE. THE WESTERN BAR OF THE PLANNED GARDEN O’ A RDF. NS OLD AND NEW. c* at this point, running severally from north-west to south-east, and from south-west to north-east. These walks of fine turf may be described as “ bars ” of the cross, and are so in fact in the design, as may be seen in our pictures. It must be noticed that, with the exception of three of the principal paths, running north and south, which are gravel, all the others crossing the garden are turf walks. One of the gravel ways passes through the centre of the garden, and on each of the four sides the enclosed space is encompassed by gravel paths. The whole area is divided into parterres, laid out with equal taste and judgment, and arranged to show the arms i»f Drummond. There are many examples of antique statuary, and many fine vases selected by the late Lord Wi.loughby de Eresbv, all adding point and character to the place, but nothing perhaps is so attractive as the old sundial with its multitudinous faces. Although flowers are in abundance, the great number of green things is noticeable, and gives a subdued aspect to the garden plan. Most, if not all, the garden sculpture is Italian, and some of the examples are very fine. !t will be seen from the pictures that many sentinel yews flank the pathways. They are of beauiiful and varied hue, and the junipers, hollies, firs, and box edgings are quite characteristic, while the terrace walls are covered with beautiful creepers. The yew hedges at each end of the terrace, which run from top to bottom of the slope, and form a division or termination, as it were, of the terrace proper, are a very notable feature. The charms of Drumm nd Castle by no means end with the garden, however. At the top of the broad avenue is the park, and the “ policies, ” as the extensive grounds are called, are very attrac¬ tive indeed/ They cover 511 acres, and are rich in magnificent specimens of all our ordinary trees. The from the ground, and of 16ft. at 5ft. The extreme height is 71ft., and the spread of branches 105ft. It would be tedious, however, to describe all the grand trees at Drummuid Castle. A beautiful purple beech, planted by Queen Victoria on her visit in 1842, attracts much attention, and has a girth of about 5 fL. Some lime trees standing adjacent are also of conspicuous size and beauty, and the Spanish chestnuts and silver firs are very fine. Three noble specimens of the latter are along the si Je of the walk from the garden, the largest of them having a gi.th of 23ft. gin. at ift. from the ground, and of 17. t gin. at 5ft. There are beauiiful specimens of araucaria an 1 of Wellingtonia gigantea, some of the latter having a girth of 12ft. The dee' rich soil is conducive to the perfection of growth in 1 orest trees. The plantations are aImo>t as interesting as the “ policies,” and are distinguished by great numbers oi splendid Scotch firs, some of them being noble individual specimens. The total extent under wood is 3 g5 3 acres, including the 511 acres of the park, and firs, larches, and other c miferous trees flourish wonde-- fully. Most interesting is the wooded height of Turlum, which cor- mands the magnificent view which has been described. At the base are dark Scotch firs, now rather thin, then spruce firs, and larches to the top. Here the golden eagle has found a home, and the country is rich in wild bi.ds The far-famed Trossachs also form part of the Drummond Castle property, which is one of the most magnificent estates in Scot and. A great deal of planting has taken place within recent years, much, h wever, having been done at an earlier time by the third and fourth Earls of Perth. The work went on between 1785 and 1800 with great vigour, and then it was that Turlum was planted, and the great pond made. The value and the beauty I ENG1 MINING SHADOWS ON THE GARDEN WALK. ■ enthusiasm of the poet of Ettrick lh" largest <4 the Drummond Castle oaks, how- , - n 1 Aith I", near ilu- burn, and has a girth Jit of lit. above the ground. Two ;s, with a < rand spread of leafage, have a 1 v t . 4 i n . a d of icft loin, respectively. Another nt specim n is by the side of the walk which circles f tii< car i ns, and measures 14ft 4m. at ■ ground. Very picturesque a so is lark : oak near the burn on the east side of the I tre< moi en ii 1 even than the oaks, specimen has a girth of 22ft. But the beech f ihe place, lifting their grey columnar trun! t altitude, with a noble crest of leafage. One colossal specimen is on the east side of the broad avenue ' juth of the garden, and has a girth of 2gft. at 1 It. of the estate have been greatly increased through the care and attention devoted to it, and the art of the landscape g rdener, combined with the natural advantages of the situation, has contributed to make it an ideal country home. The total area is upwards of 10,000 acres of arable and 62,000 acres of hill and plantation. The estaD includes the parish of Muthill, large portions of Comrie and Callander, and portions of Crieff and Monzieviard. Within its bounds are some of he fin st portions of Perthshire, and in hill and dale, wood and meadow, terrace and garden, it stands very high indeed among the great estates in Scotland. Lady Willoughby de Eresby, who died in 1888, effected immense improve 1 ents, spending ,£45,000 on farm buildings, additions, and alterations. Upwards of 160 miles of fencing was put up, at a cost of £16,000, and more than £8, 000 was spent in drainage, and the present possessor has continued the same enlightened policy. t 9 ] IN a very interesting pait of Yorkshire, within a mile and a-half of the ancient town of Tadcaster, where the Roman station of Calcaria commanded the chief and lowest passage of the Wharfe, and where the second, fifth, and eighth “ iters ” crossed the river on their way to York, and within a short distance also of f mous Towton Field, stands this very characteristic and att active c'assic mansion, which the late Mr. John Fielden bough , with all its domain and its superb garden, from the Harl of Londesborough, for the sum of ,£240,000. The country thereabout is very interesting, for you breathe history when you live there, although it is not in itself strikingly picturesque. Yet it has in it much of the rural beauty of England, if not the rare charm that is found in many parts of Yorkshire, and the broad stream of the Wharfe which bounds Grimston Park on the north-east is ever an attraction, while the neighbourhood is both pleasantly varied and well wooded, i.vith a deep and fruitful soil. There was an old house here, the property of Lord Howden, who, in the year 1840, restored and practically re-edified it, with the help of Decimus Burton, the well-known architect. The stone was obtained from the Tadcaster beds, this being a district famous for its stone. Indeed, from the neighbouring quarries near Hazel .vood Hall the materials for a great part of York Minster were obtained through the ancient family of Vavasour, and it was doubtless from the magnesian limestone of the district that the Romans built the structures of ancient Calcaria. The classic grace of the house of Grimston, with its long Ionic portico or loggia, and the verandah above, giving protection from the southern sun, suggests a spirit derived from southern climes, yet very welcome in these. It is a perfectly satisfactory piece of domestic architecture in the s&s&WZ vdr> - " - ’^aihtfTT-rrri SJ0—72Z. - : - V - - i THE WESTERN GARDEN. 10 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. classic style, g and the raised verandah was s p e c i a 1 1 y arranged to give an out¬ look over the garden. The presence of marble vases and urns, and of gleaming statuary, contributes to the effect. D e c i m u s Burton, Lord H owJen's architect, as iswell known, carried out the improve¬ ments at Hyde Park in [825, and designed the f a c a d e Hyde Park Corner, and the triumphal arch. He intended to place upon the atter a quadriga, but the authorities lifted aloft that strange equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, now removed, which is said to have provoked from a French officer the exclamation, “ Nous soiumes venges,” and was always a • .it; n to the architect. Burton was a master of the classic ^ty le, and at Grimston Park applied it very successfully to : .mestic architecture. The gardens were laid out by Mr. W. A. Nofield, a d were ornamented with marble statuary and ■. a>_-s to adorn die long walks and the terraces. It has long K-i-n a custom for the gods and goddesses of antiquity to Lplav their manly strength and womanly beauty in English irdens, and several well-known figures after Canova and other artists may be seen in our pictures. In the great Emperors’ Walk, twelve marble busts of the Caesars, upon tall pedestals, with sombre yews, flank the way to a temple, wherein a large bust of the great Napoleon, the modern C esar, stand-. The arrangement may be compared with that it BroD-nhui t Park in Hampshire, which is also, but in a different m a n n e r , adorned with the busts of the Caesars. Nesfield, the gardener, was a remarkable man, who, after fighting his country’s battles as a subaltern of the 95th in the Peninsula and Canada, became an artist and an excellent ex¬ ponent of the ol d water¬ colour school, and then turned his attention to landscape and classic gardening, and did excellent work at St. James’s Park, Kew Gardens, Arundel, Trentham, Alnwick, and other great places, Grimston Park being a good example of his style. The place was bought, with the manor of Selby and the domains of Londesborough, by the first Londesborough. This peer was the second surviving son of the first Marquess of Conyngham, and took the name of Denison under the will of his maternal uncle, who bequeathed to him immense wealth. Altogether, Lord Londesborough possessed upwards of 60,000 acres in Yorkshire, and was well known on the Turf, although his horses were not very successful in the great events. He was a piominent Yorkshireman, an enthusiastic antiquary, vice president of the Archaeological Institute, and president of the Numismatic Society. His Lordship added much to the interest of Grimston Park. When he purchased the mansidn he also became the owner of a remarkable collection of armour and ancient art work, which was described and beautifully illustrated in a volume entitled “ Miscellanea Graphica,” by Mr. F. W. Fair olt, the antiquary. Lady THE ENTRANCE GATES. G%IMSTOUX PARK . GARDEN WALKS AND CLASSIC STATUARY 12 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. Londesborough’s great collection of rings has also been described in a privately printed volume edited by Mr. Crofton Croker. Lord Londesborough died in i860, and the fine church of St. John Baptist, at Kirkby Wharfe, in which parish Grimston lies, possessing many Norman portions, was restored in the following year in his memory. He was succeeded by his son, the present peer, who was elevated to an Earldom, but the estate was sold in 1872 to the late Mr. John Fielden of Dobrovd Castle, near Todmorden, on the borders of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and Mr. Fielden maintained the place in perfection, and added somewhat to its attractions. He died in 1893, and the chancel of Kirkby Wharfe Church was restored in memory of him. His immediate successor in the estate, Mr. Thomas Fielden, D.L., J.P., M.P., died in 1897. There is a richly wooded park of about 800 acres, including the home farm, and the estate embraces the township of Grimston and the parish of Kirkby Wharfe. The park is where is a large conservatory of stone, there is an attractive garden rich in floral beauty and embowered in greenery. Here is a contrast to the more open outlook on the south, and there are classic garden adornments which will be seen in one of our pictures. It is almost unnecessary to insist upon the excellence of the garden stonework, for here, truly, the architect has worked hand in hand with the gardener. There may be different opinions as to the merits of white marble statuary under English skies, but there can be no disagreement as to the beauty of that which adorns Grimston Park, and which has been very skilfully disposed for contrast and effect. The gateway of the eastern garden will be noticed also. Here we see how the craftsman in metals has lent his aid, and it will be recognised that in the clinging ivy and cool grey stone an excellent effect is produced. The skill of the ironworker will be observed also in the great entrance gates, which are very imposing and eminently satisfactory in their architectural THE EAST GAE DEN GATES. nified by the pre en< e of many noble trees, including oup of sycamores, four of which are remark¬ having been planted within the space of one uare yard ; nevertheless, they have now grown to ■ height of 1 ooft. The most striking feature in the 1 i- the imposing Emperors’ Walk, which has been led to, and has rich ornamental trees for its near neighbours. Th arlen on the south side presents a formal ement, with regular beds and rounded bushes,, 1 ■ expanse is enriched by the presence of a number rably sculptured vases and urns in marble, as well al hoi ■■ modern statues. A long walk extends ill.-; to the house, and the garden is terminated by a fine balu with a semi-circular extension towards the ch, like the house itself, it commands a wide and pleasing view. It will be remarked that the splendid which close the } rospect to the east add great dignity and character to the place. On the western side also, character. There is thus at Grimston Park a union of structural merit and gardening skill, with particularly happy result. It has been mentioned that Towton Field lies not far away, and it would be unpardonable to describe Grimston without an allusion to the great Palm Sunday battle in which the red rose of Lancaster was shadowed by an immense disaster, and wherein probably 30,000 good Englishmen fell, so desperate and hard-contested was the fray. Hall says that the battle was “sore fought, for hope of life was set on every part,” though the hope was dashed for too many o;i that sanguinary day. The Earl of Northumberland, Lord Dacre, and many nobles and knights were killed, and from that field the Earls of Devon and Wiltshire were dragged for beheadal, and their heads placed upon Micklegate Bar at York in place of that of Edward’s father, which had been set up with a paper crown “that York might overlook the town of York.” O^IMSTOS^ PARK, THE EMPERORS’ WALK AT CRIMSTON PARK. r 14 i THERE are grand characteristics in the immediate surroundings of this beautiful Hampshire house in the stately form of tire long hedges of ilex and yew, the sequestered alleys between those walls of green, the truly imperial aspect of the great court, dignified by its busts of the Caesars, the noble descent to the long water begemmed with lilies — all these possessing an indi¬ viduality quite the r o.vn. They are gardens lying in an historic region of England, and so much of magnificent woodland is hereabout that we cannot forget that here was the great New Forest of the Norman kings — the forest in which the Red King fell, Time was when the village of Brokenhurst was almost in ihe centre of the forest, but it is now only a border village, con¬ sisting of one long straggling street, and possessing a church with some Norman portions which carry us back to the earliest forest days, Mr. John R. Wise, who wrote a notable book upon the New Forest, made the truthful remark that, if the church had been some¬ what disfigured, the approach to it remained in all its beauty. “ For a piece of quite English scenery nothing can exceed this. A deep lane, its banks a garden of ferns, its hedge matted with honeysuckle and woven together with bryony, runs winding along a side space of green to the gate, guarded by an enormous oak, its limbs now fas: decaying, its rough bark grey with the perpetual snow of lichens, and here and there burnished with soft streaks of russet-coloured moss, whilst behind it in the churchyard spreads the gloom of a yew, which, from the Conqueror’s day to this hour, has darkened the graves of generations.” These, indeed, are old patrician trees, mighty in their girth and dignified in their antiquity. The oak, covered with ivy, has a circumference of 21ft., while the enormous hollow yew measures 17ft. They are the immediate neighbours of Brokenhurst Park, which, for our descriptive purpose, they bring into relation With the old forest of Hampshire. Having thus glanced at of Brokenhurst Park, let us approach the mansion itself, in order to taste the sweetness of its gardens, noting first, with excellent Gilpin, that true lover of the New Forest, who sleeps in the Boldre churchyard not far away, how gracious are the broad BROKEN HURST. 15 THE GOLDEN GATES. THE BOWLING GREEN WALK. 16 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. features of the outlook. He described the prospect as complete both in the foreground and the distance. “ The former is an elevated park scene, consisting of a great variety of ground, well planted, an 1 descending into the plain below. Among the trees which adorn it are a few of the most venerable oaks of the forest, probably of an age long prior to the Conquest. From this grand foreground is presented an extensive forest view. It consists of a wide range of flat pasturage, garnished with tufted clumps, and wooded promontories shotting into it, contrasted with immense woods, which occupy all the rising grounds above it and circle the horizon. The contrasts between the open and woody parts of the distance, and the grandeur of this park, are in the highest style of picturesque beauty.” H >w rare is the attraction of this prospect will be realised in imagination when it is remembered that such is in the foreground of the garden we illustrate — a garden so sweet, quaint, and beautiful that the artist loves to depict it. The Brokenhurst garden, indeed, furnished one of the most fascinating scenes in the delightful garden pictures of Mr.G. S. Elgood, R.l. sixteenth Earl of Erroll, and was the father of the late Mr John Morant, who died a few years ago, having been High Sheriff of Hampshire in 1869. The present possessor is the latter gentleman’s son. We may well imagine with what delight the-e successive squires of Hampshire have surveyed and beautified their great possession. It was a master hand that worked in the creation of these gardens, directed by a mind which had imbibed the classic spirit of Italy. The late Mr. John Morant of Broken¬ hurst, who formed them, was, indeed, a man of great and discriminating taste, and many of the trees and bushes, which are so splendid a feature of the place, were planted by him within the last thirty years. Thus this Hampshire pleasaunce was invested with some of the charm that belonged to the great gardens of the southern land. The long pathways between ilex and cypress, the gloom of the solemn green made radiant in the sunshine, the still ponds and canals reflecting the gods and heroes of old Rome, the marble stairs leading up the terraced heights to the walls of an Italian palazzo, seem to THE DUTCH GARDEN. T1 M cants of Broke ihurst Park, in whose hands this ir >-n has taken shape and grown, are old doze lers in the r< gi< n of the New Forest. Veracious Burke tells us that they • nt fr m the Moraunts of Moran .t’s Court, Kent, said to hove s( rung from the ancient Norman house Mo ant of Chateau Morant. Soon after the seizure of 1 rna ica , in 1655, J°hn Morant settled in the island. To him eded his son John, and to him ano her John, whi h last it m in was the hath r of Mr. Edward Morant, M.P. for 1761, Lymington 1776-78, and Yarmouth 1780-84, in 1791. His son succeeded him at Brokenhurst, himself, a great interest in the condition Forest, and resisted what lie regarded as in asures of the Government in an attempt to it. Mr. John Morant died in 1784, leaving an infant same name to succeed to the estate. At this temporarily the residence of Mr. I philus F u k 5 ; but in due time the heir entered into his coming a man of note in the county, a J.P. and D.L., and High Sheriff in 1820. He married a daughter of the have their English counterparts in this truly imperial garden, 1 here is a richness and beauty of detail and effect that is perl -,aps unr, vailed in the land except in very few places indeed. Let us note the singular beauty and sequestered calm of the long walks between those lofty walls of ilex, the vista ended by some antique bust or figure. Think of the delight of entering that august pie isaunce through the golden gate. Mark the rare loveliness of the green court, with tho-e admirable statues flanki g the way to the place where the old medlar tree extends its arms over the seat in the shade. Wherever we go there is something that well deserves to be called imperial Look at the canal, with i:s water plants, leading away from the mansion to the splendid steps to the Dragon Fountain at the further end. It is worthy to be compared with any marble-lined canal, perhaps flanked with lofty arcades of yew and crested with globes, pyramids, or crowns, in any garden of Italy. No marble enframes the water at Brokenhurst, but there is something truly English in the work in brick and stone. The moulding of the margin is excellent indeed, and the fountain playing like an inconstant T HO KEN HURST. 17 THE DRAGON FOUNTAIN STAIRWAY AT BROKENHURST PARK. 13 GARDENS OLD AND NEW, THE BOWLING GREEN AND MEDLAR. EASTERN SIDE OF THE COURT. 'BROKEN HURST. 19 TUB DRAGON FOUNTAIN. 20 GARDENS OLD AND NEIV. sprite, the amorini on their pedestals, and the flowering standard trees in their quaint pots along the way, with the bushes of yew trimmed to shape by ihe deft hand of the topiary gardener, are a right introduction to the double flight of steps beyond. At every corner and break there is a vase or urn richly carved, each of these something of a masterpiece in its way, while all about are the coniferous trees so characteristic of Hampshire, and an abundance of flowers to kindle a new charm in the shadows. The double asce t at the end of the canal is worthy to compare with that beautiful flight at Clifton Hall, Nottingham, A SIDE WALK. 1 kb 1 is been noted ns a marvel of garden architecture, and ads to that upper a urt where the busts of Julius and ,stu ;••"!< uj 'ii "regions Ca.jsar never knew,” fair as r ien of ancient Home. Here again is a beautiful ting the enchanting scene, with other amorini by i vase filled with flowers at the margin. Then, each in his arch, stands the bust of a Csesar enframed . and each one upon a sculptured pedestal. It J with globes of green, forming a wall and background to as fair a garden picture as you would wish to behold. It may be said, indeed, that here is a final expression o: the gardener's art working in the classic style. The cunning hand of the craftsman has shaped these hedges to the garden-maker’s need, and many as are the splendid hedges in England, there are few quite so characteristic as those ar Brokenhurst. Two great uses may be marked in a dark hedge of yew or ilex : it gives that character of enclosure that is necessary, as most people thunk, in every good garden, and it affords shelter from the biting wind, thus nurturing the flowers, to whose radiance it is a foil and background. 1 he pictures are a better description of the Brokenhurst garden than any words can be. They disclose a pleasaunce such as few can create lor themselves. Not every, one can emulate the hand that formed such a masterpiece. Not everyone can pro¬ vide sculpture in vase> and figures so rich and good. Never have we seen statuary be, ter disposed. There is a completeness ana harmonious chiracter in the garden which could not be excelled. Let us note, as ex¬ amples of richness, the cistern-heads or capitals used as pedestals in the fountain c urt. There are many of the kind in England which had their origin in Italy. The true cistern-heads belong, many of ihem, to the best period of the Renaissance, like the famous cue by Sansovino at San Sebastiano ; but in many parts of Italy the capitals of ancient columns have been converted into flower-pots or pedestals for statues or sundials, and ruined temples and monuments have furnished the materials for attractive garden features. Thus we find at Bro enhurst rich Corin¬ thian capitals well employed. Mag¬ nificent specimens used to be in the famous Ludovisi garden in Rome, which was the very garden of Sallust; but these have been scat¬ tered or destroyed. Diverted from their original purpose, such objects have found another use, and it is very pleasant to find them ' as fea ures in such gardens as those of Brokenhurst. What is the presiding character to be discovered in this Hampshire garden ? It is an air of equal dignity and repose. Design rules the whole, and the directing hand has done all things well. Where quaintness has been sought, it nowh. -re tends to exag¬ geration, and the pic uresqueness re¬ sulting from the presence of curiously cut trees in columns and balls, of trim hedges flanking paths and stairways, is but one part of a picture, and belongs to the composition of the whole. There is variety in the contrast of ilex with yew, and of both with the ivy-covered wall. The glassy ilex is less sombre than the yew, but where the two are found together tire effect is all that one would wish. The orna¬ mental trees are admirably placed, and there is never-failing pleasure in the constant variety of their unfading green. Note, for example, h >w attractive is Cecil’s Walk, with the verdant archway at the end. Again, how sequestered is the path by tire bowling green, with its yews and its grass border, bringing us through an archway into the garden beyond. But it is unnecessary to describe further what is illustrated so well. Let us, then, conclude by rendering a tribute of praise to those who have created one of the best of the classic gardens of England The soil was propitious and the site was of the best, but there was needed a master mind and a master hand, and unstinted care as well. 'Broken hurst. 2l THE CANAL A1 BROKENHUR5T PARK. 22 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. PARTITIONS OF CUT YEW AT BALCARRES. C 23 ] A NOTHER great Scottish garden is that of the Earl of /\ Crawford, impressive and grand in its noble terraces L — % and stairways, magnificent in its hedged enclosures *■ and its box: gardens, glorious in the splendour of its floral charms, and from every point of view a typical garden of the North. Nothing, amid all its features, is so impressive as the character of its dense walls of yew, its shapely trees of the same, and its admirable patterns in box. Here the hand of the tree and bush cutter has achieved real triumphs, without anywhere tending towards extravagance or grotesque conceit. We are reminded of what is said by that John Reid who was gardener, more than two centuries ago, to Sir George Mackenzie, of Rosehaugh, Aberdeen, in his interesting “Scots Gard’ner ” (1683), where he describes the character of the gardens of his time. As was said in the account of Drummond, they were usually divided into walks and plots, with a “ berdure ’ round each plot — a box border, we suppose — and at the corners hollies or other bushes in pyramidal form, or approaching the spherical. Let us recall how quaintly he says they should be plyed and pruned, the greens cut in several figures, the walks laid with gravel, and the inner spaces with grass. “The bordures boxed and planted with a variety of fine flowers, orderly intermixt, weeded, mow’d, rolled, ; nd kept all clean and handsome.” He was speaking of just such a garden as we now see at Balcarres, though doubtless one wanting its stately m ignificence. There is always something interesting about the gardens of Scotland, and it is pleasant to make acquaintance with those who formed them. The noblemen who male Balcarres what it is have had a strange history. Among them we encounter men who have lo ed their gardens and who have w rked to introduce into Scotland those charms in which Scottish gardens greatly excel. They have all been men of distinct on, and an account of their hi tory and of their house and its surroundings will not lack either human interest or that which we Seek in this quest for beautiful gardens old and new. The stately seat of the Earl of Crawford is in Fife, situated upon the sou’hern slope of that county, some three miles from the sea, dignified by old woods, p ssessing in its Craig an object, as one writer has sa d, “ worth all that twenty Browns could do for any place in con erring romantic beauty,” and commanding a sup rb view, which embraces nearly the whole expanse of the Firth of forth, the L Jhians opposite, the Bass Rock out at sea, and the Lammermo r Hills, while a canopy of smoke indicates where Edinburgh lies, twenty miles away. The Lindsays have long held sway in Fife end all that country. They have possessed more Can twenty great baronies and lordships, and many lands in Forfar, Perth, Kincardine, Aberdeen, Inverness, Banff, Lanark, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, and Wigton. As Sir Bernard Burke says, their earldom formed a petty principality, an imperium in THE SOUTH FRONT, 24 GARDENS OLD AND NEW, imperio. They affected a royal state, held their courts, had their heralds, and in their old castle of Finhaven kept up a magnificence that would have befitted a monarch. The Earl was waited upon by pages of noble birth, trained up under his eye as aspirants for the honours of chivalry. Thrice did the head of this great family match immediately with the Royal house. Its members became distinguished patrons of art and literature ; they were lawyers and statesmen ; and they were enthusiastic builders, gardeners, and developers of agriculture. Walter de Lindsay, an Anglo-Norman baron, figured as a magnate under David Prince of Strathclyde and Cumbria, before his accession to the throne. William de Lindsay of Crawford was High Justiciary under William the Lion, and his three sons founded the houses of Crawford, L-tmberton, and Luffness, of which the last ultimately succeeded to the repre¬ sentation of the family, adhering to Bruce, while the Lindsays of Lamberton and Crawford supported Baliol. Davids and Alexanders succeeded one anoth.-r in the long line through and David, the fifth Earl, raised his family to the greatest height of its power, was Master of the Household and Lord Chamberlain, a patron of art, and letters also, who was created Duke of Montrose — a title to which the Lindsays have since laid claim. David, the eighth Earl, who died in 1542, had contributed to embitter the last days of the Duke, and retribution was visited upon him by the misdeeds of his own son, the Master of Crawford, spoken of in Scottish tradition as the “ Wicked” or “ Evil Master.” In this representative of the great house was typified all that was worst in his times, and he exceeded his compeers in prodigality, recklessness, and crime. Attaching himself to a band ot ruffians, he seized his father’s fortress of Dunbog, practised the life of a bandit, oppressed the people, tyran ised the clergy, and levied blackmail. His final excess was in besieging his father at Finhaven Castle, and, being arraigned for his iniquities, he was adjudged legally guilty of the crime of parricide, and, though his life was spared, he PYRAMIDS OF YEW. ny days, until David Lord Lindsay tecame Earl of .-.for i in 1 39s, his direct descendant, he present twenty- 1 Earl, being the | remier of his rank in the Scotti-h ge. In Lord Crawlord’s book, ‘‘Lives of the Lindsays,” ; k of the fiiM 1 e irer of th ■ title as “a bright example rhtly worth.” this fir-t Earl fou. hi o oul ranee with 1 Lord Welles on London Bridge. It was a valiant ! in the lists, and Welles was struck from his saddle Then, mounted, they fought until ) t yet hi Earl — fastening lus dagger in the arms re lit, hurled him to the ground, whereupon, as we , king Richard, from his “summer castell,” cried out : “ Liiidyssay, cousin, go xl Lindyssay, Do furtli tliat thou should do this day.” But the Scottish kn ght, < ig the way of clemency, d his foe from the ground and presented him to the Queen, ift, wishing, like a true knight, that mercy should eed from woman." Davids and Alexanders still succeeded, forfeited all the titles and honours of his house. Strange was the way in which the title thereafter passed. The next heir, David Lindsay of Edzell, whose father had fallen at Flodden, succeeded as ninth Earl, while the “ Wicked Master” perished in a brawl with a cobbler of Dundee. Earl David, who was the father of the builder of Balcarres, was a remarkable man in his time, and his action in regard to his peerage was peculiar. Taking pity upon the son of the “ Wicked Master,” he brought him up as his own child, nourishing indeed an adder in his bosom. His own son, Sir David, succeeded to the Barony of Edzell, while his second son. John, Lord Menmuir, was the ancestor of the Earls of Balcarres. Through the generosity of Earl David, the Earldom of Crawford went back to the original line, and David, son of the “ Wicked Mister,” succeeded as tenth Earl of Crawford. Iniquity appears to have been deeply rooted in his line, for the twelfth Earl died a prisoner in Edinburgh Castle in 1621 ; reckless, prodigal, and desperate, he had alienated his possessions, and ‘BALCARRHS. 25 ON THE LOWER TERRACE. 26 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. reduced his family to the brink of ruin. Luiovic, the last childless holder of the title in this line, contrived to obtain a regrant of the title, by wh ch was interpolated between himself and the family of Edzell the whole line of the Lindsays of the Byres, being the seventeenth to the twenty- second Earls, of whom the last cied in 1808, after which the title reverted to those to whom it seemed rightly to belong. It is now time to go back to the sons of the ninth Earl, whose apparent rights in the Earldom of Crawford had been diverted. Sir David Lindsay of Edzell and his brother John, Lord Menmuir, who built Balcarres in 1595, were contrasted characters. David was the soul of honour, generosity, and warm affection, and had great taste in architecture and design, Edzell, from its situation — low and at the foot of the hills — could exhibit nothing picturesque or grand, apart from its own architectural character and decorations, Lord M nmuir, in fixing Iris residence at Balcarres, bequeathed to his descendants the enjoyment of pure and fresh air, of proximity to the sea, and a prospect embracing rock and meadow, island and lake, river and ocean, well-nigh boundless, and for which they have great reason to bless the merciful Dispenser of all things, who has cast their ‘ lines of life ’ so pleasantly. And it may be an a0reeable reflection to them that, though part of the original edifice, as built in the Scoto-Flemish Gothic of the sixteenth century, has been destroyed in the course of more recent improvements, the greater part still remains incorporated into THE PLANNED GARDEN OF BOX. JJin was an astute lawyer and statesman of varied ■ , a liiuuist, and a practical man of business, but a r and | ■- : also. I he two brothers had, indeed, much in m, and frequently corresponded. Both of them were - and ;lnnt< rs, and while the castle of Edzell :.der David’s hands, that of Balcarres had its ta ir of John. “Ye desire me,” wrote David’s ■ no lmrd CmiD ir, to him, “to bestow some few lines > my planting— truly, albeit I be the elder, 1 1 rn a t skilful therein. Your thousand young ( : :r ) hall he light welcome.” “Remember,” rote Lord Wenmuir, “to send me my firs and hollins,” • th -am • time a present of elm seed. Gardening • ■ fav mi ite pursuit of both brothers, :• tter l in Lord Menmuir at Edinburgh to David, he hm t r hii- “ :e ter with ‘La iWais n Rustique ’ and < iella,* whilk will serve for my idleness in Balcarres and t i.vn ” Ti e taste for country occupa’.ions had : from Inrl David, and became hereditary in the ’ otn . t Edzell and Balcarres. There exists a - in t r.men of David’s attest- d in his vindiamm ' imer place. It is recorded that there his eJ the garden wall, presenting the fesse chequee stars of Glenesk, flanked by brackets >r statues and alti-rilievi. The garden at Balcarres was also t all times an object of interest and pride to its possessors. Lord Crawford, in his “ Lives of the Lindsays,” remarks 1 regard to the building of the two houses : “ But, while the more modern structure, and that a few of the more ancient trees that surround the house, ilexes and hollies, are still venerated among us as having been planted by the hands of our ancestor, Lord Menmuir.” It may be remarked that Menmuir was the forensic title of the distinguished lawyer, and that it was his son, David of Balcarres, who became first Earl of Balcarres. The estate at the time included Balcaires, Balneil, Pitcorthie, and other lands, and Lord Menmuir, in 1592, obtained a charter uniting these in a free barony, He died three vears after building the old house, and the property remained in the direct line of heirship of the family until 1789, when, mainly owing to the chivalrous adherence to the Stuarts earlier in the century, Alexander, sixth Earl of Balcarres, sold the estate to his younger brother, the Hon. Robert Lindsay of Leuchars, who had made a great fortune in the West Indies Meanwhile, misfortune had overtaken the family of David Lindsay of Edzell, and Burke cites the case of his descendant, another David, unquestionably head of the great h .use of Lindsay, as an illustration in his “ VicLsitudes of Families.” Ruined and broken-hearted, the last Lindsay of Edzell fled unobserved and unattended, and, losing the wreck of his fortune, landless, and homeless, he proceeded as an outcast to the Orkney Islands, where he spent his last days as ostler at the Kirkwall Inn. Some years after the sixth Earl of Balcarres had sold his estate to his brother, the twenty-second Earl of Crawford, of the line of Lindsay of the Byres, died (1808), and the old title at length came to the senior line, the sixth Earl of Balcarres BALCARRES 27 THE KITCHEN GARDEN A I' BALCARRE 23 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. becoming the twenty -third Earl of Crawford. The new owner of the estate, the Hon. Robert Lindsay, lived until 1836, being succeeded by his son, General James Lindsay, ATP. for Fifeshire, who made large additions to Balcarres House, incorporating the old part with the new erection, and bringing the mansion to the state almost in which we depict it. His son, Sir Coutts Lindsay, Bart., also made considerable additions and impr vements, and then, as is very interesting to recall, sold it again in 1886 to the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, so that the lands from which the title was derived came back once more to the possession of the direct representative of tire first Earl of Balcarres, and of Lord Menmuir, the builder of the house. d he magnificent terraced gardens had been formed before this t me. They were laid out by Sir Coutts Lindsay, and are considered second only in Scotland to those of Drummond Ca>tle. Their character is truly magnificent, and they make, with double and single descents, a noble app roach to the quaint and beautiful box garden and the splendid circle and enclosing rectangle which are illustrated. The pictures show better than is not less attractive than the other parts of the grounds, being indeed a world of floral attraction as well as of useful products. Balcarres House, having been inhabited by so many interesting people, must needs be an interesting place. It has, in fact, associations of many kinds, but we shall be content to mention that here was written that pathetic ballad “Auld Robin Gray.” Its writer was Lady Anne Barnard, daughter of the Earl of Balcarres, whose verses, as is acknowledged by learned and unlearned al ke, are strong and true, and are a real pastoral, worth far more than all the dialogues of Corydon and Phyllis from the days of Theocritus downward : “ My father urged me sair, My iniilier didna speak, But she looked in my face Till my heart was like to break.” Here is reached a height of human emotion and self-sacrifice which goes straight to the heart, speaking through the ballad form of the verse. The fact that ‘‘Auld Robin Gray” was written at Balcarres is always in the minds of those who visit words can describe how truly noble the gardens at Balcarres are. I hev rank among the greatest of Scottish gard.ns, and ■ ;; on the southern slope is propitious Hi box garden, an admirable example of pattern-work, the finely cut and dense yew hedges, the al yew trees, and the magnificent woods, are the great f-utures of ihe place. The advantage of such a manner of : in of the year, even in the months :'ve ( in re t upon green foliage; but the situation gives many advantages to the gardener, e full rs. Tub gardening is resorted to t attained not to be surpassed, frosts of winter come the tender trees can 1. A wraith of flowers, and the charm of the , irden, are the chief attractions of the ndi igs of Balcarres. Natural beauty must be ;ested, in the old woodl inds, and up at C lig, lence the view is truly superb. But the situation has favoured many kinds of gardening, and the kitchen garden the stately abode, and it lends a further attraction to the beauteous scenes which are spread around. Here also is one of those characteristic sundials which are so quaint and curious, forming such pleasing features in many Scottish gardens. Scotland is richer than England in its dials, and the best of them have been an inspiration to many. Scottish families in England have reproduced the dials of the ii northern homes, and could anything be better than the grand examples at Drummond, Balcarres, and Glamis Castles ? A dial of Scottish type, lately set up by the Hon. Francis Bowes Lyon at Ridley Hall, Northumberland, has an inscription that deserves, in conclusion, to be recorded here : “Amy (1st ye floures 1 tell ye lioures. “ Time wanes away As floures decay. “ Beyond ye tombe Fresh flourets bloomc. “ So man shall ryse Above ye skyes.” r 29 ] THE picturesque castle of Gwydyr, which was an strange significance, and gave birth to the imagin :ti vs concep- ancient seat of the Wynnes, stands in a truly tions which are embodied in the Mabinogion, and which lend romantic part of North Wales, in the valley of the their fascination to the legends of Arthur. It was a fantastic Conway, and adjacent to the pleasantly-situated world, which revelled in marvels and enchantments, appropriate, town of Llanrwst. The visitor who proceeds from we may say, to a region of great mountains and dark forests — Llandudno to that famous centre of tourists in Wales, for in such places many a race has found its poetry — and out Bettws-y-Coed, passes close by, and can never fail to admire, of this world were drawn the patriotic instincts which inspired the magnificent woods which are found in that part of the the Welsh in their long struggle with the invader, valley. The river Conway is navigable as far as Trefriw, that The castle of Gwydyr stands amid umbrageous surround- prettily-seated place, which is famous among artists, and whose ings at the foot of a lofty crag — Carreg-y-Gwalch, or the Rock neighbourhood has often been depicted in the spring exhibitions. of the Falcon — and was erected by Sir John Wynne in the The whole region is full of history, for here was a house of the middle of the sixteenth century upon the site of a far more great Llewelyn, and here, long before his time, Taliesin, the ancient stronghold. The occupancy of the Wynnes has father of Welsh poetry, is believed to have dwelt, having been left its traces in many places hereabout. The Gwydyr found by the lake of Geirionyd 1 like Moses among the Chapel in the south transept of 1 lanrwst Church was erected bulrushes, and here again the famous Llywarch Hen did battle in 1633 by Sir Richard Wynne, it is said from designs by with his foes. In the fastnesses of the district of Snowdon Inigo Jones, and possesses several memorial brasses of the lingered the poetic fire which nerved the chieftains for their Gwydyr family, while on the floor is the stone coffin of great struggle with the Saxon, and in this romantic region of Llewelyn ap Jorwerth, the famous chieftain who steadily wood and wild Celtic fancy fashioned mysterious shapes of aimed throughout his long reign at securing the means of THE NORTH-EAST FRONT. 30 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE EAST GARDEN. inking off the Saxon yoke. The chapel also contains, hung p n the wall, the curious spurs which are said to have T;v_ed to the notorious David ap Jenkin, the Robin Hood f t!.e district, the site of whose cave of refuge, known as Dot Shenkin, is pointed out on the top of the falcon Rock, 'o Inigo Jones, who is believed to have been a native of his part of the country, is attributed the design of the rather steep and inconvenient bridge which crosses the Conway at Llanrwst. For the name of Gwydyr we are invited to go back to the days of Llywarch Hen, whose great battle, fought here about the year 610, is said to have conferred upon the place the name of “ Gwaed-dir,” or “ The Bloody Land.” The seventeenth century work of Sir John Wynne’s house is very quaint and I HE TERRACE STEPS. GIVYDYR CASTLE, 31 'V z o z z 'V' ■y' < m NHQilVC 'VW" 32 CARD HNS OLD AND NEW- THE GRASS STEPS. THE GARDEN FROM A WINDOW IN THE CASTLE GW YD YK CASTLE 33 THE DUTCH GARDEN AT GWYDYR CASTLE. 34 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. picturesque, and the high gables, embattled chimneys, and mullioned windows have often attracted the pencil of the artist. The new part is the kitchen erected by Lord Willoughby de Lresby, about 1816. Within, the house abounds in curiosities, such as carved woodwork of the days of Elizabeth and James. Spanish leather hangings, a screen said to have been worked by Mary Queen cf Scots, and the coronation chair of George 11. It would be no easy task to find more beautiful carving and panelling than is to be found at Gwydyr. This is not the only house which Sir John Wynne built, for the site of another is pointed out on the rock above, of which all has been demolished save the chapel. The Wynnes of Gwydyr, who were of the an excellent feature, and are neighboured by rich herbaceous borders. The floral glories of Gwydyr are conspicuous in our pictures. Fragrance and beauty of colour combine to lend a charm, which is the better appreciated because of the contrasts in which the gardens abound. But, after all, from whatever point of view we regard Gwydyr Castle, we recognise that from its picturesque architecture and the neighbourhood of its glorious woodlands it derives the greater part of its beauties. Here things seem to flourish abundantly, and from early spring to late autumn the garden is full of floral beauty. The quaintness of the double row of clipped yews in the old “Dutch” garden under the hill is undeniable, although its formality may not attract every beholder. From the terrace THE GARDEN DOORWAY. Wynnstay family, held this place until the latter part of the seventeenth century, when Mary, the heiress of Sir Richard Wynne, married the Marquess of Lindsey, and Gwydyr came to the family of Ancaster and to the Carringtons. There is an old bowling green belonging to the place, on an eminence opposite the entrance and within a few hundred yards of the Episcopal Chapel formerly attached to the summer residence of the Gwydyr family, but this relic of davs that are gone does not now receive the attention it. once did. Its situation — in the middle of a coppice— is beautiful indeed, and one can well imagine it in those Stuart tunes in which our fathers loved the peaceful game, and people the place with men who were as dexterous of eye and hai d as they were famous in public life. It is to be hoped that, as we are learning to play once more, this fine stretch of turf will again witness the skilful contests it knew so well of yore. The magnificent woods are the real delight of the place, and give it a distinction which is rare, but the garden is particularly charming, with its bright parterres, clipped yews, ;s, and cypresses, and the dark forest forms a fine tt ng for the radiant glories of the flower-beds. There is much formality, as in the circular garden of the forecourt $ed about the sundial, but the formality takes a sweeter character in the terrace, with its quaint steps and carved stone vases. The grass steps at the end of the well-kept hedge are there are lovely views of the vale of the Conway, and the visitor who has completed his survey of the immediate surroundings may discover endless pleasures in the paths through the woods. He may ascend through the upper walks to the summit, and from Gwydyr-Ucha or Upper Gwydyr may enjoy a marvellous prospect of a glorious region. Here, over the entrance of the resting-place, is an inscription in Welsh, which rightly describes it as “ A conspicuous edifice on the hill, towering over the adjacent land; a well-chosen siluation; a second paradise; a fa r bank; a place of royalty.” One of the great charms of the wood is the waterfall of Rhayadr-y-Parc-Mawr, which, in a romantic place near the house, descends in a silvery cascade for a distance of about one hundred feet. It is particularly pleasant, in a romantic region where Nature takes its wildest forms, and where mountain and flood are majestic in their untamed grandeur, to find a domain like Gwydyr Gastle maintained by careful hands in the state of cultivated perfection which our pictures disclose. The wood and the rocky hill are seen to be the foil and contrast to the sweeter charms of the garden, and the attraction of both is enhanced by their variety of character. This, perhaps, is the chief lesson to be learned from Gwydyr Castle— that where contrast can be attained, the artistic character of a garden and its surroundings will be greatly increased, and it is a lesson which the visitor to Lord Carrington’s attractive place will not fail to mjke his own. C 35 ] C’ JG some two miles north of tire ancient town of laome, in Somersetshire, in the midst of a fair and fruitful region of England, lies the parish of Orchardleigh, much out of the beaten track, and content to jog along with a quiet life of its own. A hundred years ago it had but five houses and twenty-eight inhabitants, and now the people who dwell there do not number more than about fifty. The park covers nearly the whole area of the parish, and is a pleasant, picturesque, and wdl-wooded expanse, with a spacious lake and ponds. Here, in ancient times, spread the forest of Selwood, and the sylvan character still invests the land. The river Frome runs on the south side, and with the woods, water, meadows, and orchards completes the rustic charm. In Domesday the place is spoken of as Horcerlei, obviously the attempt of some Norman surveyor to render its name correctly. It fell into the capacious hands of the famous Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances, but returned to the Crown, and was held of the King in capite by the family of De Cultura, or Colthurst, and in the reign of Edward I. was conveyed to that of De Merlaund. The Romseys afterwards held the place, the heiress of the last of whom was Joan, wife of Henry Champneys, whose descendant, Thomas Champneys, was made a Baronet in the seventh year of George III. The Champneys remained in possession of Orchardleigh for about 300 years. Memorials of several of them are in the church, and a stone marks the site of the old mansion in which they dwelt. The present mansion, a stately edifice in the Elizabethan style, was erected, in a more elevated situation, by the late William Duckworth, Esq. This gentleman, who was the so.i of George Duckworth, Esq., of Musbury and Over Darwen, Lancashire, bought the estate in 1855, and showed excellent taste in the character of his house and grounds. Not many places in England have such a territorial situation. Few are the parks that are practically parishes, and not many the parishes whose inhabitants make so small a show at the polls. There are some advantages and pleasures in such a state of things. The possessor of Orchardleigh is in a position of paramount authority and respect in his parish, being the sole landowner, and thus truly the squire of the place, which boasts but of a single farmer — at the Long House Farm — named in the county directory. The late Mr. Duckworth recognised the charms and attractions of the country. There was a diversity of ground that promised many opportunities. His new mansion should be erected on the hill in a better situation than the old. From this elevated point there were fine views of distant country, including Cley Hill and the Wiltshire Downs, as well as a rich prospect of the sylvan region around. The site chosen was in the midst of the park of 800 acres, wherein stand many fine elms and other patrician forest trees. Rich masses of foliage should play a large part in the landscape, and there were ancient giants of the wood which should give both shade and dignity. Then the position chosen had the advantage that on every side there were slopes, and that thus beautiful terraces might be formed. The declivities were LOOKING ACROSS THE TERRACE. 36 CARDENS OLD AND NEW. ORCHARD) LEIGH. THE EAST TERRACE AND WOODS 38 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. gentle, and the character should be of broad terracing, with lawns and woodland reaches. But the house, of course, would be the central feature, and here Mr. Duck¬ worth displayed excellent judgment and discrimination. His mansion arose in the gabled style which is described as Elizabethan, but no observer of architectural ten¬ dencies could assign it to any century earlier than the nineteenth. To say this is not to disparage the structure, of which the merits are indeed conspicuous. The lofty gables, bold chimneys, pinnacles, and bay windows, with considerable quaintness in design, make an excellent grouping. Beautiful work in the matter of mouldings, crestings, finials, and other details adds to the charm. From the point of view from which the edifice is regarded in these pages, we are to observe how admirably it falls into its surroundings, how grand wistaria The advantage of situation is thus demonstrated, and like prospects greet the eye in other directions. In some places the trees approach nearer, and delight by the nobility of their form and the variety of their foliage. Every¬ where the stone¬ work is excellent, and the perforated barrier walls are admirable. There are magnificent vistas, and in ex¬ ploring the beauties of the garden it is delightful to find some pergola, as if from sunny Italy, giving shelter by the way, and affording support to many growing things. A wealth of floral enrichment provides both colour and fragrance, and from the early days of spring until the last winds of autumn have blown the gardens are full of attraction. And when the deciduous trees have shed their leaves, an abundance of evergreens is there to make the winter verdant. The beauties of the park have been suggested. Hero THE WEST TERRACE. A VISTA. ' lothes the frontage with floral beauty, how ivy and other clinging growths vest parts of the structure without concealing a irehit ctural feature, and how graciously the gardens and woods enter into the picture. The house is so advantageously lated that it commands a full view of all the country around. How beautiful is the treatment will be seen in one of our pi tores, v. here the outlook from the terrace, or balcony, in tint ' f the ho ise, is seen, with its well-gravelled paths, and s of turf terminated by dividing walls, with aloes and floral triumphs in choice vases, beyond which the eye rests with satisfaction upon a range of the park and a beautiful belt of trees. are no empty levels of turf or wide and tasteless expanses ; witness the extraordinary richness of the foliage, and the remarkable splendour of individual trees and of the larger masses of woodland. 1 he park, thus diversified in its 800 acres, has an extent from lodge to lodge of some two and a-half miles. The great lake, with an expanse of about twenty-four acres, is one of the glories of the place, and the landscape, with wood, water, and meadow, is most beautiful. Another notable feature of the park is the ancient church of Orchardleigh, which stands embowered amid foliage. Through the instrumentality and generosity of Mr. Duckworth it was restored under the care of Sir Gilbert Scott, R.A., in 1879. ( 39 j MUNSTEAD . . WOOD, GODALMING A MONG the garden pictures in /\ this book none should be L _ A more welcome than those of A *. Munstead Wood, together with some account of it and its environment, not only at the time of those high midsummer p^mps which Matthew Arnold loved, but also in those months of the dying year of which town dwellers can hardly appreciate the quiet beauty. It is a garden of natural character, with some stonework features in it consonant with its architecture, but depending for its charm upon an abundant use of the glories of the flower world. And, to begin with, we would suggest that this modestly beautirul house, its wood, and its garden, may well become classical, in the same kind of way as that unobtrusive house in Selborne Village, known for the Plestor and the Hanger. The books which Miss Jekyll has written in and about the house and garden and wood she loves so well, have certainly something of the same spirit that gives such unfailing charm to Gilbert White’s inimitable letters. They are books marked by intimate know’ edge of Nature, and by close appreciation of the beauty of Nature, anJ of the goodness of the ways of the old world. No observant man or woman can doubt that the last years of the last century witnessed a wonderful revival, if not a new birth, of love for the garden world, or that the gospel of the garden, “the purest of human pleasures,” has now a fast hold upon the hearts of us all, to our manifest adva tage, and that the teachers of that cult of horticuhu e are, on the whole, a goodly fellowship. Some there be, of course, who put on the airs of teacher without warrant, and do but rhapsodise ; but simultaneously with tl em are to be found living writers who practise what thev preach, who, by so doing earnestly and consistently, have done a real service in their generation. Mr. William Robinson, who began, many years ago, a mission in the cause of Nature which seemed almost hopeless, has lived to see his views meet with almost universal acceptance, insomuch that a certain amount of reaction was brought about. THE GARDEN DOOR. 40 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE TANK. Indeed, as “ a Man shall ever see that, when ages grow to Civility and Elegancie, Men come to Build Stately sooner than to Garden Finely , as if Gardening were the greater Perfection,” so it may well be that, Mr. William Robinson having accomplished his mission, one of the cleverest and keenest of his disciples may have advanced beyond the teacher in the direction of perfection. Miss Jekyll, indeed, has not attempted to “ build stately,” for stateliness would have been out of place with the site at her disposal, but she has certainly given the world an object- s >n in the manner of gardening finely. Climbing the hill towards Hascombe, on the way from Godaiming, the wayfarer turns aside to the left, by a sandy track of the most unpreten¬ tious kind, with scrub trees and open land on his left, and a plain oak paling on his right. And then, after a while, he enters a little gate, not wide enough to admit a vehicle, and pursues a simple path, with grass and heather and bushes on either side, leading directly towards a greyish yellow stone wall, which looks as if it had stood for scores of years, although, as a matter of fact, it has stood tut a very few years ; and then, turning to his right, he is in the porch, if porch it te. No cottage could have an approach more humble THE GARDEN COURT MUNSTEAD WOOD 41 MUNSTEAD WOOD A VISTA 42 GARDENS OLD AND NEW . THE LAVENDER WALK. or less ostentatious. Grand hydrangeas in simple tubs flank the entrance to the porch, and the door is of plain and solid oak. Indeed, substance, solidity, plainness, and the absence or pretence are the distinguishing marks of the whole house. It is a house and garden conceived and executed on the plan or simplicity. Inside, again, there is little which flashes upon the visitor or astonishes him; all is beautifully plain and massive. At first he simply feels that everything is exactly as it should be. It is only little by little that he realises the details that produce the feeling -the width of the hall, with its huge b-ams still bearing the adze marks, the fine propor¬ tions of the fireplace, with its glowing fire of oaken . billets, the noble array of ancient pewter in the dining-room, the massive simplicity of the staircase, the light and space of the STEPS 1U THE TANK. MUNS7F./ID WOOD. 41 gallery, the interest of the thousand and one things thereabout. It is pleasant to observe the adze marks on the posts and b ams, and the manner in which the craftsman, where curving timbers were required, has been careful to select those in which the natural crook of the timber would serve his need. And then, in the gallery first, and in the rooms later, 'he visitor begins to realise that every window has its oaken mullions set flush with the outer wall, and tha each is placed, not, as it were, accidentally, but with thought for the garden that is out-ide. It may chance, for example, that the outlook is down a path, running like a river between two long banks of Michaelmas daisies of every hue— lavender, purple, and white— beautifully grouped, and at the end the pergola, with tea roses and many kinds of clematis ram¬ pant upon it. That pergola, indeed, is pre¬ cisely what a pergola should be, with its massive pillars of masonry, its long trunks of trees, with the bai k o , to sup¬ port the mass of creepers, its cool shade at the end. from the win¬ dow of the hall, the view is absolutely restful. The eye falls upon a little lawn, fringed with birches, the most graceful of English trees, with rhododen¬ drons, glorious in due season, at their foot ; and through them, and between scrub of Spanish chestnut later, runs a broad green path, at the end of which one sees the warm stems of a Scotch fir, which survived in the days of the great cutting — but thereby hangs a tale, the explanation, indeed, of much of the spec al beauty of Munstead, which must be postponed for a brief moment. Even at this point it must be plain that these harmonies between house and environment — this fashion in which the house takes advantage of every view of the wood and garden, and the wood and garden miss no view of the hou e — must be the result of careful thought on the part of some person or persons, it is well, therefore, to say at once that the persons in question are Mr. Lutyens and Miss Jekyll, and that the whole was the result of innumerable discussions and debates between them. “ When it came to the actual planning of the house I was to live in — 1 had made one false start a year or two before — I agreed with the architect how and where the house should stand, and more or less how the rooms should lie together. And I said that I wanted a small house with plenty of room in it, and that 1 disliked small, narrow passages, and would have nothing screwy or ill-lighted. So he drew a plan, and we soon came to an understanding, first about the main block, and then upon the details. Every portion of it was carefully talked over, and 1 feel bound t> confess that, in most cases out of the few in which 1 put pressure on him to waive his judgment in favour of my wishes, I should have done better to leave matters alone.” The combination, in fact, was in many respects ideal, and that all the more so because Miss Jekyll, living in the cottage in the wood hard by, and tending and arranging her garden and woodland, was always on the spot to advise and to suggest. The garden was before the house — in parr, at any rate — and that was an un mixed advan¬ tage. The site, too, was of great natural beauty. It was on a sandy hillside, with an admix¬ ture of peat in the surface soil, which had once a wood ; of the trees survived, save the Scotch fir which has been mentioned, and which has been spared because its leading shoot had met some accident qft. or 5ft. above the ground, and the gnarled and divided trunk remaining was as valueless for timber as it was beautiful to the eye. But there was scrub timber of some fifteen years' g r 0 w t h , and there were heath and bracken, and so there were endless opportunities. Even better than the pergola, .ban the rude wall w h i c h Miss Jekyll built for her beloved plants with her own hands, more than the rock garden or the tank, more even than the rampant roses, and the herbaceous border with its splendid background of warm red brick and creepers, may many like the wood, because it has been so admirably managed, and because the marks of interference with Nature have been so artistically concealed. Nature has been compelled, so to speak, to group the trees. There has been but little planting, but where the birches predominated their rivals have been removed ; and so it has been with the other trees. The paths, or many of them, are broad and straight, and the sandy soil makes them springy and dry to the foot. Here in summer you come across groups of those giant lilies, 10ft. high 44 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. and more, the embodiment of stately purity and the pride of Munstead. Near the old cottage are rampant and luxurious roses of the simpler kind. Here, alongside the birches, is a group of brilliant cistuses, and well placed elsewhere are Ghent azaleas. The purple of the autumnal leaves of the blackberry, the gorgeous hues of the autumnal fungi, are not forgotten. In fact, that wood is a perfect example of how much may be done to improve a thoroughly wild spot without depriving it of its essential wildness. In dealing with the garden proper, it is only possible to make clear the principles on which Miss Jekyll acts, and they are more conspicuously visible in the aster walk and in the herbaceous border than elsewhere. As you look up the aster walk towards the house (which has a little flagged courtyard on that side, with the ripple marks of thousands of years ago showing in the flags, and here and there a tiny plant growing in a crevice), behind the asters are tea roses, and the asters themselves are not less remarkable for their abundance and striking— but all of them with due thought of the effect not only at one season, but in successive seasons. Of groups and masses, planned out wkh thoughtful regard to colour effects, she is an ardent, but not a s'avish, supporter, with a wise foresight which saves her from monotony of outline or of level. Low-growing foliage plants, especially those of a neutral grey, are encouraged near the edges in many groups, but they are not trimly kept. Indeed, in late autumn at any rate, Miss Jekyll’s herbaceous border is not trimly kept, or intended so to be. One sees many a dead head, more than one mass of withered foliage, through which an errant nasturtium may send a flash of colour ; but the whole effect, the grey, and the scarlet, and the yellow of the late flowers, the coppery sheen of the lingering foliage, the soft warm red of the wall behind, and the purple of the belated vines, is excellent. The rule by which to produce such effects is simple in enunciation, difficult in the following. Group boldly with a thought of all the seasons and of all the colours ; ENTRANCE TO THE s of colour than for variety of level. They ling waves of purple, and lilac, and palest lavender, • ; and in front of them is a broad edging of white summer a blaze of fragrant white against a green j, in winter and late autumn a band of silver grey river of asters. I hen the herbaceous border, ride path, along which a cart could be driven, runs - ross from the pergola in the direction of the “ hut.” •ft Iran I, as you face the hut, is a lawn with b ds of and luxuriant shrubs, and on the right the border, ti . , t it a genuine bed of generous proportions, and I ttle path running concealed beneath the wal , imbers and the vines, with their leaves purple in : approached with ease. It is a glorious sight • ; h n urns, of many shades of blue and in bold i flower, when the giant poppies are in their i the I 1 yhocks tower aloft. Nor is it less charming over, and gypsophila is clothing the space uld have been bare, and dahlias and helianthus flash ur uj on the eye. But let no man suppose that these M J ky 11 cultivates all herbaceous plants that the support — one 1 .ttle colony of yuccas is remarkably KITCHEN GARDEN. form many successive pictures in your mind, pictures which shall be harmonious in themselves and compatible one with another, and make them. That is the beginning and end of the whole matter, but it is also where the imagination of the artist comes in. For the rest, the golden rules are two, which are easily obeyed — not, in such a garden, to be a slave to tidiness, and not to attempt to grow plants which do not like your soil. Miss Jekyll’s ground, for example, is by no means congenial to the growth of exhibition roses, and she does not attempt them ; but she lets the teas and the ramblers and the cluster roses ramp and climb trees and evergreens at their will, and the effect is at least as beautiful as that of any rosery. Especially is this the case near the hut, where monumental yew hedges, and hollies and roses, common but luxuriant, make a delightful pic ure. And everywhere a grateful odour, in wood and . in garden alike, proclaims that Miss Jekyll does not forget the pleasures of scent in seeking and ensuring those of sight ; and in her two delightful books, “ Wood and Garden ” and “ Home and Garden,” will be found a score of distinct and well-chosen epithets showing how much store she places on fragrance, and how acutely she distinguishes it in its different kinds. I 45 ] THE name and fame of Haddon Hall have lifted that historic house to such a height of dignity and con¬ sequence among the glorious mansions of ancient England, that it stands as the chief exemplar and the speaking voice, as it were, of the dwelling-places of our long dead sires. What memories of old-time glories, ambitions, and occupations, of passions long stilled, and yet of emotions that are ours, are evoked as we walk in the golden shade of the sycamores and limes, or linger on the terrace under the low-hanging boughs of the yews, with that wondrous range of buildings before us and those glorious windows, out of which looked lovingly into their garden the men and women of long ago! There is no rival to historic Haddon. Some places may be more magnificent, but the transcendental delight of the home of the Vernons lies in its happy union of history and poetry with rare beauty of architecture and the external charms of an old garden, and a beautiful neighbouring land. Where else can we receive such impressions of ancient greatness touched with the witchery of bygone romance ? It matters not whether you approach Haddon Hall from the direction of the famous anglers’ resort of the Peacock at Rowsley, or from the ancient town of Bakewell on the other hand, the prospect is equally charming. That wonderful dale of the Wye, which is so full of varied attractions, is here vested in a sylvan garment, and as we approach, upon the sloping platform of limestone, we see, rising amid the trees, that marvellous pile of grey battlements and towers. In the bottom of the valley are cornfields and meadows, with many trees by the famous trout and grayling stream, which winds its sinuous way amid tall grasses, and reflects in its placid reaches the umbrageous thickets that clothe the steeps. Haddon Hall, like its garden, owes much of its charm and picturesqueness to the slope upon which it stands. Before you enter you have been charmed by the rustic beauty of the cottage, and by the quaintness of the peacock and other forms curiously clipped in yew. It may be well, before we speak of the historic and legendary interests of Haddon Hall, briefly to DOROTHY VERNON’S STAIRCASE. 4b GARDENS OLD AND NEW . describe the arrangement of the house itself, premising that here we learn as much of the manner of life of the mediaeval and Tudor gentlemen as can be learned in any other place in England. The visitor passes into the lower courtyard by the gate tower at its north-western angle, and is delighted with the beautiful structures which form the enclosure. The area is divided into two levels by three steps, which extend across it from north to south, and thus gains much picturesqueness. On the lower cr western side is the “ Chaplain’s Room,” and, opposite to the entrance, the Domestic Chapel, of which the south aisle probably belongs to a time before the Vernons came to Had Jon. It is worthy of note that this chapel does not stand at right angles to the line of buildings on the western side, and that its chancel window thus stands external to the line of building on the garden front outside, whence it forms a noteworthv feature. The upper part of this lower courtyard is formed chiefly of the sp'endid windows of the Great Hail, and very picturesque is the projecting porch, through which we gain access to the lobby separating the hall on the right from the kitchen and offices on the left. The Minstrels’ Gallery is over the entrance passage, while the dais is at the other end, and still has the great oak table at which the lord and his family dined in ancient days. Behind the hall are themselves most impressive and picturesque features, with extreme quaintness, beauty, and attractiveness of architecture. 1 he gallery is entered by remarkable segmental steps of solid oak, and is richly panelled and adorned. At the further end is a doorway leading into the buildings which form the uppermost or eastern side of the mansion, where is the Ante-room, with “ Dorothy Vernon’s Steps,” which lead down to the lovely terrace. The finest view of the buildings is gained from the lofty Eagle, or Peveril, Tower, which is on the higher level of the eastern side, and commands not only the two courtyards, but the upper and lower gardens on the south side, and a great prospect of the lovely valley of the Wye. Before we pass out into the gardens, we shall glance at something of the personal interests and legendary history of the ancient place. The first recorded possessor was one William Peveril, a reputed kinsman of the Gonqueror’s, the last of whose family possessing Haddon fled abroad on suspicion of having poisoned Ranulph, Earl of Chester. It is conjectured that some of the foundations of the mansion may go back even to the Peverils’ time. It was towards the end of the twelfth century that the place passed to the Vernons by the marriage of Richard de Vernon with Avicia, a daughter of William I HE DESCENT FROM THE GREAT TERRACE. the | ite dining-room, and the beautiful drawing- rn i at ove, and from the windows are delightful views lown the course of the Wye. The kitchen, on the other side of the lobby, is approached by a sloping passage, and has a ■ • fireplao- and ancient culinary appliances, while the b ittery, wine-cellar, and sundry offices are near. This of buildings, including the hall and kitchen, • the lower or western side of the second courtyard, ■ i i , ke the other, is surrounded by buildings of exceeding i ntness The magnificent Long Gallery or ballroom, a of the place, extending along the southern side ' projecting on the east upon the terrace, has glorious bays ch command superb views of the garden, from which they de Avenell, who had possessed the place under the King, and ultimately the whole estate passed into their hands. Those who investigate the history of the structure of Haddon Hall will learn that it has been a creation to which nearly every subsequent possessor up to the seventeenth century added something. It was the first Vernon of Haddon who surrounded his mansion with a curtain wall for protection against the unruly. The later Vernons held the place through a female descent, for Richard de Vernon’s only daughter married a certain Gilbert le Franceys, whose descendants came to be known by the greater name of Vernon. In the fourteenth century the place was broadly complete in its general character, the Chapel and Great Hall with the various 48 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. ranges of buildings round the courts being then in existence, though the Long Gallery belongs to a later age. It was Richard de Vernon, a man of might in his time, who died in 1377. who added the porch to the Great Hall. Two Sir Richards followed in succession, the last of whom was Speaker in the Parliament 0 Leicester in 1426, as well as 1 reasurer of Calais and Captain of Rouen, the builder of the chancel of the chapel. His successor, Sir William Vernon, married an heiress, and gained great possessions in Shropshire, where he is buried ; but, nevertheless, like his fathers, he went on building at Haddon, particularly in improving the chapel. His son, Henrv Vernon, followed him, and was a soldier in whom the King-maker had trust. “ Henry, 1 pray you fail not now, Knight of the Bath and Comptroller of Prince Arthur’s Household. The knight carried on the work at Haddon, and completed the buildings overlooking the Wye, besides embellishing the drawing-room. We must now pass on to the famous Sir George Vernon, the bluff “ King of the Peak,” who was his grandson or great- grandson. Sir George was a man of much wealth, and his vast hospitality became proverbial, and made him one of the most popular men of his time. He raised the north-western tower, completed the dining-room, and did a great deal of other work at Haddon, and doubtless formed the garden on the south side. Dorothy Vernon, whose romance has contributed no little jMpjjiy v: - ffljffi THE ANCIENT AVENUE. as ev«-r I may do for you,” wrote Warwick to him in March, 1471, md he added: ‘‘ Yonder man Edward,” lately landed in the North, was ta t making his way South “ with Flemings, ■ : lings, and Danes” ; and Henry Vernon of Haddon was to march to Coventry “ in all haste possible, as my very sing far trust is in you, and as I may do tilings to your weal or worship hereafter.” But Henry Vernon, with the discretion which is the better part of valour, appears to have stayed at home instead of putting all to the test at Barnet, and seems to have pursued the policy of masterly inactivity which was so safe in the Wars of the Roses. His diplomacy was -sful, and he was in the confidence of both parties, ooner had Margaret been defeated at Tewkesbury than the Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV., wrote t> inform him that “ Edward, late called Prince,” had been “ slain in plain battle.” Richard III. also put trust in Henry Vernon, and summoned him with troops he had promised before the battle of Bosworth ; but Vernon must have acted with singular discretion, for lie was presently in high favour with Henry VIE, who made him a to the fame of Haddon Hall, was his daughter, and ultimately sole heiress. We are left to imagination in regard to many of the circumstances of her love match with John Manners, the second son of Sir Thomas Manners, first Earl of Rutland. We do not know whether Sir George Vernon objected to Manners on personal grounds, or on grounds of religion — for Manners was a bitter enemy of the old faith, and was instru¬ mental at Padley, in Derbyshire, in securing the arrest of missionary priests, who were afterwards hanged, drawn, and quartered— or whether, again, he had formed other views as to his daughter’s future. Whatever may have been the case, it is asserted by tradition that the attachment between John Manners and Dorothy Vernon was a secret one, or at least that their meeting was under her father’s ban. The story goes that the ardent lover haunted the neighbouring woods disguised as a forester or hunter, in the hope of gaining a sight of his lady, or a stolen interview, or a note dropped from a window. According to tradition, the famous elopement took place on an occasion of some festivity at the Hall, held, as some aver, in honour of the marriage of Dorothy’s elder HATfDON HALL 49 I HE GARDEN. 50 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. sister. John Manners had horses near, and Dorothy stole down the steps from tire Ante-room and along the terrace to where he was waiting. The sound of their horses’ hoofs was drowned in the noise of the revelry, and after galloping all night they reached Aylston, in Leicestershire, where ttey ware married on the morrow. Of these things does the visitor think when he lingers on Dorothy Vernon’s Terrace, and the memory of her romance will long cling to the ancient walls of Haddon. John Manners was a man of wealth and considerat on, rich in his many friends in the Midlands, and possessing a HALDON CO I 1'AGC. who appears to have been his alter ego. Their rrespondence throws a good deal of light upon the society ; time, and they appear to have been in the confidence f the Earl of Sh ewsbury in relation to his quarrel with his e celel ated “ B« - of Hardwick,” who was such a : Derbyshire houses. The Earl wrote to John s in 1586 that he would have been down before but for —her tittling in Her Majesty’s ear.” The int< ss seem : to have gained the Queen’s favour, for, at R r Manners had written to his brother John t HadJon : “Her Majesty hath been sundry times in hand with him for his wife, but he will nowise agree to accept her.” John Manners survived his wife many long years, and lived quietly on his estate at Haddon, but took an important part in s me political concerns. He it was who built the splendid Long Gallery at Haddon, and since his death in 1611 no important changes have been made in the place. The whole of the flooring, as well as the solid steps by which it is entered, are said to have been cut from a single oak which grew in the park. The wainscot is singularly rich, the panels, which are arched, being separated by fluted pilasters, and above are the boar’s head of Vernon and the peacock of Manners, with roses and thistles alter¬ nated. In the windows the shields of Rutland and Shrewsbury are emblazoned, with the Royal arms of Englan 1, and the whole of the details are very rich and beautiful. John Manners, the husband of Dorothy Vernon, was followed at Haddon by his son, Sir George Manners, whose son John succeeded as eighth Earl of Rutland, an i lived alternately at Belvoir and Haddon, and espoused the cause of Parliament. He shared in the Restoration, and, though living much at Belvoir, appears to have exercised prodigious hospitality at Haddon, where there was a huge consumj - tion of beeves and sheep at the Christmas of 1663. The ninth Earl was created Marquis of Granby and Duke of Rutland Although John, the third Duke, occasionally lived at Haddon, it was during his time that -his family finally ceased to reside in this ancient place, which was dismantled as a residence about the year 1740. It was after the place came into the possession of the family of Manners that the terraces as they exist now were formed, and they are certainly among the most beautiful examples of garden architecture and construction in this country. A singular charm pervades the upper terrace, and, though we may reflect that the actual features we see cannot be associated with Dorothy Vernon, we are well content with the gloriouscharacterthey possess. This secluded garden on the south side of HadJon Hall, with its descents and slopes, is not of great extent, but is of peculiarly rich and tasteful character, and is full of suggestion for those who have like opportunities. Like Haddon Hall itself, it is preserved by the I resent Duke of Rutland in a state of perfection, and with a religious care, which the admirable place well deserves. The beautiful surroundings of Haddon Hall, the rich woods and the avenue, add a gi eat deal to the charm, and it is a thing for which we cannot be too thankful that such an exemplar of the domestic life of older Englishmen should still exist in the lovely dale of the Derbyshire Wye. [ 51 ] THE splendid and characteristic gardens of Hoar Cross in Staffordshire demand particular attention, because they are a modern creation, and have been entirely designed by Mrs. Meynell Ingram. Let us recognise in them a great and successful achievement. It was no small thing to bring them to this perfection, and they are a notable example of the best character of tire old English style. Hoar Cross is one of the two magnificent seats which are possessed by Mrs. Meynell Ingram, the other being Temple Newsam in Yorkshire. These great domains were united through the marriage of Mr. Hugo Meynell of Hoar Cross, grandfather of the late Mr. Meynell Ingram, with the Hon. Elizabeth Ingram, daughter and co- heiress of Viscount Irwin. What Hoar Cross lacks in historic memories or the greatness of ancient architecture, it may be said to have compensation for in the advantages of beautiful and commanding situation. For Temple Newsam, where unfortunate Darnley was born, in the days when the Earl of Lennox possessed it, lies within about five miles of the smoky town of Leeds, and something of the sombre pall extends even to that superb structure, which was raised by Sir Arthur Ingram in the times of Charles I., and still, in the open battlements thereof, according to the pious custom of the time, may be read the words, “ All Glory and Praise be given to God, the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost, on High ; Peace upon Earth ; Goodwill toward Men ; Honour and true Allegiance to our Gracious King; Loving Affections among his Subjects ; Health and Plenty within this House.” The Staffordshire manor house is a noble mansion also, cast in the same mould of style, but of modern date. It lies in a picturesque region of the county to the west of the road from King’s Bromley to Sudbury, and on the borders of Needwood Forest. The situation is extremely fine, being an eminence commanding entrancing views of the surrounding country, with the well-wooded and attractive grounds of the house in the foreground, and the lofty tower of the fine Church of the Holy Angels, which Mrs. Meynell Ingram erected in memory of her late husband, Mr. Hugo Francis Meynell Ingram, M.P., who died in 1871, a prominent object in the prospect. Anciently the family of Welles were in possession here, but only their memory remains, and the present noble structure has replaced the moated manor house wherein they dwelt. In the ancient Needwood custom of the hobby-horse this family were formerly THE CHURCH AVENUE. 5- GARDFNS OLD AND NEW. THE STRAIGHT YBW WALK HOA% CROSS. 53 THE HOUSE AND FLOWER GARDEN. 54 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE GARDEN PLAN. ■ red ; for the dancers carried on their shoulders reindeer’s leads and bore the arms of Welles, and of Paget and Bagot, gi it landowners hereabout. The whole district was more • covered with wood, but was chiefly enclosed at the ning of the last century. In Queen Elizabeth’s time the oot was twenty-four miles in circumference, and in 1658 mtained 47,150 trees, besides hollies and underwood The Meynells claim descent from the great Norman baron ! Grandmesnil, who, with his brother, founded the of St. Evroult. The sons of Hugo went to the Crusade, : believed to have displayed cowardice at Antioch. ) himself is sai 1 to have died at Leicester in 1093, and ■ ays that his body, preserved in salt, and well sewn in a . ox-hid1-, was conveyed to Normandy and buried by th a : ot and convent on the south side of the chapter house 1 S'. Evroult. CL ’ it d 1 Mcsnil established the stock from ■■ family at Hoar Cross are descended, and Williams, . Pol rts, Richards, and others succeeded one another ' i ; line of d' '-cent. Hugo of Langley Mesnil repre- 1 fi Parliaments under Edward III., and •n, another Huco, was raised to the dignity of the Batli at Crc y md Poitiers. Gerards, Ralphs, and i, and Godfrey Mesnil, or Meynell, had a son 1 fell in the cause of the Stuarts. Charles’s , E ,an o| if nt banker, was the father of Godfrey Meynell, ■ ther of Lyttelton Meynell, from whose Hugo came the Met nell of Hoar Cross. That m, I e several of his ancestors, was High Sheriff of is his son, I lugo, who married the of T mple N ;wsam I he hit ■ Mr. Hugo Francis I on was well known for his public spirit and great the lande 1 gentry of Englan I, and his v idow, iter of the first Lord H 51 1 1 f 1 Y I at Hoar ( built at a good period, vl h the spirit of Tudor and a obean domestic archi- was well un t I, and the lofty gables, cupolas, mneys, and mullioned windows are all excellent in style and execution. The gardens have an unusually varied and everywhere beautiful character. A pleasing fancy has directed the arrangement, and has invested the several parts of the grounds with singular attractions On one side of the house broad lawns extend for some distance, shadowed by fine trees. On another hand are steep descents leading to well-hedged, encl osed spaces, radiant with a varied wealth of flowers, and delightful throughout the year. Then, again, there is a formal, planned garden, based upon the principle of the square, with a fountain for the centre-piece, and well-kept beds and geometrical paths filling the space. There is enough here, indeed, to charm the most fastidious in every line of gardening. Perhaps nothing, however, is so attractive as tire grand hedges of yew, which are kept in superb order, and in denseness of growth could scarcely be excelled In some places they are cut a> with embattlements ; in others they are pierced as with loopholes ; but everywhere they are as fine as we could well wish them to be. The hedges give that character of enclosure which was so much valued in former times, though it may be remarked that in this varied pleasaunce the broad expanses are consonant with the modern spirit also. The pleached walk of lime is one of the finest examples in England of that class of work, and may be commended as well worthy of imitation. I he garden at Hoar Cross is, indeed, a pre-eminently satis¬ factory piece of work-. It is manifestly the outcome of real love for the garden, and of a right conception of one great : chool of garden design. Mrs. Meynell Ingram has multiplied her enclosures, as we see such features depicted in many old garden plans, and as we find them in some antique pleasaunces that remain. Her success should be an encouragement, for it shows that the character of an old garden can be won within the space of a few years. It is, indeed, no small thing that such a garden as Huar Cross should be a crea ion of modern times. The Staffordshire gardeners have ever been famous for their skill in handling trees and bushes to decorative advantage Old Dr. Plot, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum and professor of chemistry in the Uuiver ity of Oxford, who-e “Natural WALL OF STONE AND YEW 56 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. History of Staffordshire ’ : was published in 1686, has much to say upon this matter. We could wish he had given some direct account of the gardens existing in his time at Hoar Cross, but his allusions to some features which he noticed in the county are interesting. He remarks that the people there seemed to take great delight in topiary work, in which he doubtless included fine hedges, and he says there were examples at .Wear, Aspley Moreton, and Willbrighton ; also at Brewood Hall, the seat of Mr. Ferrers Fowk, where he saw a great whitethorn hedge between the gardens and the court, as well as animals, castles, et\, formed arte topiaria. The “wren’s nest,” in the “ hort-yard,” seemed to him a neat piece nf work, cut in that form out of a whitethorn, and capacious enough to receive a man to sit on a seat made within it for that purpose. A yew tree was in the garden there, and divers branches issuing out of it formed a spacious arbour of a square figure, of which each side measured about Evidently the old skill remains in the county. What could we wish better than the straight yew walk at Hoar Cross with the arch of greenery, or the more open walk to the great outlook, or, again, than the long western avenue, with the loop-holes, or than the noble and finely-cut approach to the church ? There are some architectural adornments in the gardens, like the terrace balustrades, with the monogram of the Meynell Ingrams, and the urns and vases, which here and there are features of distinction, lifting up glorious masses of flowers against some dark background of trees. The old Italian cistern, or well-head, is one of those interesting features which are found in English gardens, though perhaps nowhere so attractively as at Kingston Lacy, Dorsetshire, which was illustrated in the first series of “ Gardens Old and New.” Enough has been said to show that at Hoar Cross, more than at many places, a certain catholicity of taste has enabled the charms of various styles and different lands to n I THc PLEACHED WALK. ' • < lir, ,4 i of t . , and “ cut on the top the battlement of a tower, adorned pinnacle, over which is wrought a 1 nches about 2y ds. diameter, in first to a lesser gradation, and then in a small pinnacle.” Other fair i walks in Staffordshire does worthy - p< m illy in the garden of Mr. Scot Mas areene’s garden at Fisherwick, at Cannal, as well as young ones twy nd’s at Ingestre, but none of them of Sir Richard Astley at Patshull, from 11yds. to 14yds. broad, and i g , curiously planted on each side elms. The Staffordshire men were it vistas through the trees for the ect, and to lay out pleasant lawns. be brought together. What is particularly satisfactory is to find the garden so well and carefully tended. Nothing is wanting for its completeness and perfection, and the estate may serve as a model. The gate-house is a picturesque feature, and there are many other things upon which we might have dwelt. The Church of the Holy Angels, which has been alluded to, adds by its presence distinction and character to the grounds, and it is in itself a fine cruciform building of red stone, in the Decorative style of the fourteenth century, erected from the design of Mr. G. F. Bodley, A.R.A. The nave and aisles are of two bays, and there are north and south transepts and porches, while the great central tower is about 1 10ft. high, and has a peal of six bells. Mrs. Meynell Ingram has also founded an orphanage for boys called the Home of the Good Shepherd, which is maintained by her. HOA % CROSS, 57 THE LAWNS. GARDENS OLD AND NEW. O Q THE SUMMER-HOUSE AT PACKWOOD. IN our quest for beautiful gardens, and for the charming houses they adorn, we seek many diverse features, merits, and attractions, We do an ample meed of justice to every style and character of the sweet domestic art of gardenage. There shall be no spirit of exclusion in anything we illustrate or write. Recognising that everything is right when rightly used, we are able to exemplify a world of admirable things. From the quaint and modest garden of old England, enclosed within its walls and overlooked by its terraces, we may range to the great and stately pleasaunces of Le Notre, and pass out into the wider expanses of the pastoral landscapes of Kent and Brown. Not anywhere shall We find any hing more quaint and beautiful than the old gardens of Packwood House. It is a pleasaunce of terraces and clipped yews, of dials and splendid gates — a true old garden of England. “ Then did I see a pleasant paradize Full of sweet flowers and daintiest delights, Such as cn earth man could not devise ; With pleasures choice to feed his cheerful sprights.” It is a garden, indeed, such as Spenser knew, but devised well by man, and informed with individuality and character of its own. Mr. Robinson, that well-known and persuasive exponent of natural garden art, has no quarrel with gardens such as Packwood. Part of his work has been, he says, to preserve much record of their beauty, and the necessary terraces round houses like Haddon “ may be and are as beautiful as any garden ever made by man.” And when a garden expresses such ideas as are embodied in those quaint shapes at Packwood, with terraces formed of magnificent old brickwork, who, indeed, could withhold praise from such a conception consistently maintained ? But, before we describe the Packwood gardens, let us say a little of Packwood House, remembering always that the garden is but the framework of the dwelling-place, and the region in which the dweller therein bends Nature to his will. Mrs. Arton’s picturesque homestead lies about eight miles west of Kenilworth, and five miles north of Henley in Arden, near the road thence to Birmingham, in a country of venerable forest associated much with the memories of the immortal bard. It was anciently a house of the honourable family of Fetherstone, concerning whom old Dagiale, the veracious historian of Warwickshire, has little to say, though he records the nscriptions on their monuments in the ancient village church of St. Giles. One of these is sacred to the pious memory of John Fetherstone, who died in 1670, at the age of THE GATEWAY STEPS. 60 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 76, and whose probity, goodness, and ingenious character are extolled ; and another records the virtues of his son Thomas Fetherstone, who died at the age of 81, in 1714. This Thomas was a good son, a fond husband, an excellent father, and a man elegant in various studies and sacred exercises, whose '■iberality built the north aisle of the church to be the resting- place of himself and his posterity. It is of good brick, but is not well in keeping with the rest of the structure, which is THE MULTITUDE WALK. ' i in parr <5f*cxed ;n expiation by Nicholas Clinton, who, in a fit of violence, had ■ t there, because, as an old gossip hath it, “ ch king his wife under the chin.” H use is an ancient structure of the half- -o common in the forest districts of e 1 with rough-cast, and it has much k. It aitliiv are picturesque, and its features g to St art tunes, there being wainscoted rooms on the ground floor with carved chimney-pieces of good character. The wing on the north of the entrance, containing the domestic offices, is of the splendid brickwork so character¬ istic of the place, with moulded cornices and several mural sundials. This portion of the structure appears to belong to the reign of William III. or Anne, and to the same date may be ascribed the old brick stables, which are exceedingly interesting, and have very massive oaken stalls and fittings. There is an excellent sundial also on the lawn facing the park front of the house, which bears the date 1660, and the arms of Fetherstone on the gnomon — gules, on a chevron argent, between three ostrich feathers of the second, as many annulets of the first. The date on the sun¬ dial brings us to the date of the garden, which may perhaps be ascribed to John Fetherstone, who died ten years later, though no doubt his ingenious son, Thomas Fetherstone, being both a builder and a student, took pains that its style and character should be maintained. On the other hand, it is possible that the garden may even be earlier, and that some of its features may belong to Elizabeth’s reign. It was one of those places, in the words of William Morris, “well fenced from the outer world,” and filled with the quaint spirit of the age, wherein the old English gentleman might say : “ Society is all but rude To this delicious solitude.” The quaint and rare old garden at Packwood is like that Sir Henry Wotton described, “ into which the first access was a high walk like a terrace, from whence might be taken a general view of the whole plot below.” It is sur¬ rounded by brick walls, on the inside of which are raised terraces, with square summer-houses at the corners, an arrangement analogous to that at neigh¬ bouring Kenilworth, as described by Laneham, who wrote an account of the pageants there, 1575. Could anything exceed the chat it in picturesque beauty of form and colour, of this old brickwork ? Wherever you turn you find ancient walls vested with ivy, clinging to them some¬ times in too fond an embrace. Grown rank and strong, its huge arms are intertwined with the brickwork, which they have loosened, and in part overthrown, and its very trunks have crept through the walls. Our artist, searching for constructive features, thrust his arm into the dense evergreen grow th, and discovered by good fortune a beautiful stone vase, BRICKWORK TERRACE AT PACKWOOD 02 GARDENS OLD AND NEIV. which had been hidden from view for thirty years. Never have we seen more quaintly beautiful garden steps than these ancient ascents at Packwood. They are ingeniously built of wedge-shaped bricks, giving them an unusual curve, like the end of a spoon. Down the middle of the radiant space below the terrace runs a long pathway, which passes, at its southern end, through a most beautiful wrought-iron gate between tall brick piers of remarkably picturesque and beautiful character. The gateway is the entrance to another garden or orchard, and to a world of pious symbolism and wonder. The old Englishman loved to invest his house with something of the spirit of divine things. It might be an inscription merely, or 'ome pious motto lifted aloft against the sky, or, perhaps, the windows, by number, would speak of apostles and evangelists, or the house, bv its triple form, might tell of the Trinity. Out into the garden went the same spirit, breathing the devout ideas into the green things that grow. At Cleeve Prior, in this same pleasant region of England, the twelve apostles and the four evangelists are typified or exemplified in magnificent yew. on the Mount overlooking the evangelists, apostles, and the multitude below ; at least, this account of it was giv^n by the old gardener, who was pleaching the pinnacle of the temple.” The walk to the mount is a gentle ascent, the apostle yews standing as we approach, interspersed with Portugal laurels, and there is much box. It is sometimes called the “multitude walk,” because here are trees repre¬ senting the multitude gathered together to hear the preaching of our Lord, and the trees round the base of the mount may stand for the apostles. The mount itself is ascended by a spiral walk between old box trees, and the “tabernacle,” or summer-house, of yew is at the top. England would be richer if it possessed a greater number of gardens like those of Packwood, speaking of the taste and spirit of former times. Ruthless hands and inevitable decay have worked together in their destruction, but we may hope that ancient Packwood will long remain, with all its significance of the past, and all the quaintness of its picturesque attractive¬ ness. It was, doubtless, in old times, a garden of use as well as of beauty and symbolism. There were spaces for the 1 HE MOUNT. ■1 a red figures as human , but merely 1 -m of numl er and character in the mighty masses >f ti.e well-clipped green. I s of the garden at Packwood have gone a step .rth' , an i li vr given us the Sermon on the Mount as a ndrous and moving garden creation. Now the mount was t featun f • lijev I garden, but does not appear n employe 1 in a manner like this. We shall best • the green won h n of Pa< kv oo I by quoting what 'dr. P h, : Blomfic i and Mr. P. Inigo Thomas have to say tin ;r book, “ The Formal Garden in England,” speak the dia', as Charles Lamb remarked, is a different g from a clock, “with its ponderous embowelments of lead hra-s, and its pert or solemn dulness of communication.” h t : t be rein inhered that none should regard this as a serious n u ; ■ n the venerable clock, but only as an expression ' l.amb' ■■ate;' liking for the dial, which he somewhat < ifully described as “ the garden god of Christian gardens.” \V- n, ’a] , a another writer says, have a rooted antipathy to ingihlc Father d ime, and so love all time-markers that gal 1: pi ence and passage. There is a picturesque garden at Belton Hali, in which old ( . ras[ ing his dial, while a cupid clings to ■■; : a htullc and with downca t face, as if regretting its I 1. d at Fydon Hall which has induced these remarks : simple b pe. It congeners exist in scores " t s "i places, but it is not to be denied that in such eatei scope for the imagination than vealed in dials of this class. We may see everywhere, undial now takes on a more ambitious, and more beautiful, form. To some the very characteristic dials are an example, and where there are Scottish ay well be regarded as appropriate. It should r, 1 • beyond the ability of the architect to devise : tr ' .rm- suitable for English and other gardens. , an ( xceedingly fine modern dial in the Old Place, Lindfield, Sussex, illu>trated in the “ G ( 1 ' i id Y w,” in which the gnomon upon a pillar, with the motto, “Nunc sol; nunc umbra ” — true of the garden an 1 the world— and above it the pelican “ in her piety,” while the shaft of the pillar is spirally entwined with appropriate mottoes, and ivy clings to its foot. Could a garden be graced with a fairer adornment ? Suitable mottoes are desirable. “United in Time; parted in Time; to be re-united when Time shall be no more,” are the words upon a recent dial of Scottish type, and a very beautiful one, erected by Lady John Scott at Cawston Lodge, Rugby, in memory of Lord John Scott. “ Post tenebras spero lucem,” and “ Ut umbra sic fugit vita,” are mottoes well known, and the terrible admonition, “ On this moment hangs eternity,” is known to the writer upon a dial. The position of the sundial at Fydon Hall is right — and let us recognise that in its baluster-like character it has appropriate relation to the house — for it is the centre of a garden plan, and about it are disposed very brilliant flower-beds, while behind rise noble groups of trees as a charming background, and floral borders make a margin for the walls. Indeed, it is a singularly beautiful picture that is presented as one looks from the house over the fish-pond to the garden of the dial and the admirable trees beyond. It is an easy thing to criticise a garden design — to offer praise or censure upon this part of it or that. The more difficult thing is to plan and shape a garden successfully. What kind of pleasaunce would be most suitable for a place like Fydon Hall ? The situation might have suggested to some a bolder form of terracing ; but to our mind the arrangement is as good as could be, the descents being utilised to make shelter for excellent flower borders. As the house stands it holds its right place in the composition, like the classic buildings in the paintings of Claude. Any great terraces in such a situation as that of Eydon would break the repose of the charming picture, and would dwarf the edifice they were intended to adorn. The midday picture over the sundial garden towards the house, as witnessed from the front of the orangery, will explain what we mean. That seems to us to be an ideal classic garden composition, and to illustrate in a striking manner how harmonious are the garden features at Fydon Hall. I 11 I OS T counties in the less obviously attractive parts of England have their good and bad districts — good and bad, that is, from the residential point of view. Suffolk is no exception to the rule, there being in the county parts where the soil is first-rate for the farmer, but in which for many generations no new or old mansions have been built or inhabited by the class who seek the country, not to pursue business, but to enjoy the pleasures of the country life, whilst other neighbourhoods have been noted for many centuries for the number and character of the fine houses with good estates there situated. One of the earliest parts of the county to see the erection of good mansions after the Reforma¬ tion w as that on the western side, where a tributary of the river Stour meets the river near Long Melford. It is close to the Es-ex border, well wooded and watered, and full of the kind of scenery that Constable, who was born at no great distance away, delighted to paint. All that was best in the neighbourhood centred round the beautiful little town of Long Melford. There stood, and still stands, one of the finest of Suffolk churches, a rectory which carried a manor, Kentwell Hall (which is described and illustrated in this volume), Melford Place, and the subject of the present article, Melford Hall, one of the best Tudor houses of East Anglia. A long list of distinguished men were born at Long Melford, and lie buried in the church : Martins, Darcys, Cloptons, Cordells, and THE GATE-HOUSE. 78 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. generations of Parkers of Melford Hall, who gave their lives for the country bv land and sea. To this family belonged Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, who was lost in the Cato in 1782; another Admiral, Sir Hyde Parker, Kt., and his sons, Admiral Hyde Parker, C.B., and Lieutenant-General John Boteler Parker, C.B. ; also Lieutenant Harry Parker of the Coldstream Guards, killed while carrying the colours at Talavera ; anJ Captain Hyde Parker, R.N., who was killed while Edward the Confessor. Abbot Sampson, of whom Carlyle writes, the most famous head of this wealthy and powerful house, often resided there from 1182 to 1211. Probably the old house was built of the half timber, half wattle and plaster, which was the favourite material for building old houses in Suffolk, brick being used for foundations and chimneys. It had a moat on three sides of it, an ornamental feature altered later to a semi-circle without reference to the plan of the new house. It is mentioned in the writings of the late Sir Wii’iam Parker, from which the historical facts which follow are largely drawn, that the Abbot used to enjoy the pleasures of sport there at second hand : “He did not honte hisself, and he favoured not that his monkes shoulde; but he lyked meche to sytte in a stylle place in ye Melford wooddes, and to see ye Abbey dogges honte ye ’’ The Abbots of St. E Jm u nd’ s were m igh ty pri nces, and well able to keep up the state suitable to the highest order of the Peers Spiritual. At the Dissolution the revenue of the Abbey was equal to ,£250,000 of our money. The last Abbot, who was forced by King Henry VIII. to surrender this splendid trust, was a Melford man, John de Melford. He did not long survive the spoliation, dying a few months later ; fortunate, perhaps, not to be executed for high treason, as were the unhappy and equally innocent Abbots of Colchester, Reading, and Glastonbury. After the demolition of the monastery Melford Hall and Manor were granted by the King to Sir William Cordell, a Melford man born, who was Speaker of the House of Commons in the reign of Queen Mary, and Master of the Rolls to her and Queen Elizabeth, and also High Steward of Ipswich. Sir William was the builder of the present Hall, whose fine proportions and clean-cut, clearly-thought-out plan place it among the best of the severer order of Tudor man¬ sions in Suffolk. It has not the elaboration of Hengrave, nor the quaintness of Christ Church at Ipswich, but for general excellence and con¬ venience of plan it might serve a modern The forecourt storming a Russian battery at Sulina on. the Danube in 1854. builder to copy. t of East Anglia, or had not only Nelson himself, tinguished Admiral upon d his famous or fabulous iis fighting race, has a stands on the site of a t St. Edmund’s Abbey at hoot 2,000 acres of land, Alfric, in the reign of has the usual E frontage. There are no less than six towers of brick, rising from square bases into octagonal turrets, capned by cupolas and vanes. Unfortunately, a later owner of the mansion thought fit to remove all the stone mullions of the windows on the south, front, and to replace them by sashes, which has weakened the effect of what was a particularly fine fapade. But the height of the wings and the grouping of the towers here have a very dignified effect. J he wings and rooms between the central towers are of three storeys in height, the connecting central portion only two fMRLFORfD HALL 79 AN OLD GARDEN WAI.K AT MELFORD HALL. 80 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. storeys. The east front, which is the entrance front of the mansion, retains the old windows and fittings almost unaltered. The porch, with its upper chamber, is of stone, with two tiers of pilasters. On the ends of the wings are good stone- mullioned windows of eight lights, and projecting from these wings north and south large bays, that on the north front having no less than forty-four lights. Not all of the old house was pulled down. The cellars and foundations were used by Sir William Cordell, and the ancient wooden porch, which dates from the year 1515, was also retained. This is an extra¬ ordinary and most interesting piece of work, purely mediaeval in spirit and design, and probably typical of the wooden decorative work of the timber and plaster houses, very many of which survive in Suffolk towns and villages, but few in the country, where they were pulled down to make room for new mansions, as at Melford Hall. The porch has a high pitched roof with a finial and openwork front. The sides are boarded in high enough to make a back to the benches on either side, chains, alle redy at one instante and in one plaice, with 1,500 serving men all on horseback, well and bravelie mounted to receive the Queen’s Highness into Suffolke. There was such sumptuous feastings and bankets as seldom in anie part of the world was there seen afore. The Master of the Rolles, Sir William Cordell, was the first that began this greate feasting at his house of Melforde, and did light such a candle to the rest of the shire that they were gladde bountifullie and franklie to follow the same example.” Sir William Cordell died three years later, and left no children. His niece and heiress married Sir John Savage, whose descendants were created viscounts. Elizabeth Viscountess Savage was created Countess Rivers on the death of her father, Earl Rivers. She was a Catholic and a staunch Royalist. Suffolk and Essex were Roundhead in feeling and very hostile to the gentry — in fact, the East Anglian Roundheads showed far more animus and class feeling than those of other parts of England during the rebellion. The THE GARDEN FORECOURT. 1 four open frames above, divided by carved uprights, carved grotesque figures in the male and female , of the early Tudor period stand on corbels at 1 . j ■ • «,f Hi- entra .ce, and m t as bracketed supports to 1 of the roof. A fine staim-J-glass figure of E / it th in one of her most magnificently embroidered elle 1 hooped dresses and ruff, with crown, sceptre, and 1 a triple neck I a e of I irge pearls, is probably an ex< el- trait of the Queen in her early womanhood. It was • ition of loyalty or gratitude which caused this image n to adorn the window at Melford Its owner ] f > reater put of his fortune as her Master of the him with a visit in which the host had ; plain of if he desired to show his Sovereign of the wealth he had amassed. When she in 1578 “there were 200 young ge tie- in wlv.'te velwet, and 3C0 of the graver died in black velwet coats, and with fair mob sacked the houses of the nobility and gentlemen as wantonly as did the French peasants those of the Seigneurs in the Revolution. A rabble set out from Colchester, accom¬ panied by the regular Train Band, and first sacked another house of Lady Rivers (St. Osyth), and then came to plunder Melford and seize her person. They stole all they could lay hands on, destroyed the furniture, killed the deer, gutted the rectory, stole the rector’s horses, broke down the cross on the green, tore up the brasses in the church, and behaved generally like the set of unmitigated blackguards which they undoubtedly were. All this time the Colchester Train Band with their officers were actually billeted in the long gallery of the Hall, and looked on. Lady Rivers was ruined by fines and confiscations, and died in 1650, but before her death sold the Hall to another representative of its first builder’s family, Sii Robert Cordell, who was created the first baronet. He was member for Sudbury and High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1653- i MELFOKT) HALL 81 THE BOWLING GREEN HOUSE. 82 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE NORTH FRONT. This younger line of Cordells altered the house, made the moat semi-circular, and put sashes in the windows. Sir Robert was succeeded by his son and grandson, after which the title became extinct. But Margaret Cordell married Sir Charles F. rebrace, in whose family it remained till it was purchased by Sir Harry Parker (sixth baronet) in 1786, since which date that dis¬ tinguished family has con¬ tinued to live there. We have left an account of the gardens until the last, and it shall be brief. They are simple and beautiful, with ample lawns and superb beds and borders of flowers. There is no elaboration, and the masonry terrace and formai parterre are absent. There is no certainty that they ever were there. The land has been levelled, and on the north side the lawn is raided, with a slope to the ditch and a brick wall at its margin. The character of the gardens will be best gathered from the pictures. There is great structural completeness about the setting of the house, from the gates and lodge, where the octagon turrets of the Hall are repeated, to the magnificent bowling green pavilion. The double gate-house, with its fine background of trees, is excellent, while the pavilion THE is a most notable . garden-house, or octagon of brick, approached by a steep flight of steps, and entered by an Ionic porch It has two levels, and the house is high, the windows being intended to give a wide view over the landscape. Each -side is surmounted by a gable, and each gable and interspace by a brick finial. The old brick garden wall and border lead¬ ing to this pavilion are a beautiful instance of the grace of congruity in which antique building and modern garden¬ ing agree. Broad spaces of grass seem an appropriate fore¬ ground to the red brick houses of East Anglia, and glorious flower borders their right accompaniment. The sundial challenges the stranger as he approaches the porch, and is a very pleasing and elegant example of the garden monitor. Melford Hall is distinguished by the presence of old trees in its neigh¬ bourhood, and they make, with the old house and its simple gardens, a fine picture of an East Anglian mansion. Melford is a house of which the county of Suffolk is justly proud. The builder was a Suffolk man of much con-equence, and the present owners have maintained the traditions of the place with honour and distinction for SUNDIAL. many generations. [ 83 ] A BEAUTIFUL place in a fair part of Western Sussex is Sedgwick Park. It is one of the many pleasant domains which are found in the neighbourhood of L ancient Horsham and the shadowy depths of the forest of St. Leonard’s. Here, apart from the world, lived a peasantry who cherished the stories and folk-lore of a former time with a tenacity which makes their descendants an interesting people, if we can but draw them from their native shyness, to-day. Here, long after the monsters evolved in the mists of antiquity had been dissipated by the flaring torch of science, lingered the belief in a dragon, which harried, even as late as August, 1614, the whole country-side. There were some perils of the nether world there to be encountered in the woodland, but good St. Leonard had waged the fight with a stubborn daring which had laid the old monster low, and wherever the Saint’s blood dyed the ground, patches of lilies of the valley sprang up, they say ; and, now, when all the Sussex world goes a-lilying, there are some, perhaps, who still think of the terror from which the people were spared. Even yet some old crone may tell you also of the headless phantom which rode behind the horseman who traversed the forest-way until he passed the bounds. The district of St. Leonard’s Forest and Nuthurst is full of woodland attraction, and Nuthurst is perhaps even more attractive than the forest itself. Oak and beech, ancient pine and great plantations of larch, with rich under¬ wood, and many a bright touch of colour gained by the growth of ornamental trees, are the distinctions of the place. Looking southward from the hill there is a far outlook over the pastoral land to the Downs, with a distant glimpse of the sea. Such a posit on, commanding a vast country, could not fail to attract the attention of the great barons who made this part of Sussex their home. A park was enclosed at Sedgwick in very early times, and in the nineteenth year of Edward II. it was described as containing 400 acres. The park was attached to the ancient castle of Sedgwick, of which some very interesting remains still exist. The form was circular, with the defence of a double moat, and the whole of the plan can be made out from the basement walls. The estate after the Conquest was in the possession of the family of Savage, but there was some dispute concerning the rights, and John le Maunsel obtained licence to fortify the place in 1259, and Peter de Montford defended it in the Barons’ War, but it subsequently reverted to John ie Savage. From h'm it passed by exchange to William de Braose, the great lord of Bramber, and it remained attached to the Bramber lordship until the attainder and death of Thomas Duke of Norfolk in 1572. In 1549 a hundred deer were kept in the park, which had been extended in area from 400 acres to 624 acres at the date of its dispalement in 1608. The Sedgwick estate had meanwhile been granted to Thomas Seymour, and had passed through the hands of Sir Thomas Fynes and Sir John Caryl. In 1705 it was purchased by Sir John Bennett, anJ afterwards by Charles Duke of Richmond, who held it until 1750. The castle was a ruin, but the estate was sold to the Tudors of FROM THE SOUTH. 84 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. > ) FROM THE “ MAS THE AD SEVGlVlCk. 85 THE “BULWARKS 86 GARDENS OLD AND NElV. Nuthurst, and from their successors passed to the family of the present proprietor. The beautiful house of Sedgwick Park, built within recent years, thus represents a great domain of former times, and its terrace surveys not only a supremely beautiful garden, but also a vost extent of the old hunting ground of William de Braose, 1 rd of Bramber. 'I he architect has raised on the hill a fair and attractive mansion. The pictures illustrate, better than words can describe, the glories of the garden, which 1 i-s in terraced descents to the south. Quaint and curious is tile idea of likening the house and garden to a ship of the Royal Navy. What fancy inspired the delightful conceit we do not know, but here is emb 'died or figured an asso¬ say a bulwark — while paths lead down on either side to the lower level, where the “ chief cabin ” is a delightful place to rest in, with its cool stone archway and pavement. It was looking out from this point, or from the elevation above, that Mrs. Henderson’s children, seeing with delight the water -space before them, proclaimed it as “ The White ” a title which it deservedly retains. Reflecting the sky above, it shimmers in the summer sun, and con¬ trasted with the dark greens of its margin, it assumes the white sheen that impressed them. This is not a formal water, for there is no stone edging, and water-loving plants flourish exceedingly there. And yet, look at those quaint yew hedges, tall and dense and cut to shapes that are prim, and you will say that Nature and Art are here most happily conjoined. The special character and formation of these yew hedges, which is very curious and unusual, has caused them to be described as “fortifications.” They close the view of this sweet and splendid garden, but not the view of the country. For beyond and below lies the great wooded park, rich and beautiful in its varied foliage, and the lovely country for many a mile, until the line of the Downs ends the prospect. It is a landscape possessing both richness and variety, very pleasant to look upon from a pleasaunce like this. What is particularly worthy of note is that no style predominates here. There is no exclusion of qualities — rather ciation which, to those who love the garden, is dear, and it is extremely interesting t > learn that the garden was planned by Mrs. Henderson, and brought to perfection under her care. What a garden it is that we gaze upon from the lofty “masthead” of the abode! Below is the semi-circular terrace, paved with huge Cyclopean blocks, teri h green things in their crevices, all enframed on the homeward side by deep green yew hedges, giving place for beautiful seats for the view, while at the ends of the curves are classic athletes in bronze. Then we have a long broad pathway to open the garden perspective, and th< re are other hedges, kept u Id be, > of turf, of flowers irubs. I he path leads onward to another f t ie garden, still enframed with the sudden dip of the ground has afforded ion for an outlook, as it w'ere, over ip , in this maritime garden, we should THE “ PORTHOLES.” an attempt to include many, and a successful one. The general character is, of course, formal, but the garden is full of so much natural beauty, and so closely neighboured by woodland and by individual trees of beautiful character, that it will content those who love the simple expression of the SECDGIVICK 87 fefc - / ’ |. ;#r|jj ■ ^ m**; 43k** * *2. A S$a.. JnsfKjhl rA\ *■ MSfi&mm 3i ' fOB £&^:*Wt >t -*; * > ’$£ *1 KLNT&&§S1 ixi U < ry LU X o x r i < LU C/3 LU X £ LU X THE “FORTIFICATIONS” AND Gardens old and new . sS natural gardening style. Yet it has the quality of stateliness springing from its largeness of character and long vista of uninterrupted beauty ; and anything which had broken up the garden, as by the planting of masses of trees, would have spoiled that charm. As it is, we look out upon a well-propor¬ tioned expanse, where there is a due subordination of parts, ;md where everything contributes to the effect of the whole. And it must be noticed that these various parts of the garden are all satisfactory in themselves, that they have an indi- \ idualit v which is, perhaps, too rare in gardens. Note especially the great blocks of the pavement, and the marked feature of the '‘fortifications.” Moreover, it is characteristic of this garden that it belongs to the landscape ; it is a part of its surroundings ; it is wholly in harmony with its natural framework. Here, then, we may truly say, is a triumph in gardenage — a success which is not open to all, but which a few, who have gardens in like situations to that at Sedgwick Park, may also attain. We have not, of course, alluded to all the charms to be found in this lovely Sussex garden. There are beautiful terraces, with excellent masonry, ascents into woodland pleasaunces, and excellent groups of shrubs and flowers, all flourishing in perfection. The it would be tedious, and is u; yuccas are a great feature, but mecessary, to attempt to cata¬ logue or describe the lovely things that grow in this favoured place. Water and wood, the green expanse and the radiant flower-bed, the dense hedges of yew and the waving beauties of unclipped trees, all play their part in the beauties of these gardens. There is something very fas¬ cinating in the zeal with which Mrs. Henderson has pursued her task to its completion, and much that is delightful in the quaintness of many of the ideas that are expressed in her garden fancy. Look, for example, at the picturesque aspect of the green “port¬ holes,” and at the ivy enclo¬ sure of the “upper deck.” To work in a garden fair is the delight of many a lady ; to shape and fashion a garden is given, perhaps, to few. But it would be pleasant to think that this Sussex garden had inspired other ladies to work out fancies of their own. A GAkDEN SEAT. t 89 1 HAT beautiful home of old Englishmen which we depict lies in a chosen part of the pleasant county of Salop, and is within about six miles of Shrewsbury. You may approach it, if you choose, by a delightful walk through the fields from Condover Station, passing as you go old Condover Hall, which, in its fine old frontage of stone, presents a very suggestive contrast to the more picturesque charms of ancient timber-framed Pitchford. You will not forget that about a mile and a-half beyond the object of your journeying is the village of Acton Burnell, which is rather famous in our history. There is a castle there which closely resembles the Bishop’s Palace at Wells, and was, indeed, built by the same hands. When Edward I. held the great council of his Parliament at Shrews¬ bury, in 1283, one of its sessions was held at Acton Burnell, and the King took advantage of the thronging thither of many representatives of the commercial classes to issue the ordinance known as the Statute of Merchants, which confirmed their rights and gave them power against their debtors. The neighbouring village of Pitchford took its name in very ancient times from a curious bituminous spring, which was described by Marmaduke Rawdon of York in the seventeenth century. That old writer speaks thus of the fountain ; “ Thir is in this well four little hooles, about halfe a yard diep, out of which comes little lumps of pitch, but that which is att the tope of the well is sottish, and swimes upon the water like tarr, but being skimd together itt incorporates, and is knead together like soft wax and becomes hard.” There was a landed family at Pitchford in the time of King Stephen, who took their name from the place, and still in the ancient church is an oaken figure supposed to represent one of that stock. What manner of house they had in this place we cannot tell, but the property had not long been in the hands of the ancestors of its present owner, the Ottleys, to whom it came by purchase in 1470, when the existing mansion was erected. It is said to have been built by William Ottley, Sheriff of the county. This was a forest country, where materials for the building lay ready to the hand, and many an oak bowed to the woodman’s axe. Go where you will, you will find few more beautiful examples of a style of architecture dear to the English mind, found mostly in Shropshire and northward through Cheshire and Lancashire, but in which no part of the country is poor. Happily, Pitchford Hall has remained in excellent hands, and is now practically unchanged from the aspect it anciently bore, except that the THE ENTRANCE DRIVE. 90 GARDENS OLD AND NklV. THE RIVER WALK, THE HOUSE, AND THE SPREADING TREE. PJTCHFORD HALL, 91 THE TIMBER FRONTAGE AND QUADRANGLE LAWN. 92 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. servants’ wing was added at a later date, precisely in the same architectural style. There was once a moat about the house, which the Pitchford brook and the pond above the house supplied ; and there was no doubt a sweet and radiant garden, much to the owner’s mind. Just as now, there were splendid trees surrounding, whose forest brothers had furnished the material for the building, and there were neighbouring houses of note, wherein dwelt men of mark in the shire. Within the mansion the rooms were panelled with oaken wainscot, as they still are, though now more recent portraits are framed into the walls. They were troublous times for many, to whom moats were no safeguard, and the builder of Pitchford Hall, or his successor, was careful to construct a secret hiding-place, where priest or fugitive might be secure. It is a chamber of considerable size, as hiding-holes go, approached through a sliding panel, well concealed, by a ladder through a closet floor. The slope to look over the ancient homestead and all the gardens and pleasure grounds that lay thereabout ! There exists an old plan of the garden, made in 1680, which shows that the house was even then in the tree. Many have been the fashions of such places. There was the well-known arbour of Erasmus, where he ate as if in the garden itself, for the very walls were shrubs and flowers, and whichever way he looked he had the garden before him. We remember also the summer resting-place of Sidney’s “Arcadia,” which was “a square room full of delightful pictures made by the most excellent workmen of Greece.” Then we think of the more stately summer-house of the Lord Treasurer Burleigh at Theobalds, where, in a semi-circle, were twelve Roman Emperors in white marble, and a table “of touchstone,” and above cisterns of lead for fish or for bathing in the summer. But which of these could have the simple charm of the shadowy retreat held safe in the arms of the Pitchford tree ? And what kind of garden do we survey from chis pleasant THE KITCHEN GARDEN house was shaped, as our illustrations show, like the letter E, the straight side being towards the church, though it was 1 uilt long before Elizabeth could be flattered by such a plan. Among the Ottleys who possessed Pitchford, Sir Francis of th ■ name deserves to be mentioned as the loyal governor of Shrewsbury in the Civil Wars. Their descendants continued to p'p :ss it until the year 1807, when on the death of the last of the name, Mr. Adam Ottley, it passed to the late Lord i , grandfather of Colonel Cotes, as next-of-kin. hiring Lord Liverpool’s ownership the fine and characteristic ol 1 place was carefully maintained, and he had the honour of aming her late M ijesty within its walls, who, as Princess a, ited it, accompanied by the Duchess of Kent, in 1832. : •/ line view of the house is obtained from the summit leading to Pitchford village, and a delightful aspect of the glorious old place lies also before the visitor s privileged to ascend to that sweet old summer-house in the arms of the mighty lime. What a delightful eatcd that rare resting-place, lifted aloft on the breezy altitude, or enjoy as we traverse the pathways ? There are fifteen acres of the pleasaunce, and the pictures disclose what they are. It is a dear old garden of pleasant scents and radiant prospects, with many a bloom to crown the successive seasons of the changing year. There are magnificent old trees, fine ornamental specimens, and yew hedges, and everywhere flowers, filling with radiance even the kitchen gardens them¬ selves. On one side the land slopes down to the house ; on the other it slopes away where grass terraces break the descent to the pleasant margin of the Pitchford Brook, where are walks and solitudes delightful to explore, and whence it is charming to look back to the beautiful old house we have left. But perhaps, after all, the rarest charm will be found in the great and grand old trees which tower up with sub¬ limity, and spread below their wide expanse of shade— the “old patrician trees” of that favoured land. There is beauty and charm, however, wherever we go, and with most pleasant thoughts of the good old English house and fair domain do we forsake the lovely surroundings of Pitchford Hall. [ 93 ] THE traveller in South Wales by road or rail from Bridgend to Neath, after passing the seaward opening of the Llynfi Valley, finds himself presently passing through a very interesting part of Glamorganshire. On his left lies a broad space of sandy flat, with the blue waters of Swansea Bay beyond, while on the right rises the splendid wooded hill of Mynydd Margam to a height of about 8ooft. It is a glorious elevation, clothed from base to summit with the rich foliage of an oak wood, which covers it for some two miles along the slope. The district thereabout is one of great natural attractions, and not less of commercial possibilities, which have been much developed, as shall shortly be mentioned. Margam Abbey, that picturesque modern structure which we depict, stands near the time-worn ruin in a favourable situation, having the hill for its background, and commands a superb view of wood, sea, and sky. The stormy south- westers, in their tempestuous course, have sometimes done considerable damage here, and have swept for generations the huge steeps of Mynydd Margam, keeping the oaks thereon to something approaching a uniform level. Few giants now lift their heads above the crowd, and thus from a distance the bold flank of the hill seems as if covered with a dense mass of well- clipped green. Between the house and the sea lies the great sandy expanse, which would move landward under the breeze, had not the late Mr. C. R. M. Talbot planted great quantities of Arundo arenaria, whose widespread roots bind the shifting mass together. When the broken hosts of the Red King had fruitlessly carried his arms into the mountain fastnesses, and had been driven back by hardship and famine, his successor on the throne entered upon a wiser and more masterful, if less stormy and violent, policy. The Principality was divided by internal strife at the time, and a system of gradual conquest began, the new tide of invasion flowing along the coast, and using such level expanses as that below Margam Park to gain a foothold, from which advances inland might be made, the base resting upon the sea. One Welsh chieftain summoned Robert Fitz- Hamon, the lord of Gloucester, to his aid, and the defeat of Rhys ap Tudor, the last prince who united Southern Wales under his rule, produced conditions of anarchy which enabled Fitz-Hamon to land safely on the coast of Glamorgan, conquer the country round, and divide it among his followers. He himself had a castle at Kenfig, two miles south of Margam, which braved the elements for ages, but at length was over¬ whelmed by the sea in the sixteenth century. The devouring sand engulfed it almost entirely, but still some fragments may be seen amidst the waste, while the whole church there GARDEN ARCHITECTURE. 94 GARDENS OLD AND NEIV. perished in the sandy deluge, and Margam Abbey, secure upon the hill, continued to survey the curious scene. It was Robert Earl of Gloucester, Fitz-Hamon’s son-in- law, who planted the white-robed Cistercians there, in an abbey dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, about the year 1147, Giraldus Cambrencis visited the house in 1188, and King John was entertained there, for which hospitality, it is said, he excepted the Cistercians of Margam from his extortions. But, if the King’s Ministers stayed their hand, it was far otherwise with the wild ravaging Welshmen, concerning whom a pitiable tale is told in the Abbey Chronicle of devastated farms, buildings burnt, and men slain with the sword. The ven¬ geance of Providence, however, sometimes followed. “ Com- busserunt Wallenses horreum nostrum ; divina tamen vindicta sequente.” Then came the perverse people to waste the farmstock upon which the labour-loving Cistercians set such store. “ Concremaverunt perversi homines oves nostras plusquam mille, cum duabus domibus, in una septimana.” Sadder things were to follow. “ Occiderunt Wallenses Mer-Honour, which flew Essex’s flag in the Islands’ Voyage, 1603. Afterwards he became Vice-Admiral of the Narrow Seas, and he escorted Raleigh from London to Winchester fo- his trial, and was concerned in other notable events of his time. The old house, which was built by Sir Rice Mansel when he bought the place at the Dissolution of the monasteries, was a long rambling building. The site chosen was in close proximity to the Abbey, and there is no doubt the Abbey suffered much at the hands of the builders of the new dwelling- house. Tradition says tire chapter house and cloisters were used as servants’ offices, and one corner still bears the name of the “beer-cellar.” Two interesting bird’s-eye pictures have been fortunately preserved at Margam, and give a very good idea of the picturesque old house with it-> many gables and its walled gardens, and also of the surrounding country as it was 203 years ago. This house was pulled down by the late Mr. Thomas Talbot about the end of the eighteenth century, and it is said he intended to build a new one on the top of the ... ... _ -JSL Hfpji ...JEpSpB mmSBkv FACADE OF ORANGERY. famulos nostros.” But worse even than Welsh incursions happened when the Abbey was dissolved and its possessions distributed. It is interesting to know that its clear income at the tim • was /~i8i 7s. 4d. The site was granted to Sir Rice Mansel of Oxwich Castle, in whose family it continued until about 1750, w hen it passed through the female line, and the late Mr. C. R. M. Talbot, M.P., who died in 1840, father of Miss Talbot, now of Margim Park, was the descendant and representative of the grantee. S,r Edward Mansel of Margam, who died in 1595, married Lad'/ Jar.e Somerset, youngest daughter of Henry Earl of ester, and their younger son, Admiral Sir Robert Mansel, who at one time spelt Ins name nsiderabl< heet. There is a delightful vineries, the finest example in the United Kingdom of that most delicious of white grapes, the Muscat of Alexandria. This vine, according to the tablet in the vinery, was planted in 1783, and the house that contains it enlarged in 1839. Not¬ withstanding its great age, it is still a vigorous bearer and produces good crops of fruit. The church stands in the park half a mile from the village, and was perhaps the work of the monks of Bolton, to whom it was given by Lord Lisle in 1353. It was sadly treated when it was “ beautified” in the style of 1793, but has since been well restored. It contains the altar tombs of Sir Richard Redman and Sir William Ryther, both sons-in-law of Sir William Aldburgh, who built Harewood Castle, with their wives. There also is the tomb, with effigies, of the famous judge Gascoigne and his wife, he wearing his judicial robes with collar of SS, and a coif upon his head. Harewood is one of those places which appeal to us chiefly HAREIVOOT), 109 THE FIRST TERRACE AND DOUBLE STAIRWAY, LOOKING SOUTH. HO GARDENS OLD AND NEW. miwi UiftJSlI THE OU 1 LOOK FROM THE UPPER TERRACE. THE TERRACE STAIRWAY HAREIVOOT), 111 THH FOUNTAIN IN THE TERRACE GARDEN. 112 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE SECOND by their munificence. Both in the house and its surroundings we find all those features which we associate with the great Cla-sic scats of the land. From the windows fine views are commanded of Wharfedale and of Otley Chevin, from the highest point of whici there is a surprising prospect, including Y rk Minster at a distance of thirty miles, while to the south tiie smoke of Leeds and the manufacturing district clouds the sky, and away to the north and north-east a vast extent of TERRACE. beautiful country lies mapped out below the spectator, with the Wharfe winding through the verdant dale. Much of this scenery may be seen from the windows and terrace of Harevvood House. The interior of the mansion is very noble and stately, with ceilings painted by Zucchi, Rose, and Rebecci, and fine pictures by Reynolds, Lawrence, Hoppner, and others. The great gallery, a noble apartment nearly Soft, long by 24ft. broad, contains a collection of antique china which has been valued at pTioo, 000. Splendid, however, as are the apartments of the house, these attractions are far surpassed by the charms of the garden and the landscape. It is truly a great and stately domain, well fitted to be the residence of an exalted nobleman. Good for¬ tune has placed it on the course of a romantic river, and in an unspoiled region of the exten¬ sive county of York. An ideal day may well be spent at Harewood, in surveying the splendours of its art treasures, the beauties of its gardens, and its park of 1,800 well- wooded and picturesque acres. But to conjure up in print or manuscript the attraction of suJi a place is not easy, though our illustrations will go far to supply the deficiency, and will show how truly magnificent is the character of Harewood House. [ 113 ] A LDENHAM is a quaint house in a beautiful garden /\ dignified by the presence of a stately avenue of elms, L _ A some two hundred years old, leading to the front 1 \ entrance, a leafy regiment breaking the view of the tree-clothed hills towards famous Harrow. The history of the mansion is uneventful. It was probably built about 1550, has been altered by various possessors until little of the original structure remains, and has never been sold, but passed by marriage to the present family. There is much to interest the architect and antiquary. The noble oak hall is of the time of Charles II., and the west front of the same period. The house is a mixture of many styles, but the old and charming Queen Anne character has been well preserved, meriting at this day the description Chauncy gave of it in 1700 — a “fair house of brick.” The period of George 11. is seen in the bow of the drawing-room and the library, and the east front looking on the rose garden is of quite modern times, about twenty-five years ago. There is a simple grandeur in the entrance from the elm avenue. The red brick is toned by the pleasant green of the trees, and nothing obstructs the mansion with its face to the broad stretch of open land. The garden is glorious in colour as in repose. Immediately against the house the quiet terrace may be gay with colour from an array of begonias, fuchsias, and summer bedding plants, making it refreshing to walk through the quaint pleached alley of limes to the woodland and wilderness beyond, where shrubs of importance for colour of leaf, stem, and flower are massed in a bold and picturesque way. 1 he planting is quite modern; in truth, the gardens have been transformed by Lord Aldenham until they may be regarded as new, and during the past twenty years, with his gardener-son, the Hon. Vicary Gibbs, M.P., lie has carried on extensive and judicious planting. Thomas Suit in, who owned the estate in 1590, would scarcely recognise in the present extensive and well-planted park, garden, and woodland the Aldenham of his far-off day. The estate passed in 1614, with tin it gentleman’s daughter and heir, to her husband, Henry Gogh ill, in whose family it remained until 1734, and their arms still remain over the hail door. Then it passed to Robert Hucks, who had married the daughter and heir of another Henry Coghill, and remained in the Hucks family until 1814, when the elder branch became extinct in the male line. The estate then descended to a relative — Miss Noyes— and thence to the Gibbs family as heirs-at-law through the marriage of Antony Gibbs (grandfather of the first Lord Aldenham) with Dorothea Hucks. It is difficult to know where to begin in a survey of the gardens and woodland at Aldenham, which comprise upwards 1 HE K11CHEN GARDEN. 114 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE WILDERNESS. • 200 acres, maintained in high cultivation even in those y ic-vs usually permitted to run wild and unkempt. There are three picturesque lodges, and we may make a start at the A k-nham lodge. Turning to the right, a charming view is Lined of the house with its elm avenue and greensward. \\ : 'll w the broad gravel walk, protected on the right from t: • park by an ornamental railed brick palisade, broken about ■. vy five yards by piers capped with vases and urns in terra- 't. , and further diversified by outward half-circles of bold fleet, and in due time arrive at a large carriage gateway. I . i i s t a tlte well-planted park and new ornamental lake. This lake and bold rockwork are amongst the principal features of the modern gardening at Aldenham, and Mr. Vicary Gibbs has succeeded in his endeavour to create a natural and charming picture. Standing on the bridge that spans it, we see the pretty boat cave, and turning to the opposite side of the biidge the lake, with its two islands, is presented to view. This modelling, and practically forming a new feature entirely, has been ac¬ complished since 189S. It has been the result of the work of the able head gardener, aided by Mr. Vicary Gibbs, who, like so many of our landowners of the present day, takes a prac¬ tical interest in the garden and woodland. There are breadths of bulrushes rustling in the autumn winds, golden elder, snowberry, thick with creamy fruit during winter, American blackberries, and the soft silver grey of that beautiful willow, Salix rosmarinifolia. It is a quiet scheme of colour, from the dense green of gorse to the graceful willow branches, casting a grateful shade over the water surface. The planting of the estate and its remodelling teach practical lessons, and simple grouping is one of the greatest. The arboretum contains deciduous trees and shrubs as rare as anything in the botanic garden of Kew. Nearer the house is a pretty croquet lawn, and an arched rose walk at right angles, whi’e in the opposite corner is the square yew garden, adorned with fine examples f lead-work —the kneeling slave, the weeping child at the fountain (a copy of a silver seal of Italian workmanship), and a “ Fiddler ” and a Songstress (the work of that excellent sculptor, Mr. F. W. § •I: yfm ■m I HE YEW GARDEN. Hi L DEN HAM HOUSE . 115 THE WATERFALLS 16 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. A STONE SEAT. P mcroy), which stand above the steps at the end of the terrace, being good examples of the revived art of lead sculpture, so well suited to the more ft rmai parts of the garden. Many interesting features may be seen at this point. The rose walk is a fragrant and pie sunt retreat on hot summer days, appropriately placed near the _arden of bush roses enclosed within a yew hedge. This meeting of yew and rose is full of subtle charm. The gardens have their varied character also. Yew deepens the tea I' -e tints, bringing out the tender -1 adc-s, and making a background of nr for the groups of the best kinds planted in beds of simple design. In immediate precincts of the house tl > ers are massed and grouped every- v. here, and there is a border of sub- t pica I plants, remarkable for effec¬ tiveness. Not far away is a quiet scene — an orchard garden of apples Simplicity is the charm of such wild gardening, scattering the flowers about in drifts and little colonies. The wilderness at Alden- ham is one of its most attrac¬ tive features. It is a place of vistas, cool green walks, and brilliant splashes of colour, not from flowers, but from the stems and fruits of the shrubs. This ma-sing of shrubs is unusual, and worthy of imita¬ tion. No matter whether the winds of winter whistle through the trees, or the rich tints of autumn colour the boughs, this wilderness of shrubs presents bright features. Here an enor¬ mous group of the sumach Rhus typhina spreads out its characteristic foliage, touched with brilliant colours in Sep¬ tember days, there the air is fragran1; with the breath of sweet briar, and the heavy racemes of Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora (the big panicle! IMMIHlii mini i iVi 7j A GARDEN SEAT. THE SEAT BENEATH THE OAK. hydrangea) weigh down the shoots. The Japanese roce, cut-leaved bramble, double bramble, Cornus sibirica (the Siberian dog-wood), Rubus odoratus, Japanese windflower, symphoricarpus, ribes, and spiraea are a few of the shrubs massed in this bold and in¬ teresting way. One may imagine the effect of dozens of plants of the Cornus sibirica in the winter landscape, a glorious splash of colour in the grey. We can only describe this planting as magnificent for its effective ness, whilst the restfulness and charm of the wilderness are preserved. This free planting does not disturb the quiet grassy paths flecked with sunlight, and retreats from the glare of “ bedders ” and the heat of summer and autumn. By following one of the pleasant grass walks, and leaving the house and kitchen in the grass, where the lapple the turf with flowers, irdvns th i form of gardening, imitating the sweet \ Hire hers If, is being carried out with success. the moats of the Id house, pulled down in the tim of Henry V 1 1 1 . , where now is the water garden. I e moats have been restored according to the old plan, whilst the old stew-pond is now a delightful bathing-place, gr iuped around with flowers and shrubs. Extensive altera¬ tions, with new drives and v. Iks, have been completed luring quite recent times, and greatly adorn the splendid estate. I he collection of plant'' is rare and interesting. AlJenb.im is not a garden of one season only ; it is delightful the spring, when the flowering trees are I urdened with b.ossom and the marsh marigolds dot the streamsides with colour; through the Himmtr montlo ; aid in the of a garden mellowed by time. Weeping and variegated leaved trees are in abundance. A weeping tree is generally of graceful beauty, and casts a grateful shade upon the lawn in the hot summer days, but there must be no crowding together. Every tree should display its characteristic charm — the willows by the water- site, the holly upon the lawn, and the thorns i i the park. The willow is in its drooping form a thing of beauty, but rarely is it planted in the garden, or, for that matter, any of its precious family, 'those who have bare 1 a k e s i d e s should learn something of the beauty of verdure from t e grounds at Aldenham. Oaks and elms prevail, and a noble group of six elms stands out against the sky ; but, as in the shrub masses near the water gardens, weeping trees are one of the features, the weeping beech near the house being unex¬ celled in the British Isles. It is a splendid specimen of its kind, the branches sweeping the grass and forming a fountain of leafy shoots, an arbour of grateful green in the warm days of summer. A varied garden, indeed, of natural beauty, with just enough of formality near the house is tnat at Aldenham. [ 119 ] 1TH1N four or five miles or the position where the King established himself on the eventful day of the battle of Edgehill, and below the slopes of the hills, hidden, indeed, in a sylvan hollow, stands one of the most beautiful Tudor houses in England. Warwickshire is very rich in castles and houses of a former time, but it has nothing to surpass this admirable quadrangular house of the Marquess of Northampton. We could not wi-h for a better presentment of the domestic life of our Tudor ancestors than is found in that wondrous structure, with its towers, embattlements, and mullioned and enriched windows, its porch and its timbered gabies, its turrets and its twisted chimneys, its chequered brickwork and its old-world picturesqueness. England is fortunate, indeed, that it still possesses such places, and Compton Wynyates is doubly fortunate in that it is prized and treasured by its noble owner and maintained in as high a state as ever it knew of yore. I he moat, indeed, which was its outer guard, has gone in part, and now the visitor no longer tarries to parley with the watchman on the gate-house tower. The spyhole is there, through which he looked out to learn who the stranger might be, and the twisted stairway by which he ascended to take a larger survey. The oaken door is there also, bearing yet in its seams marks of the impotent fury of some who endeavoured to make turbulent entry that way. Originally the house was larger than it is now, and some evidences of its former extent still remain. Its buildings surround a quadrangular space 57ft. across. Over the arch of the entrance, as may be seen in our picture, are the arms THE ANCIENT GATEWAY. 120 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. of Henry VIII., with the griffin and greyhound for supporters, and the royal crown above, and in the spandril of the arch on the left are the Castle of Castile, the pomegranate of Granada, and the sheaf of arrows, which stand there for Catherine of Aragon, while on the other side the portcullis badge of Henry is plainly seen. The external front is very beautiful, with its old brickwork clustered with climbing flowers, and the sundial above ; but for the picturesqueness of the structure externally our pictures are sufficient warrant. Entering the court, there is seen the great bay which lights the hall, that customary feature in all the better houses of the time. The walls are vested with ivy, roses, clematis, and the fiery thorn, and there are old fuchsia trees along the wall a door leads into the chapel, of i ; . i . 1 window is a conspicuous feature C! e I y, in the angle between the chapel and n-at parlour panelled with oak, and having i ; 1 1 1 c the arms of Compton and Spencer, _;n of Elizabeth by William Compton, first • >n. Compton Wynyates had been built by W on Compton, who gained distinction at the Sp irs, where he was knighted for his bravery, it hall of his house he welcomed Henry VIII., with at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. This ami' r lias an open timber roof, a minstrels’ gallery, . ed screen, which separates it from the lobby and staircase and the kitchens beyond. The chapel to which we have referred is also very beautiful, and possesses some most curious carvings, including the Seven Deadly Sins repre¬ sented as knights in armour, each with an imp behind to urge him forward. Sir William Compton’s son Henry, created Baron Compton of Compton in 1572, received Queen Elizabeth at his house In the same year, and was one of the peers who tried Mary Queen of Scots. He was succeeded by his son William, afterwards made Earl of Northampton. The drawing¬ room on the south side is a fine apartment wainscoted with oak, and having a good plaster ceiling put up by tire latter noble¬ man, to whom much of the beauty of the house is due. There is a romantic story connected with the Earl’s marriage. A certain rich Alderman Spencer, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1594, had a beauteous daughter, wnom he looked upon as the apple of his eye. With sturdy civic character the alderman did not look with a kindly eye upon the gallant young courtier, Lord Comp on, who aspired to the lady’s hand. Indeed, so little did he approve the youthful swain, that he forbade him to enter his house at Canonbury. But, as Love laughs loud at locksmiths, so did Lord Compton laugh at the alderman. By an astu e device and ingenious stratagem he came to the house disguised as a baker, with many loaves in a huge basket, as those who saw it believed. Returning he encountered the alderman, who commended his enter¬ prise and gave him sixpence, telling him he was on the v/ay to make his fortune, which, indeed, appeared to be true, for, greatly to the civic anger, it was discovered that he had carried away the lady concealed in his basket. l he fury of the alderman was not to be appeased, and even Elizabeth exercised her offices in vain ; but at length, at her request, he consented to be the godfather to an infant, in whom Her Majesty had some interest, and who proved, as he presently learned, to be his own grandson. Then it would appear that a reconciliation was brought about, and the handsome carving and panelling over the mantel-piece in the drawing-room at Compton Wynyates are said to have been brought from the Canonbury house, and the arms of Compton and Spencer are displayed in many parts of the structure. King James I. visited Lord Compton at Compton Wynyates in 1618, the year before he was raised to the Eaildom. Many, indeed, were the royal visits paid to the old Warwickshire mansion. Charles 1. was there in the times of Spencer Compton, the second Earl, who was killed at Hopton Heath in 1643. Considerable alterations were made in the house by the fourth and fifth Earls, and in the time of the eighth Earl, who died in 1796, much waste occurred, whereby the house subsequently fell somewhat into a state of ruin. FOUNTAIN, SUNL'IAL, AND TOWER. COMPTOVX IVY N YATES, ] 21 to < z z-1 > z 0 O o < x. (J o a z < < O LU 122 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. The old timber was cut down on the estates to the value of ,£50,000, but Nature, ever kindly, has long since made good the loss. Happily subsequent possessors have valued the place and restored it, until it has resumed its old splendour, and stands as we depict it. Charles, third Marquess of Northampton, who died in 1877, did a great work in restoring and refurnishing his grand old seat. It would be a pleasure to describe the many splendid chambers of this historic house The great hall, chapel, and dining-room have been alluded to. There is the bed-chamber nf Henry Yl!l., with tire Tudor rose and the devices of Catherine of Aragon in the glass. The council chamber, lire priest's ro m, and the long quarters over the drawing- r am. known as the “Barracks,” are extremely interesting. interests that surround the picturesque house of the Marquess of Northampton, and our illustrations will convey an idea of its structural beauties in stone, brick, and wood, and of the charming manner in which its walls are vested with flower¬ ing growths, these adding their sweeter charms without disguising the details of the admirable structure. It may be interesting to note that the mansion possesses eighty rooms, with seventeen distinct flights of stairs, and 275 glazed windows. There is in the grounds a relic of the old times in a quaint brick dovecote. A stone path, of which some portions may still be seen, led down from the house to the lower end of the pool, where the mill stood, an ice-house now occupying the site, and the water from the moat descended into two stew- ponds, and then to the mill pool. 1 HE PEKGOLA. imes I., and Charles 1., as we have seen, louse, and the room in which Charles slept is ith a spiral staircase by which either the moat part of the house could be reached. Again, the ■ ; ! k es and recesses for men who sought safety in ■ul 1 attract the curious. We are reminded was captured for the Parliament after a three 1 e, 1644, when the Earl of Northampton’s a .lo/en officers and 120 men with horses and I he 1 lace was plundered, and Dugdale P . Jh< ids killed the deer and defaced the i imreh. Sir Charles and Sir William 1 le in effort to recover the house in the next _ re in footing at night in the stables, but they with 1" , and the third Earl retained the estate a heavy composition. The Parliamentary po session until June, 1646. The rve by their name the memory of the when soldiers were quartered in the ,e said enough to show how very great are the The gardens have been greatly beautified, and are maintained with a richness which many possessors of fine gardens might envy. In loveliness, radiance, and sweet appropriateness they are all that we could desire. Excellent green turf occupies in large part the place where the moat once extended, and all about are spread great borders and n asses of those tall-growing hardy flowers which are the glory of gardens from the first days of spring until the winds of autumn have blown. The effect of these splendid glowing flowers is superb, and nothing could excel the extreme beauty of the picture presented by their radiance, contrasted with the dark hue of the brick and stone of the old house and with the dense and luxuriant foliage of the trees that rise in the background. There is little here that is formal in arrangement, but a few hedges and solemn yews serve to unite the character of the old garden and the new. The circular grass plat with the sundial, neighboured again by those hardy perennials, is a centre of interest in the place. The square garden walk is extremely beautiful, and whichever way we look the glorious extent of the park reaching to the tops of the hills fills the mind with satisfaction. That COMPTO&C WYN YATES. 123 THE MOAT GARDEN AT COMPTON WYNYATES GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 124 ACROSS THE MOAT. part of the moat which remains reflects, indeed, scenes th it w< uld be hard to beat, but which the imagination of • who see on; pictures will readily conceive. There is ■ beautiful feature of a pergola to give shade in the heat of the day. Peace and repose, above all things else, invest the ancient >ode. Its a r is that of sequestered calm, as it lies in the "11 ’W in the green cup of the wood-encircled dale. The lights i the picture are in the sky-reflecting moat and the gay splendour of the flowers. The verdant slopes and the fine v. "od.anJ supply the fitting frame. Compton Wynyates has •• i tc i the skill of many artists, and it is truly rich in Cl that is architecturally pictorial — a wonderful grouping of n t in the vared r.u'iine of the structure and in its quaint s, set in the sweetness of its gardens and grounds. It owes much of its glory to the present Marquess of Northampton. The pathway by the dovecote, which has been alluded to, leads to the church. The old edifice suffered much in the Civil War, when the monuments were wasted, but it was rebuilt by James, third Earl of Northampton, in 1663. Some of the memorials had been thrown into the moat, but they were recovered and placed in the new edifice. Among them is the effigy of Sir William Compton, who built Compton Wynyates. He wears a collar of SS. with the Tudor rose. Another figure is that of his grandson, Henry, first Baron Compton, and there are several effigies of ladies and others of the family. Spencer, eighth Earl, was the last to be buried at Compton Wynyates. He died in 1796, and his wife and successors lie at Castle Ashby. Memorial banners and hatchments are also in the church, which form a long and practically complete record of the family of Compton. Whether we regard Compton Wynyates from the point of view of the architect seeking that which is beautiful in brick and stone, or the lover of natural beauty look¬ ing for the charms of a superb English landscape, or of one who finds his joy in the ravishing sweetness of a lovely garden, we recognise that the place deserves to rank very high among the glorious old houses of England. “ Compton Pike” stands above it on the hill, placed there in earlier times, as a guide to those who sought the house which is below in the hollow, and is now a fine standpo.nt for a survey of the country. I HE SUNDIAL. COMPTO^C 1VYN YATES 125 THE SOUTH FRONT AND FLOWER GARDEN AT COMPTON WYNYATES 126 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE PALLAD1 AN BRIDGE AT AMESBURY ABBEY. t 127 ] F^ROM the garden po'nt of view Amesbury is ch'efly . interesting for the richness o its foliage and the superb character of its garden architecture. The place itself is abundantly interesting also, and it is in possible to sav how far its legendary antiquity might be carried back into the dim prehistoric ages. There are those who say that the name signifies “ The Land of Ambrosius,” the Britj-Romai General who came, invited over by Vortigern, to a sist in expelling from Britain the barbarous Saxons. The conventual house of Amesbury is associated with the Arthurian legend as the refuge of Queen Guinevere in her flight. We all know Tennyson’s description of how she came to the “ Holy House at Almesbury,” and received the parting blessing of King Arthur, the “waving of his hands that blest ” as he left her for ever to meet his doom in tire “ Great Battle,” she finally being chosen Abbess. Malory’s account in the “ Morte d’Arthur ” is somewhat different. The site of the convent of Amesbury lies to the east and south-east of the present house, and, tradition tells us, once covered a space of thirteen acres ; at the present day not one stone above ground tells the tale of its former grandeur. The foundations of nuns’ cells have been discovered, however, in many places by digging. The site of the monastery is unknown. Could it have crowned tire great British earthwork (locally known as Vespasian’s Camp and the Ramparts) which surrounds the wood to the west of Amesbury ? Alfred the Great presented tire monasteries of Ambresbury and Banwell to Asser, Bishop of Sherborne, in recognition of his services. Queen L! rida founded the Benedictine Priory at Ambresbury in 9S0, to expiate the murder of her stepson, Edward (the Martyr), at Corfe. Robert of Gloucester alludes to the circumstance. In 1177 Henry 11. dispossessed the nuns, and gave the house to the Abbey of Fontrevault in Normandy. A priest and twenty-four nu is came thence to Ambresbury, and the convent increased in glory and riches. King John conferred upon it important privileges, an 1 Eleanor, sole daughter n, that Mr. Jones was las own architect, and, igned weli and built substantially. The 1 in 1L03, and appears to have been finished ■ it ; t the time was not so larg ■ as now, and the . it one end 1 f it, adjacent to the church, as chamber, which is still shown, while his wife admitted the sour-visaged pursuers. They would not credit her report that she had in the house none but her f.eble father-in-law, her children, and her maid. The tired horse in the stable had told another tale, and they sought through the house, sounding the walls and floors with their pikes and muskets. Failing, however, to discover the secret hiding-place, they expressed their intention of supping in the lady’s chamber, from which it was approached. With a trembling hand but an alert mind did Mistress Jones arouse her maids and set about the pre¬ paration of the meal. Into the wine some drowsy drug was infused poppy or mandragora perhaps — brewing thus a potion that should steal away the Roundheads’ brains and rob them of “the pith and marrow of their attribute.” Lustily they enjoyed the heavy-headed revel, until, one by one, sleep overcame them all ; whereupon their hostess crept in and released her husband, who straightway on the captain’s horse made good his escape. Loud were the imprecations of the deluded Puritans on the muzzy-headed 11 orn when, with aching pates, they rose from the night’s carouse to find the quarry flown. CHAS7LET0&C HOUSE 138 THE PORCH 134 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. The Bible which Charles presented to Bishop Juxon on the scaffold remains in the house, as well as many other relics of the time, including a finely-executed miniature of the King on copper, so contrived that transparencies may be placed ever it, upon which are various pictures representing the different phases of the Monarch’s chequered career. More¬ over, two oaks on the estate were planted to commemorate the Restoration, bur the storm > have laid them low. In 1694 Walter Jones of Chastleton married Anne, daughter of Richard Whitmore of Slaughter, and their son Henry, an ardent J cobite, ended by wasting his substance ; but Henry’s son John, who never married, did a great deal to improve the estate and house. He re-roofed the mansion and carefully repaired its masonry. He appears to have been ai eccentric gentleman, for Miss Whitmore Jones, who has wri ten a brief account of her house, says that, when the workmen had left off, he used to go with his knife and try to pick out the mortar from between the stones, and if he succeeded, the work was be_un again. While it was in progress, he covered the courtyard gates with furze to disappoint the undue curiosity of visitors. Neither Mr. John Jones nor his brother Arthur left any heir, but the estate was bequeathed to John Whitmore, then a boy of fourteen, who was the son of a cousin, and in 1828 the new possessor, who had added the name of Jones to his own, and had married a d a u g h t : e r 0 f Colonel Ch itton of Pensax Court, r e m 0 v ' ed t 0 C h a s t 1 e ton House, w h i c h again became a centre of life in the c ■ untry. Mr. Wh i t m 0 r e Jones, w ho was u n i v e r ■ s a 1 1 y popular, 1 ived the true lift 2 of a cou n t r y g e n t 1 e m a n, maintain ing and improvin , 1st iti ns are all-sufficient as a description. The js jgrey st me and has not been altered in any way. ng liar, with the Dairy Qoqrt. in the middle, and thus retains the character even of an older period than that in which it was built. Internally the work is very fine, and the hall has a notable oak screen, with two segmental arches between elaborated columns, and with richly carved entabla¬ tures. The panelling is also old and good, and the furniture mostly of the period. There is also much ancient armour, some of it belonging to the Civil Wars. The Drawing-room, or Great Chamber, is also very characteristic, with enriched panelling, a splendid armorial mantel-piece, and a pla ter ceiling with pendants. The mullioned windows and Chippen¬ dale furniture complete a charming interior. The White Parlour, another finely panelled chamber, opens from the hall, and the Chestnut Parlour is interesting for its pictures and deep cupboards full of old china. The Catesby Room is also interesting, and there are the Cavalier Chamber, from which the secret room is reached, the State Room, the Library, and, abo e a'l, the very remarkable Long Gallery, with its impres¬ sive panelling and its waggon-headed ornamental ceiling— all very remarkable apartments. Indeed, Chastleton House will cede to few mansions of its kind in the interest of its interior. The Long Gallery is at the top of the house, and runs the whole length of the front, as was customary. The gardens and grounds have interests of their own, and are appropriate in style to the house they adorn. There is a forecourt entered through a c' aracteris ic gateway with pinnacles, the approach flanked by flower-beds, and the enclosure formed by a laurel hedge. The prine pal and character¬ istic feature is the pleasaur.ee of clipped box at the side of the house. Here, enclosed within a circular hedge of ye w, are many curious bushes of box, standing like some DOVECOTE. fantastic ring of servitors about the central sundial. They are of odd and nam less shapes, toads or elves, perhaps — certain of them resembling somewhat an elephant with her young; some of them formed in rings and gl abes, but all of them curious and interesting. Such a garden would not be formed in these days. Antiquity is written upon it, though the precise date of the curious grrdenage is unknown to us. Evidently it belongs to an earlier time, when delight was taken in such quaint conceits. There is no lack of floral adornment, but the box garden is the great feature. There are ample lawns and borders, and everywhere the tre s are particularly fine. The turf walks and formal flower-beds add to the attraction of the place, and in another part of the grounds are the tennis lawns, formed on what was originally the bowling green. There is a memorial of the Jacobite times in the three Scotch firs which stand at the end of the garden by the churchyard. Trees of the kind were extensively planted by the friends of the Pretender before the rising of 1745, and Mr. Henry Jones of that time was an ardent Jacobite and a leading spirit in a Jacobite club in Gloucester. The attractive features of the gardens will not escape those who examine our pictures, which, indeed, describe the place better titan words can, and the surrounding grounds are full of sylvan charm. The old stone dovecote is particularly worthy of no ice. [ 135 ] HE old market town of Cranborne in Dorsetshire, which lies about ten miles north from Wimborne, and known to readers o1 fiction as the “Chasetown” of “Tessof the D’Urbervilles,” the inn there being spoken of in the novel as the “Fleur du Luce,” derived all its ancient im ortance from the neighbour¬ hood of Cranborne Chase, that extensive tract of ancient wood which included parts of Dorset, Hants, and Wilts. Cranborne is no.v more particularly d stinguished in the possession of the marvellously beautiful manor house which we depict. Of all the splendid houses appearing in these pages, though some may be more majestic and magnificent, there are very few that can rival, in their sweet charm of architec ure and surroundings, V is old Dorsetshire dwelling-place The house stands a little to the west of the church, and belongs to the Marquess of Salisbury, by whose care it has been restored. It appears to have been built originally in the time of Henry VIII , though there may even be earlier fragments in the structure, and it was certa nly further embellished by Robert Cecil, the great Lord Treasurer in the time of James L, who was created in 1604 Viscount Cranborne from this Dorsetshire possession, and, in the following year, Earl of Salisbury. The Jacobean porches on ti e north and south belong to his time, and have been attributed to Inigo Jones. We will not aver that they were really designed by him, though it is well known that he worked at Wilton in the next county ; but, whether they were his creation or not, who shall say that they are not in every way worthy of his hand ? To the glory of the early mullioned windows, embattlements, and pinnacles A GRASS WALK. 136 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. they bring an element of classic charm, which seems all in harmony, though its architectural character is not the same. The north porch has a singular fascination in its Italian grace and style, its sculptured adornments of heraldry and strap- work, its arches, niches, and pilasters, and, indeed, combined with the terracing and the stairway, makes a picture of true domestic beauty, the garden foreground adding the final charm. The delicacy of the constructional work is surpassed in few places, and Cranborne Manor House deserves to stand as an architectural triumph of the time. Over the sou h porch, upon which old horse-shoes hang for luck, may be seen the scales of Justice, and Mercy, a female figure, these having allusion to the former use of the great hall at Cranborne for judicial purposes when the baronial and other courts of Cranborne Chase were held there. At the east end they still point cut the dungeon where the offenders on such occasions were often c nfined. Thus does the place take us back to the old days of forest law ana baronial jurisdiction. In a house with such goodly external features, it is pleasant to find corresponding attractions within, and at taste of successive ages, is very impressive, and it will be seen how well the structure falls into those green surroundings. Its terrace is worthy oc Haddon Hall. That feature is great in all the annals of garden ng, the place from which extensive prospects were surveyed, and terraces appear in many forms in the illustrations in these pages. But rarely shall we find anything to surpass, in simple and beautiful character or appropriateness to its surroundings, the te race at Cranborne Manor. The garden below is full of colour and sweetness, and tail hardy flowers margin the delightful pathways of turf. The bowling alley, called to new popularity in the revival of that ancient game of skill, brings back the gay cavalier and the gentlemen of the powdered wig and clouded cane, and the laughter of the ladies of long ago. Now there are few more attractive spots in any garden than a well-shaded bowling green, amid its hedges and trees. William Lawson, “the Isaac Walton of Gardening,” who wrote about three centuries back, like all Englishmen of his time, loved the bowling alley, where, in friendly contest, men might pass the evenings of summer. “ To have occasion to Cranborne Manor liaise no disappointment awaits those ; ... •• l to enter. It was a place fit for kings, and kings often visit -d it. James I. was here on August 17th, 1609, and killed several bucks in the chase, and again in August, 1621, dating thence three letters to his “ sweete Q’ who were then at Madrid on the business of the S; ini' h mariiage. Charles I. was at Cranborne also, but in different circumstances, on October 14th, 1644, during the Civil War, when Waller had been defeated at Cropredy E ;x had surrendered in Cornwall, but when the 1 attle of Newbury was to darken the Royal fortunes. Manor House has still “ King James’s Room,” with ■nt bedstead and ta; e>trv, and Queen Elizabeth’s e ; amo g its treasures. Out of the mullioned windows 1 a >ng the garden alleys, and over the fair courts where the old-fashioned flowers grew, men whose names are in history and fair ladies remembered still for their I lie pieture.>que grouping of the buildings, marking the exercise within your orchard,” he says, “ it shall be a pleasure to have a bowling alley.” True, being “more manly and more healthful! or so he thought it— he would have preferred “a pay re of buttes, to stretch your arms”; but we no longer have butts in our gardens in these days, and those are fortunate who can lay out so sweet a place for their diversion as that good alley in the garden at Cran orne. The ivy-grown entrance lodge, with the arch rising between these two densely vested structures set diagonal-wise, has an individual charm of its own. It deserves to be noted as a suggestion among houses of the class. We do not know anything quite like it. Perhaps, if the ivy did not cl The the arch so closely, the structural features might be a little better seen, but we shall go a long way before we find so pleasant an entrance to so beautiful a place. The opportunities for originality are many, and the garden-maker, even if he foil w the traditional style of his choice, may venture from the beaten track to create some beauty or interest to his mind; and it is not to be denied that this entrance to Cranborne CRANBO%NR (MANOR 137 THE NORTH FRONT OF CRANBORNE MANOR. 138 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. Manor is a very charming and satisfactory example of the architecture appropriate to a garden and estate. The picture brings it before the reader to the very life. There is particular pleasure in publishing th°se pictures. T1 rev represent the house under the happiest circumstances, and a study of their fe itures should be a lesson and an e'xpe rience to him who examines them. He may mark in one of them the very footsteps of the artist upon the dewy grass on that early morning of summer when the pictures were taken. There is an inexpressible hei ght in those floral borders leading up to the exquisite structure of the house. The green lawn creeping up to the wall at the end of the build¬ ing, where the low, broad tower of the church of SS. Mary and B a r tholom e w, dating from Norman to Per¬ pendicular times, is seen rising in the background, completes a pic¬ ture not easily surpassed. 1 he shadowy walks between the tall hedges, the radiant region which lies below the terrace, the glori us prospect of wood and sky, disclosed from the porch a nd the windows of the n ansion —these are among some of the many uteri: s house in the Wet Country. Tire church at C r a ■ b o r n e , or forest which had for its early limits Salisbury, W Iton, Tisbury, Kingsettle near Shaftesbury, Blandford, Wimborne, Ringwood, Fordingbridge, and Downton, It was a Royal possession granted out to great nobles. The Earl of Gloucester had it, but it was in the hands of the Crown in the reign of John. Old Aubrey, gossiping, more suo, of the country and the things he heard in his journeying, says Roger Moi timer owned it, having his castle at Cranborne, and “ if these oakes were vocall as Dodona’s, some of the old dotards (old stagge- headed oakes, so-called) could give us an account of the amours and secret whispers between this great Earle and faire Queen Isabel 1. ’ ’ The chase remained with the Crown from Edward IV. to James 1., and the latter monarch granted it to the Earl of Pembroke, fro n whom it passed through several noble families to Earl Rivers, to whom General Lane- Fox succeeded. It was a green and shadowy region, prized for vert and venison, where often tne hunts- m a n would “ drive the deer with hound and h rn.” “ Merry it is in the ”■ oJ green wool, When the mavis and merle are singing,” trolled the old balladist when he heard the huntsman’s horn. I rue was his song of those privilege J to be merry in the forest, but a hard law lay upon others within the bounds, whic i caused the forests of the king and the great nob'es to be looked upon as the abodes of cruelty. It was a condition of English life r THE SOUTH PORCH. long since passed H away, and in Benedictine Priory, which lost some of i its monks were reduced upon the rebuild- Pr.orv. There are other ancient features ‘ , C.i He Hill, rising about a mile south- 1 .fty mound, with a semi-circular rampart ill, which is reckoned very remaikable is. History is written broadly on the these days it is hard to realise the important part forest¬ land played in rural economy in ancient times, when so much depended upon the chase. Even in Bede’s day, the mighty Andred’s Weald stretched for 120 miles from Hampshire to the Medway, while the counties to the west were thickly overgrown, and vast woods covered what are now the Midland counties and stretched away right into the North. It was as much a capital offence to kill a stag nt times a lordly dwelling- as to kill a man, and by lash or fine the unsuccessful hunts- the I ad of that great chase man was rewarded. Within the bounds no bows mijit be CRANBO%NE {MANOR 139 THE LOGGIA 140 CARDENS OLD AND NEIV. carried save bv licence, and there might be no dogs except mastiffs, these being “ lavved ” by the expedition of claws. J a Ions, indeed, was the watch of verderers, regurders, and other fcrest officers deputed to keep the forest possessions. There were taxes also for the pannage of swine and the agist¬ ment of cattle, and there was a “ chiminagium,” or tax upon carts used for fuel, charcoal, or bark. In short, the code of forest laws and regulations was regarded by the fnglishman as a grievous hardship, and it is not difficult to realise the resentment which they raised. Poaching and outrage inevitably resulted, the forests becoming a byword of reproach, and some . of the conditions which ensued in later times are very curiously illustrated in the history of Cranborne Chase, while many an offender was hauled up for ready justice in the hall of Cranborne Manor. William Chafin, clerk, who wrote “ Anecdotes of Cranborne Chase” in 1818, and who had known the region for upwards of seventy yea s, has many curious things to record concerning the lawless¬ ness that prevailed, and the pages of Hutchins’s “Dorset” tell the same story. Even the men of position in the neighbourhood pursued the evil work of netting game. “ From four to twenty would assemble in the evening, dressed in cap and jack, and quarter-staff, with dogs and nets. Having set the watch¬ word for the night, and agreed whether they should stand or run if they should meet the keepers, they proceeded to the chase, set their nets, let slip their dogs to drive the deer into the nets, a man standing at each end to strangle the deer as soon as they were entangled. Frequent bloody battles took place, and the keepers and sometimes the huntsmen were killed.” Chafin says that he believes a very sanguinary engagement in the parish of Tarrant Gunville was the earliest of the kind in Cranborne Chase. In his day the scene of the affray was called “ Blood)/ Shard,” and the wood within “ Bloodway Coppice.” Another desperate fight took place on Chettle Common on the night of December 17th, 1780, and even ten years later the chase was infested with a “ villainous set of deer slayers.” These were events which still dwell in the memories of THE NORTH-EAST TERRACE. CRANBO%RE {MANOR 141 IN THE NORTH PORCH AT CRANBORNE MANOR. 142 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE GATE-HOUSE those who live at Cranbome. Lord Shaftesbury had dis¬ membered the chase towards the en 1 of the seventeenth century, but even as late as 1828 it contained some 12,000 d er, and had as many as six lodges, each with its “ walk.” T \ 1 years afterwards a change came over the place, for it was : 'forested, arid the reproach was removed, but the chase had come a public evil and a haunt of profligates and smugglers. 1 lie game of Cranbome Chase had been greatly prized. “The deer of the forest of Groveley,” says Aubrey, ‘‘were t e 1 irgest fallow deer in England, but some doe affirm the deer if Cranbome Chase larger than these of Groveley. A glover of i ysbury will give sixpence more for a buckskin of Cranbome Cl .a '(• than of Groveley, and he saies that he can afford it.” the troublous THE BOWLING ALLEY. charm, though the leafy labyrinths of earlier days are replaced in many parts by cultivated spaces. It was as noted for its attractions in former times as it is in these. To quote Aubrey once more, where he speaks of another part of what once was known as the “ King’s Chase,” “ The Arcadia and Daphne is about Fernditch and Wilton, and these romancy plaines and boscages did no doubt conduce to the heightening of Sir Philip Sydney’s phansie.” Lovely is the country about the Manor House still, and readers of Thomas Hardy have dwelt many a time upon his descriptions of its charms and his vivid pictures of its life and character. It is a land of hill and hollow, wood and meadow, that enframes the beautiful Tudor and Jacobean struc¬ ture, and forms the foil to the loveliness of its fragrant gardens. They are gardens of simple beauties, their attraction resid¬ ing principally in the old mossy terrace, the long flower borders, the green alleys and lawns, and the charms of the neighbouring woodland. They are trim and yet not formal, planned with art and yet natural. They are main¬ tained as all gardens that are loved and valued are kept — admirable there¬ fore for en¬ joyment and example. [ ] THIS very fine and impressive Tudor mansion is a good example of the timbered architecture of England. In the forest days, when timber was in plenty and stone costly or difficult to procure, wood and brick were the materials with which the knight and peasant constructed their picturesque abodes. The skill of the architect and the builder was such that the tough oak beams, well jointed in the framework, pegged and mortised together, have withstood the storms of centuries in many a place until to-day. Fragments of such archhecture may be seen all through England, frequently in the level plains, and more seldom when the hills betoken the presence of stone. They remain in rustic places, with pleasant gardens about them, but not many are the examples preserved so well as Mere Hall, or so suitably adorned with gardens such as we depict. The timber style of architecture is generally associated with Lancashire and Cheshire. In the oldest houses a low stone wall carries the timber framing, and in the earlier examples, as at Tabley, Baguley, Smithells, and Samlesbury, the beams are of enormous size. The framing took a rectangular form, with diagonal struts, as at Mere Hall, and olten, as in the upper works and gables there, was enriched by picturesque adornment. The panels were usually filled with a basket-work osier foundation, covered with clay strengthened with straw or reeds, and finished with plaster within and without, which sometimes was worked in crnate patterns. The gables were enriched with pinnacles and elaborate barge-boards, and the mullions and the window heads were beautifully moulded and sculptured. The chimney stacks were of brick or stone, and usually lofty and striking features of the mansions. The position of such houses was usually capable of defence. Sometimes the house was on a steep river brow; often, like a Roman station, it lay in the fork of two rivers or streams, or it was entirely defended by a moat ; and rareiy, as at Tabley Old Hall, it stood detached upon an island. To endeavour to delineate the dwellings of our ancestors is a tempting quest, and there is the rarest fascination in the attempt to penetrate their recesses, to sit, as it were, in their lofty bays, it may be even discover their hiding-places, and to issue from the hall and the porch, perhaps by a drawbridge, into the sweet gardens without. But we must not dwell much longer upon structural matters here. Our purpose is with the delightful Worcestershire house in the salt region of Droitwich, which demands attention, with its long succession of gables and gablets, its octagon turret, and the tall chimneys all grouped, in that delightful garden, against a beautiful back¬ ground of trees. The approach is very charming, for the way is along a splendid avenue of ancient elms, some of them THE FiSH-FOND. 144 Gardens old and nev/. THE OLD GARDEN WALL. THE GkEAT ELM AVENUE MERE HALL. 145 THE ENTRANCE FRONT AND FORECOURT. 146 GARDENS OLD AND NEW . still in their prime, but others giving evidence of their antiquity in their worn and riven crests. Then we reach those splendid wrought-iron gates, with the lofty metal piers, admirable examples, set in a semi-circle of masonry, and so reach the forecourt and the porch, noticing first the exceedingly quaint summer-houses on either side of the gate, which seem to have been added in the time of Queen Anne. Mere Hall is one of the most important houses of the class in Worcestershire, and has a symmetrical character of its own. Its plan is that of the simple manor house, with the “ great hall” in the centre, where were the usual arrangements of mediaeval times more or less developed, high table, canopy, bay, and fireplace, perhaps with the screen and lobby. On the right is the dining-room, where, we may surmise, were the domestic offices in the old time, and on the left the drawing¬ room, with the library behind. About the year 1828 Mr. Habershon, author of ‘‘The Ancient Half-Timbered Houses of England,” made considerable alterations and additions here ; but he seems not to have for the more intimate character which should be found in the gardenage of ancient timber architecture, we shall probably arrive at the conclusion that simplicity and richness should distinguish it. There may well be, as at Mere Hall, fine hammered iron gates as an approach, and there may be enclosed gardens with yew hedges and quaint garden- houses, as at this attractive Worcestershire seat. It will be particularly observed that the lawns sweep up to the base of the structure, and that nothing conceals the design. The grass frontage without terrace seems to be usual in the case of houses of this class, as may be seen in the Lan cashire examples. The situation of Mere Hall is typical of that of most such buildings, being level and grassy. Terracing would, indeed, have been out of place, and the simple effect is perfectly good without it. Flowers in abundance are invited to reveal their charms, and there are many very fine evergreen bushes, which add to the winter beauty of the place. The broad grouping of the antique mansion, with its lawn gardens and trees, as seen from the pond, is admirable. AN OLD GARDEN-HOUSE. changed the main plan, while extending the structure behind the dining-room, where now are the kitchens and offices. His account of it is interesting. The place, as he says, is in Hanbury parish, and it lies about three miles from Droitwich, on the Alcester road, and has been in the possession of the family of its present owner for many generations. The hill behind is lofty and covered with wood, and forms a fine back¬ ground to the structure, besides sheltering the garden. 1 lie date 1335 is roughly carved on an upper beam between two 00m windows, and it has been suggested that this • a mistake for 1535. The date, however, is plain, nd it is known that the house was built by I homas Eearcroft of the time, and the edifice has an early simplicity. Our ) ture> will show how a more modern hand — • i it i,.!'. ' I" on that of Mr. Habershon ? — has substituted of “carpenter’s gothic” for the od mullioned and leaded windows. It will now be asked what kind of garden should lie about such a picturesque house as this. The grand avenue of < 1ms be appropriate to any stately mansion, but if we look Obviously, where houses are built of timber and plaster, there should be some reluctance to allow green things to cling too closely. This rule appears to have been applied at Mere Hall, where only on the chimney-sta ks are climbers suffere.1 to intrude. There is much attraction and beauty in the garden that will please every taste, and the brick garden walls are richly festooned with flowering plants. Such things will be appreciated from our pictures, and further description would be superfluous. One very great charm of the p ace is the broad sweep of the park that surrounds it, gaining greatly in its nobility from the truly splendid trees that flourish in that deep soil. The fish-pond was a common feature in the old gardens of such houses as this, and the large expanse of water which we depict is perhaps the survival of that mere which doubtless gave name to the place. It may be added that the gardens are maintained in that state of perfection which is the final charm of all good gardens. Mere Hall is an attractive addition to our series of garden pictures, standing amid truiy beautiful surroundings. [ 147 1 SUSSEX is one of those English counties which have seen a wondrous deal of the national and personal life of our countrymen. There is scarcely a Sussex village that is not in some measure a landmark of history, and if, sometimes, the solitary hamlet seems cut off from the busy hum of the urgent world, living amid the folds of the hills an uneventful life of its own, be sure that in its annals there have been stirring events or curious happenings to record. No part of England bears witness to greater changes in the physical aspect of the land than this southern fringe. Richly wooded still, much of it was possessed long ago by the great area of forest and waste which bore the name of the Andred’s Weald, and when fiiUa and Cissa “ beset Anderida, and slew all that were therein, nor was there afterwards one Briton left,” the warlike chieftains saw a country covered mile after mile beyond with dense thickets that have now given place to the wide meadow, the cornfield, and the fruitful orchard. It is a county rich in passages of sylvan beauty, and dignified in many places, as at Parham Park, by the possession of old ancestral trees of mighty growth and splendid mould. The open heights of the Downs, with their subtle effect of atmosphere and distance, their changing hues and individual character, their romantic prospects of land and sea, have a fascination which none who know them can resist. Nestling below their southern slopes, and sheltered from the chilling blasts, are many quaint and picturesque villages, and near them not a few of the houses of the great, who have chosen this favoured region as one desirable to dwell in. Parham Park, the stately seat of Lord Zouche, is THE GATE AND THE VISTA. 143 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. pre-eminently one of these. It is, indeed, one of the most important and stately old mansions in Western Sussex — a charming architectural creation, with noble gardens and a beautiful park, lying at the foot of the Downs, ani having behind it a hill commanding a great prospect of land and sea, with the Isle of Wight to close the view. The house has been restored by judicious hands, so that it bears the true aspect of that spacious age in which it was built. It stands where the expansive level of the lower country melts insensibly into the graceful upland curves, and the broad acres smile under their ample share of the sunlight. Before the Conquest, the Abbot of Westminster held Parham Manor, but one Tovi, a freeman, was settled there. The place was numbered among the broad possessions of Earl Roger, and in the centuries that followed passed through the families of St. John and Tregoz, Edward Tregoz having been lord in 1399, after which period Parham seems to have lapsed to the Crown. The Abbots of Westminster continued, however, to hold the manor, and no confirmation of the tradition, but it is worthy of remark that the date 1583 and the Queen’s arms occur on the wall at the upper end of the lull. The present flat ceiling is of the same date, and it is suggested that it may not have been originally there. Whether that be the case or not, this construction has enabled the beautiful long gallery to be erected, a feature quite characteristic of the time, though rarely found, perhaps, in the same relative position. The gallery at Parham is lined with portraits of the Bisshopps and their connections, including one of Henry Bisshopp, a stout Royalist, who was concealed here from t le Parliamentary forces, and who is represented with a dog which shared his hiding-place, and on whose silence his fate depended. Entered from this gallery is a small chapel, with a curious Jacobean wooden font. The hall below is lighted by four large windows, 24ft. high, and, according to the custom of the times, has a carved oak screen at the lower end, which is good, and DENOTES THE TIME ON BRASS AND BOX. at the Dissolution their possession came to the King. Parham was thereafter sold to Robert Palmer, third son of Thomas Palmer, of Angmering, the sale being effected in 1540, at tl price of ^1,2:5 6s 5d., and a yearly rental of N6 as. 4d. We io not know what manner of house stood on the site at the time, but some parts of a mediaeval dwelling-place are in'. oJi-d in th existing structure. Thomas Palmer, the new o vner’s son, completed the house almost as it stands to-day, nd enclose 1 a park, and Sir Thomas Palmer, Robert’s 1 ! 1, sold the estate in 1597 to Sir Thomas Bisshopp, S> cp tary of State under Sir Francis Walsingham. The house is built of chalk from the Downs, faced with v - , and its south and west fronts are excellent work of jethan date. The trace of the modern hand is still upon jeture, but where should we wish to see better work of n that glorious hall window of many lights, crested les and picturesque chimneys above? In 15 u, Queen Elizabeth is said to have visited Sir Pa ’s house, and to have dined in the newly- Imished hall, on her way to Cowdray. There seems to be in very perfect preservation. The north and east sides of the house belong to the reign of Henry VIII , and some parts to a still earlier date. The kitchen is remirkable as being identical in plan with that of Christ Church, Oxford, and is a cube of 25ft., with two great fireplaces beneath Gothic arches, 14ft 6in. wide. The house passed, after the death of Sir Thomas Bisshopp, through the hands of many descendants, and has never since been alienated, but has been transmitted through female heirs. Sir Cecil Bisshopp, second bironet, made some changes in the mansion, about 1710, rather pre¬ judicial to its character, and the port co on the south side seems to have been refaced about that time. The “ Topographer” of 1791 figures the house, and remarks that the windows were rendered uniform by new sashes, though some still remained in their original state. “The workmen are now, in the absence of the family, making similar alterations, and adding and refitting several rooms.’’ At the same time, though the old was being destroyed, something of sham antique had been added in the shape of “ castellated stables PA 1{HAM PARK . 149 THE BARON S WINDOW 150 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. of rough stone work.” In Neale’s “Views of Seats,” published in 1828, ti e gables are not shown, the projecting bays having then been given segmental tops and plain sash windows. Happily, since that time the ho :se has been well restored, and on the south side fine bay windows have been added in admirable keeping with the old. Sir Cecil Bisshopp, the eighth baronet, who was con¬ cerned in modernising the house, succeeded in establishing his claim to the ancient barony of Zouche of Haryingworth, in 1S15. William de la Zouche, lord of that place, was summoned to Parliament as a Baron, 1308-14, and his honours rested with his descendants, of whom five immediately following bore his name of William. John, the seventh baron, was attainted in 1485, but his attainder was reversed, and the barony of Zouche, to which that of St, Maur had been added, continued with his descendants until it became abeyant between his two daughters, and so remained until Sir Cecil Bisshopp, sixth in descent from the elder daughter, Elizabeth, succeeded, as we have said, in establishing his claim to the title. At his death it again became abeyant between two daughters, but a year later the abeyance was terminated in favour of the elder of them, who had married the Hon. Robert Curzon, M P. This lady was succeeded in the title by her son, Robert Curzon, the fourteenth baron, father of the present Lord Zouche, in 1870. The late Lord Zouche was a nobleman of fine taste, who richly stored his house with I re ious things. He made a great collection of early armour, and the display at Parham was almost unrivalled, while the _ol 1 and silver plate and ivory carvings were very beautiful, and the library was rich in ancient manuscripts. Lord Zouche, whose book, “The Monasteries of the Levant,” is well known, brought much armour from the East, some of it from church of St. Irene at Constantinople, which had been warn by the defenders of the Palaeologi against the Turks in 1452. The collection also includes three complete suits of o ir of 1 Co, 1250, and 1350, and complete suits of Gothic armour, with pointed toes, prior to 1452, as well as many at- and several cross-hiked swords. Lord Curzon ri In collection in the Archaeological Journal, XXII. , 1 . Mo t of the precious manuscripts from the library have ove 1 to the British Museum. In the hands of the n, the great house at Parham was well cared r i lustrations will show that the place is maintained 1 perfect state and order. 1 II leave our pictures to tell the story of the They have a simple, natural character, lint features, like the sundial which tells the upon brass, while the pillar casts its shadow r.vn dial of box which surrounds it. There u’oad law ns on the south side, between the house and the . J ch iron, and the trees are everywhere magnificent. The avenue and the old dovecote make a delightful picture, and the kitchen garden is florally adorned. There are quaint gate¬ posts and iron gates, and pathways in sun and shade, where it is pleasant to linger, and everywhere is a lavish array of flowers. The park is famous among the many beautiful parks of Sussex, and has interests that are quite its own. Knox, in his “ Ornithological Ramble in Sussex,” rightly speaks of it as a forest-like park, or rather chase, with its thickets of birch and whitethorn, and its wide-branched elms and oaks, the latter especially grand and picturesque. On every side it is a realm of sylvan beauty, and a background of green hill is seen here and there between the splendid masses of foliage. In the deer park a pond called Wood Mill Pond reflects a charming land¬ scape, and as we traverse the open expanses remains of a considerable village are found. Adjoining the deer park is a large wmod, called the North Park, where the pines and spruce firs are glorious. Knox speaks with enthusiasm of the most interesting heronry there. “ Advancing with the utmost caution, the visitor may perhaps invade the colony without disturbing them, and hear the indescribable, half- hissing sound uttered by the young birds when in the act of being fed. The slightest noise, however, even the snapping of a stick, will send the parent birds off at once. The herons assemble early in February, and then set about repa ring their nests, but the trees are never entirely deserted during the winter months, a few birds, probably some of the more backward of the preceding season, roosting among their boughs every night.” The herons begin laying early in March, and from the time the young birds are hatched until late in the summer the parent birds forage for them day and night. Their food consists of fish, and of reptiles and insects, which their lengthened tarsi and acute serrated bills enable them to seize in the shallow waters of the rivers, or in lakes or marshes which are their haunt. The history of the heronry at Parham is curious. The ancestors of the birds were brought originally, it is believed, to Penshurst by the steward of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, from Coity Castle in South Wales, and at Penshurst the herons remained until the beginning of the nineteenth century, when, some of their nesting trees being cut down, they resented the intrusion, and migrated to Michelgrove, some fifty miles south¬ west of Penshurst, and six or seven south of Parham. The proprietor at Michelgrove having cut some of his trees, the birds migrated again, and established themselves at Parham in 1826. Some of them were alarmed once more by the trees there being pruned, and they then betook themselves to Arundel, about six miles away, but came back after a while, and increased and multiplied, being thereafter disturbed only by the thieving rooks. The heronry adds much interest to the ferny deeps and the glorious old oaks, pines, and firs of Parham Park. The house, according to a common custom, stands near the church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, and is interesting and picturesque, and has a curious leaden font dating from 1351. Beyond the sacred edifice the hill breaks suddenly into a declivity, giving a wide prospect over the plain, in a manner quite characteristic of this part of Sussex. The valley of the Arun opens, as it approaches the sea, into wide and level expanses, and thus from all the hills thereabout these great views are disclosed. It is a beautiful and attractive country in which Parham Park lies. THE HOUSE AND CHURCH. PATyHAM PARK. 151 . ' 'V‘ ■ ^.vf^Wv'/G' *£ w /♦ '''&&*!■ y * JR 1 W - ‘V "T>- A‘l£f ;«Wf"^-‘V- £ r < GARDEN PATHWAY AT PARHAM [ 152 ] ANY fine houses and beautiful gardens are in the Wessex county of Dorset. The land is rich and fruitful— if not pre-eminently in cornland, yet in the abundant pastures wlrch maintain those splendid herds that make Dorsetshire one of the chief dairying counties in England. In traversing it fi om north to south the wayfarer passes through scenery that is wonderfully varied and singularly picturesque. He journeys through a great pastoral land, much diversified by hill and hollow, with hawthorn hedges and apple orchards, and many a farmhouse and cottage nestling among the trees, and presently he sees rising before him the edges of the calcareous hills which lie between that lower country and the sea. From the heights there are distant prospects over the land to the hills which everywhere shut in the view, unless it be where the glistening waters of the Channel, like a burnished shield, make a fair margin to the outlook on the south. In ancient days the country by the rivers was rich in a dense forest, in whose glades the grunting porkers fed on the mast of beech and oak. Can we not hear them still when we pass through that village significantly named of old Latinity Teller Porcorum ? By that way we may go in a wayfaring from the direc¬ tion of Dorchester by the valley of the Frome to the village of Mapperton, which lies between Toller “of the Pigs ’’ and Beaminster. As the crow flies, Mapperton lies some seven miles from the sea at Bridport Harbour and within a short two miles of Beaminster. It is not forgotten that this is a region made known through the Wessex novels of Thomas Hardy. Bridpoit is the “ Port Breedy “of “ Tess of the D’Urbervilles,” near which place she did dairy work in her days of trouble ; while Beaminster is the Emminster of the novel, the “hill-surrounded little town, with the Tudor church tower of red stone, and the clump of trees near the vicarage,” where the father of Angel Clare was incumbent. Through the district of Mapperton, then, we may follow Tess in some of her weary journeys. It is now time to turn to the mansion we depict, and we shall not err if we extol its true old English domestic iafeK . hLiwJi 'W : A . - vJ wKXSm-M THE OLD GARDEN AND GRASS TERRACE. (MAPPER TOUR? HOUSE . 153 ¥?Wf& gag ' ~****KQI H • . y * " y m&l ■ • .?r ' ' w ill . si .V..»gr »*•**■• ItirA+ilhiL _*&**«& &I if '• , I MAPPERTON HOUSE FROM THE FORECOURT. 154 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. picturesqueness. There are greater places of more stately aspect, richer in their adorn¬ ments and grander in their proportions, but it is difficult to imagine anything more attractive than that front of this Dorsetshire house which lodes out :nto the grassy fore¬ court. The place is said to have been erected in the time of Henry VII., and there is little doubt that some parts of it go back mani estly many details belong to a more recent date, when the Renaissance had carried the classic spirit into the domestic architecture of Eng¬ land. Many additions were made in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and the balustrade is peihaps of that time, and later than the structure itself. Much older certainly is the wing which looks into the forecourt from the side, with its extremely quaint angle drafts and the singular beauty • f its mullioned windows, and to a much later date belong the vert- fine and characteristic gate-posts crested by eagles with expanded wings. In the time of Henry 1 the manor belonged to a family bearing the name of Bryte, and, after passing through many 1 /ands, it came in 1604 bv marriage to Richard Broderipp, from whose family it went, again by marriage, to that of the present owner, for Catherine Richards, the great-grandd lighter of Richard Broderipp, married in 1780 Mr. John Compton of the Manor House, Minstead, who was the grandfather of the late THE AVENUE AND STABLES. Mr. Henry Compton. In the hands of successive owners the place has undergone various modifications, but there is nothing to mar its extremely beautiful character. It will be observed that great richness characterises the house. Externally, the twisted clvmneys, the finely moulded mullions and transoms, the admirable character of the doorway and porch adornments, and the well-proportioned feature of the balustrade, are exam¬ ples of what we say. It will be remarked also that the bays of the structure are extremely fine, and that the gateway has a strongly individualised character. Within, the ceiling of the THE HENRY VII. WING. (MAPPERTOi Af HOUSE. 155 drawing-room is an admirable example of plaster-work, with pendants and fleurs-de-lys in the panels, and a frieze very richly worked with medallions, while the wainscoting of the rooms is extremely good. In various places in the structure the armorial bearings of the owners are sculptured and emblazoned characteristically. Externally, the heraldic figures on the octagonal turrets and spiral pedestals are very good. What shall we say about the gardens of this sweet Dorsetshire house ? They are simple as such gardens should be. The mansion itself is richly vested with ivy and climbing roses, though nowhere to the obscuring of its architectural features. Tall gate-posts crowned with balls open to the avenue between the house and the outbuildings, which last are among the quaintest imaginable. The gardens cover about four acres, and have a sweet and attractive character, without strongly marked features, though the long grass slopes, forming terraces, are quite characteristic and good. The presence of many trees adds very greatly to the charm of the place. They are in much variety, which has been increased by the care devoted to judicious planting, and flowering trees district is given up to dairy farming, and Hardy took his pictures of farming life from what he had seen and observed in these Dorsetshire hills and valleys. Beaminster is, in fact, the centre of a district famous for the “Double Dorset” or “Blue Vinny ” cheese, and the hills that surround the town are mostly occupied by the farms, but in the broader valleys the farms are generally larger, and produce immense quantities of butter and cheese. The traveller who has passed over the chalk downs and cornlands, where the sun blazes upon the fields, is delighted to look over the lower country devoted to dairy farming, where the lanes are white and the darker network of the hedges overspreads the paler green of the grass. As Thomas Hardy says of the Vale of Blackmoor, with slight exceptions, the prospect in such places is a broad rich mass of grass and trees mantling minor hills and fair, pastoral dales. The forests, as we said, have departed, though some old customs that belonged to them seem still to be retained. The produce of the Mapperton district is carried for country consumption into Beaminster and other towns. The main line of the South Western Railway is a few miles to the north, but nearer at hand |3| HHH i ijjl §gj fey-- ■ . . ^JiPIrllif ' Wi! •jgSgEg.jH THE ENTRANCE GATES. •are one of the principal attractions, though the tall elm and the spreading chestnut seem to predominate. The broad-leaved plane and the nodding birch are of the goodly company, and have their part in the sylvan charms of these Dorset valleys. Mapperton House has fine lawns and ample parterres, and it will be remarked that the green grass space in the forecourt, running quite up to the walls of the house, is a pleasant relief to the grey stone of the structure. The country about, as has been said, is very picturesque and varied, for the house stands in a fairly elevated situation, but sheltered by the hills and having a conical height called Chart Knoll on the north-west. Nearly the whole of the is the line that runs from Bridport to Maiden Newton, on the Great Western Railway from Yeovil to Dorchester and Weymouth. Bridport is an ancient town, celebrated once for the making of what were known as “Bridport daggers,” being the hempen cords with which malefactors were hung. Enough has been said, however, to show that the district which surrounds the house we illustrate is as interesting as that attractive structure itself, and with this remark we shall leave a place which we are very glad to include in this series of illustrations of the famous houses and gardens of England. 156 Gardens old and new. THE LONG TERRACE AT DRUMLANRIG FROM THE SOUTH-WEST I 157 ] MANY are the honours and high the titles that belong to the Duke of Buccleuchand Queensberry. Of seats, too, his Grace has many, to wit: the famous house of Dalkeith, near Edinburgh; Drum- lanrig Castle and Langholm Lodge, Dumfriesshire; Eildon Hall, near St. Boswell’s; and Bowhill, near Selkirk; and a Northamptonshire house as well. Truly, a goodly heritage and a rich, well worthy of a great peer of the realm. It is with the beautiful Dumfriesshire domain of Drumlanrig that we are concerned here — well named from the “drum,” or long “rig,” or ridge, at the end of which it stands, looking down upon the Marr Burn, and commanding a noble prospect of the valley of the Nith, with mighty Criffel, near the borderland, to close the distant view. The branch of the great house of Douglas from which the Duke is descended flourished here more than five hundred years ago, when David II. in 1356 confirmed the barony to William Lord Douglas— a wide territory stretching from the Marr Burn, along the western side of the Nith, into Sanquhar Parish, and including some lands on the other side of the river. The first Baron of Drumlanrig was Sir William Douglas, living at the clo.-e of the same century, from whom was descended William, first Viscount Drumlanrig, and afterwards Earl of Queensberry. Some remains of the old castle are embodied in the present structure, which itself dates from 1679-89, and was built by William, first Duke of Queensberry. Doubtless it was a good castellated mansion that had stood there before. A solid, imposing structure is Drumlanrig Castle, four square to the winds of heaven, with a mighty turret, four-pinnacled, at every angle, and between the turrets curtain walls, as in some feudal stronghold, the stout walls full of windows and crested by an attractive balustrade. The details are very good, and a beautiful segmental double stairway on the north front is particularly fine. Below are the terraces and gardens, and a long flight of broad steps, forming the great ascent, is the approach on one side. A vast work was done by Duke William in raising the ponderous pile, laying out the gardens, and thickening the woods by new plantations. He seems to I THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 158 GARDENS OLD AND NEIV. have regretted the expense, however, and would have buried the memory of it. Tradition, at any rate, asserts that he tied up the papers containing the accounts of his outlay and placed upon the packet the inscription, “ The Deil pike out his een wha looks herein.” But the Duke built well, and all around are evidences of his taste and discrimination. Dr. C. T. Ramage, who has written an account of the place, says it is recorded that, when the castle was building, “Sir Robert Grierson of Lag gifted to Queensberry eleven score of tall stately oaks out of Craignee Wood for joists to the said house, and could spare a good cut off the thick end of them.” Of course since that time many changes have passed over the structure, and its surroundings grievously suffered at the hands of ‘‘Old Q.” ; but it has been judiciously restored to a state far better than the old, though the trees that Queensberry ruthlessly cut down will be long in growing again. Spacious and noble is the interior, and in its many a large gravel walk down betwixt them from the south parterre to the cascade.” The cascade no longer exists, but it appears that the present generation had knowledge of it, for its remains were there, plashing out by the leaden figure of a man, well known as ‘‘Jock o’ the Horn.” It is a charming spot where the peasantry say the elves still dance in the moonlight. Mr. Rae’s description admirably pictures the character of the old gardens, which in great part still survives. They were laid out in terraces ; they were divided into formal parterres ; and they were natural only where Nature compelled them to wildness. Pennant also describes the old gardens as he found them in 1772 on his journey through Scotland. He says that he saw there a bird cherry of a great size, “ not less than 7ft. 8in. in girth, and among several silver firs one 1 3 J f t . in diameter.” The bird cherry is no longer there, and no fine silver firs remain, but an excellent specimen of the common Scotch fir, A MARBLE VASE. r< . ni- bang a large number of portraits of the Douglases and We may now enter the magnificent terraced gardens, ! ich deserve to rank with the best gardens of Scotland. Fortunately an early description of them has been preserved, b in a manuscript history of Durisdeer (in which parish brundanrig lies) by the Rev. Peter Rae (1700-40), quoted Dr. Ramage: “The gardens of Drumlanrig are very eautiful, and the rather because of their beauty. The regular gardens, with one designed to be made on the back of the plumbery, the outer court before the house, and the house it if, make nine square plots of ground, whereof the kitchen a , 1I1 court before the house, and the garden designed ti . we; mv lady Duchess’s garden, the house, and the an 1 the flower garden make other three, that is all, and the castle is in the centre. Only as to the last ■ sti rnmo t is always more than a story above st. As 10 those called irregular gardens, because the Parkburn would not allow them to be square, rn pretty and well suited to one another. They f Vi ginin, the other Barbadoes ; there goes close to the old cascade, measures nearly 11ft. in girth at the base. Pennant also described the gardens as “ most expensively cut out of a rock,” doubtless referring to the magnificent terrac¬ ing and the stairways. Not much rock-cutting appears, however, to have been required ; the natural slope of the ground gave the advantage which the garden architect and designer have taken full advantage of. The great and stately ascent, broad and massive, leads up to a magnificent terrace, skirting the south front below a grass slope, and at the west end is a fine formal parterre, laid out gaily and characteristically. Ivy climbs up the terrace wall, from which there is a glorious outlook. The High White Garden, with its gleaming pathways, is a purely formal parterre in the grand style, and has a semi¬ circular garden at its termination below the wood. The American garden is analogous, and a like character is found elsewhere. I he contrast relieves the formal character of the grounds, and the woodland that enframes them enhances the effect of both, and the park is full of charm, while the landscape surveyed from the height is truly superb. Taken altogether, the scene is very characteristic and eminently pleasing. ‘DRUMLAS^RIG CASTLE. 159 THE HIGH WHITE GARDEN. 160 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE HALF-CIRCLE. As in all old Scotch parks, the trees are noteworthy at Drumlanrig. Two Scotch firs in Auchenaight Wood are remark , hie, and some of the yew trees are still larger. An d: tree, which grew on the edge of what is known as Gallows F it, is probably the oldest tree in the park. The woods of 1 mimlanrig were glorious in the eighteenth century, but before their knell had been sounded. They perished at the of iniquitous “Old Q.,” fourth Duke of Queensberry, .• memory remains as the type of an old roue — “ That ash’d, in-worn fragment of the court.” It is said that he a led his grounds at Drumlanrig, and round Niedpath Castf-, near Peebles, about 1798, in order to furnish a dowry Maria Fagniani on her marriage to the Earl of Yarmouth. He believed the lady to be his daughter, and a like idea of Iso induced George Selwyn to bestow upon her a ", though malicious tongues averred that both of 1 : 1; 1 Wordsworth pour indignation on the Duke of Queensberry’s wicked old head : I) r" iKiat‘ Douglas; oil, the unworthy Lord! \\ i.'iin mere despite of heart could so far please, And love of havoc for with such disease I aiiir him 1. that lie could send forth word To level with the dust a noble horde, A brotherhood of venerable trees, iving in ancient dome and towers like these ^ -ared and outraged ! Many hearts deplored The fate of these old trees; and oft with pain The traveller, at this day, will stop and gaze < Ml wrong which Nature scarcely seems to heed; J '■! sheltered places, Lo-oins, nooks, and hogs, And the pure mountains, and the gentle Tweed, And the silent pastures, yet remain.” And Burm denounced the degenerate Duke also, in verses, wherein he describes the waving woods as fancy painted them, and demanded of his interlocutor whence came the destruction. “ Old Q.” died before his work was done, but he had cut down the wood on one side of the Yeochan ; on the other side it still remains. Many stories are told of the destruction. One is to the effect that the Earl of Dalkeith, who inherited the estate from the destroyer, hearing what was going on, bought back some of the trees from the company which had purchased them. The gentry round endeavoured to save them, and Sir Charles Mentieth used to say that he bought back the oak tree near the castle. The despoiled estate came into the hands of Henry Duke of Bucdeuch in 1810, and he at once undertook the work of replanting and of restoring what had perished, with excellent effect, for Nature, ever kindly, has, as Wordsworth long since suggested, forgotten “ Old Q.,” and the woods and gardens are rich and admirably kept. A fine avenue of lime trees runs down from the castle, and tradition says that Charles Duke of Queensberry, who formed it, was having the ground levelled with the intention of carrying the avenue forward for upwards of a mile, when he heard that his son Henry had met with an untimely end, whereupon in his sorrow he desisted, and not until a century later was his idea carried into execution. The finest oak in the park is a grand patrician tree, standing apart from all its kind, more than 83ft. high, with a girth, at 4ft. from the ground, of 14ft. 6in., and a spread of branches of 90lt. Another fine oak is at the foot of the hill close to the castle. There are magnificent beeches also, and grand sycamores and limes, which were spared the work of the destroyer’s hand. Formerly a herd of wild cattle roamed the park, described by Pennant in 1770 as retaining primeval savageness and ferocity combined with timidity— descendants of the old Urus sylvestris, it is supposed. How the herd died out is not known. In every way a grand, characteristic, and beautiful domain is that of the Duke of Bucdeuch and Queensberry at Drumlanrig. [ 161 ] in which Sir Henry Lennard’s house stands, while possessing all the charms of hill and wood scenery, are yet within easy reach of the metropolis. Through the county ran the great road which was the avenue of communication with the Continent, and important men in every century came and went that way. The history of Kent is therefore in a manner the history of the country at large. The Romans have left their traces at Richborough, Reculver, Dover, Lympne, and many other places. The royal palace at Eltham, the stately house of Cobham, the famous mansions of Penshurst and Knole, the old manor house of Ightham, the historic walls of Hever and Leeds, the quaint dwelling of Groom- bridge, and many other like places, distinguish it greatly. West Wickham is known to Londoners as lying in the vicinity of the commons of Hayes and Keston, and the varied country thereabout. It will ever be re¬ membered that this was a region beloved by the famous Pitt, who lived at Holwood House, two miles south of Hayes. “When a boy,” said Lord Bathurst to the poet Rogers, “ Pitt used to go a-birdnesting in the woods of Holwood, and it was always, he told me, his wish to call it his own.” In Holwood Park, just on the descent into the vale of Keston, at the font of an old oak tree, Pitt and Wilberforce dis¬ cussed and settled tire Slavery Abolition Bill in 1788, and there Wilberforce resolved to give notice of it in the House of Commons. J hnson, in his life of Gilbert West the translator of Pindar, another celebrity of this district, says that there was at Wickham a walk made by Pitt, and “what is of far more importance, at Wickham Lyttelton received that conviction which produced his ‘ Dissertation on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. Paul.’” Lyttelton and Pitt, the great lexicographer tells us, were ac¬ customed to visit West at Wick¬ ham, when they were weary of factions and debates, and to find there books and quiet, a decent table, and literary con¬ versation. THE county of Kent is richer than most shires in ecclesi¬ astical and domestic architecture. It is famous also for many other things — for luxuriant woods and pastures, and beautiful hop gardens which emulate the vineyards of France, while, as one writer has said, its great houses challenge comparison with the historic chateaux of the Loire. Some portions of the county, like that THE TERRACE STAIRWAY. 162 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. GRASS WALK BETWEEN DENSE YEW HEDGES. WICKHAM CO UR. I 163 ; * ltM^y-/-. .. o. Yu.-;, -osc vyK, Mr DV: Ov '-' ' • ' •; " VTk' • ’■ EjI ssip^ g&:.y wSRml - fsxSVSzi '-. I flj? - -'-^t 3Sjr^j^^Bjl3BSm fc~* jBf-yC!’' ^hTTS *~ - ’C5C ~ 'r f . ;r"~^ ®f^Sf - aHBioiepKgf*^SiiHMi^KSSjSwBSr'^«^ -:- .r: CANTERBURY BELLS ANL) FREE-GROWING BORDERS. 164 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. The ancestors of Sir Henry Lennard are of old standing in this part of Kent. In the time of Edward II., the manor of Wickham was the property of the Huntingfields, of whom Sir Walter, for his advantage, procured the grant of a weekly market for the place, long since disused, in 1318. The manor passed thereafter through several families, and at length came to the hands of Sir Henry Heydon, who, about the time of Henrv VII., built the quadrangular house of brick, with the characteristic angle turrets, which still remains, after having undergone changes about a century ago. It received consider¬ able additions in the time of the late baronet. John Lennard, 0 Knole and Chevening, who was Custos Brevium in the reign of Elizabeth, purchased the manor from Sir William Hevdon. His eldest son married the Baroness Dacre, in her own right, while his youngest son was knighted, and was the father of Sir Stephen Lennard, created a baronet in 1642. This baronetage became extinct in 1727, in the person of Sir Samuel Lennard of Wickham Court, M.P., and the estate then passed through female heirs. Another grown and embattled angle turrets will impress all students of domestic architecture. The material is brick, with stone dressings, and there is great character in the mullioned windows and good chimneys. The walls are richly clothed with ivy, but not to the concealment of architectural features. Quaintness characterises the house everywhere, and its picturesqueness is most attractive. In the immediate neighbourhood of the mansion are excellent examples of brick terrace walling, and lofty piers flanking the approach from the forecourt. The two yews cut into cubes, with triple circles above, and birds on the top, are notable examples of the topiary art, and their quaintness is undeniable. Such works fall admirably into such a picture. Evidently the hand of the tree pruner is constantly at work here, with excellent result. The dense hedges cut to a gable shape at the top, which flank that beautiful grass walk leading from the house, are as good as can be found anywhere. Otherwise there is little formality in the place. Banks of rhododendrons and azaleas are a feature and in the enclosed THE EAST FRONTAGE. baronetage was created, however, in 1880, in favour of the late Sir I lin l arnaby Lennard, who in 1861 had taken tie- name of 1 rn:.; 1 ! in lieu of his own patronymic of Cator, un Je r the testamentary injunction of Sir Charles Farnaby, Bart., of Wii kham and Kippington. Sir John Farnaby had married the daughter and heiress of Sir Samuel Lem ard before K nti me 1, and their daughter married General Sir William Cat . K.C B., a v< teran of tlw Peninsula, father of Sir John nrd, firs: baronet of the new creation. The gentleman was the only daughter of Henry i historian, who lived in the same neighbourhood, p rtr it hangs at Wickham Court with many other es, 1 eluding one of Sir Walter Raleigh and / ro. I lie | resent baronet, who is lord of the W; 1. am, and of Baston and Keston, derives ry Arthur Hallam Farnaby Lennard from the ■ - ' i cl have been recited above. : t: aly excellent example of the middle period ti rchitf .tore, and the quaintness of its ivy- garden, where Canterbury bells are predominant, the hardy flowers, backed by the ye. v hedges, make delightful colour pictures from early spring until the latter days of windy autumn. The turf is excellent, and the trees are of great magnificence. The long occupation of the place by descendants of the builder has given it many posse.^sors who have valued it and have delighted to adorn it. A fine old garden figure, a recumbent “ nymph of the grot” with her water urn, remains to indicate what were the adornments of the garden in an earlier time. It will be seen that Wickham Court, though it lies within a few miles of St. Paul’s, still retains, and we may hope long will continue to do so, all the excellent features of an old country mansion, dignified by its antiquity, and valued and adorned in existing t mes. Hereabout the luxuriant woods, the breezy com¬ mons, and the rich pastures, all present the character of country life, and it is a thing not to be under-valued that such an ancient house as Wickham Court should, from Tudor times to tnese days, have been preserved so near to the fringe of London town. I 165 ] THAT might be said of Lincolnshire which Caesar said of ancient Gaul, “ Est omnis divisa in partes tres.” There is the division of Holland, consisting almost entirely of fertile fenland, with few grain crops, but possessing a wealth of magnificent churches thickly dotted through the land. There is also the large and varied division of Lindsey, with its fen, its wolds, and its sandy coasts and dunes. On the whole, the division of Kesteven, in which the subject of this article lies, is the prettiest and most attractive part of this broad- acred shire. Here we have the wooded, undulating scenery which is characteristic of middle England, with a marked feature in the “ Cliff” range, which presents a curiously steep western declivity between Ancaster and Lincoln. Grantham and Stamford have surroundings as attractive as most towns in England, and Stoke Rochford, which is the close neighbour of Easton Hall, is a village of sweet rural characteristics, while the grand churches of Grantham, Heckington, and Sleaford add distinction to the region. It is not surprising to find that this part of Lincoln¬ shire, and the portions of the neighbouring shires which adjoin it, are rich in country seats, and Easton Hall, which lies near to the Leicestershire and Rutland borders, is, in fact, one of a group of estates, which includes the parks of Belton, Syston, Belvo r, and Stoke Rochford. 1 he last-named of these is illustrated and described in these pages. Easton is a township in the parish of Stoke Rochford, lying to the east of the Great North Road, and Sir Hugh Cholmeley is the sole landowner. Anciently the place belonged to the Tybtofts and the Scropes, to whom in the course of time other owners succeeded, and in the year 1606 it passed by sale to Sir Henry Cholmeley, Kt., descended from the ancient Cheshire family, who died in 1620. Through the estate flows the gentle river Witham, coming southward from Belton and Grantham, and the house of Sir Henry stood upon the hill above, commanding a view of the beautifully wooded valley. Times changed, and through the changing taste of generations the mansion has almost passed away. Mr. Montague Cholmeley took down the west wing, which was reputed to be the oldest part of the house, about a century since, and in the year 1805 he was rebuilding it, as well as the centre. 1 his gentleman was descended irom the purchaser of the estate, and was High Sheriff of the county in 1805, being created a baronet in the following year. F r some years he represented Grantham in Parliament, as did his successor ddte present baronet is the younger and only THE BRIDGE. 166 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. surviving son of Sir Montague John Cholmeley, his mother having been Lady Georgiana, fifth daughter of William, eighth Duke of St. Albans. The architectural features of Easton Hall, as it now stands on the hill, belong to a much earlier form than that of the building of 1805, but the bulk of the structure is much more recent, and embodies all the best features of the domestic Tudor style. There could, we are apt to think, be nothing better. The large and lofty windows, with their many-storied panes, the perforated cresting of the house, and its picturesque gables and chimneys, are, indeed, the features of a fine archi¬ tectural conception, and in its spacious and dignified character Easton Hall is very attractive and impressive. Within it is extremely beautiful, and it has a very fine collection of mediaeval arms and armour. There is a good approach, and a characteristic gate-house, with turrets and cupolas and an oriel window over its arch, leading into the gravel forecourt, with the raised portions of the gardens on the left and a fine ascent to the upper grounds. On the more lev el land, near the house, there is space for fine lawns, with an abundance of flowers, and the hedges are of the best. The situation is, indeed, all that could be wished, for the eminence is well wooded, and, by a somewhat steep declivity, the land descends thence to the river Witham, with a charming outlook beyond. The park has much foliage, and is very fair to behold, though at Stoke Rochford Park, on the other side of the Great North Road, the woodland attraction may perhaps even be greater. The problem that lay before the garden-maker was com¬ paratively simple at Easton, but in simple matters great triumphs may be achieved. At the same time there were dangers to be avoided. On the garden side of the house are grand architectural conservatories, and on the terraces there is much excellent tub and other gardening. The blue African lily is a feature here, with many handsome evergreen bushes. Pleasant regions are on the upper slopes, and the yew hedges are very fine. One admirable hedge of great length lines the edges of the descent to the river, to which we may now turn. There is and was abundance of wood upon the crest and slope, and contrast in the gardenage is afforded by the numerous grass terraces, which form an easy and downward way to a broad lawn diversified with beautiful flower-beds near the water. It deserves to be noted that the plan of placing grass terraces in this situation has a very excellent effect, though some might have chosen to give greater variety to the descents. 1 he grass, however, is aimi had been adopted the arran; entirely different. At least, il of architectural terraces on thi- cable, and if masonry terraces cement would have had to be may be said that a long series great slope might have dwarfed the house itself. These are matters in which the nicest discrimination requires to be exercised. Otherwise there may be great outlay, with results not altogether satisfactory. The stairway by which we go down is admirable, and thegarden stonework through out leaves nothing to be desired. Sentinel yews mark the way to where that beautiful bridge spans the still water. This, indeed, is a fine achieve¬ ment in stone, and the double arching of its construction, the stairways of ascent; the perforated parapet, and the globular terminals, make an admirable picture reflected in the placid mirror belOvV. By the water-side are walks in which it is pleasant to linger in the evenings of summer when the shadows lengthen, for gay and fragrant beds of flowers are there, and beyond is another ascent to an avenue of trees. The river is canalised, and its silver surface brings a “ little patch of sky” into that enchanting valley. The whole garden area is surveyed from the upper terrace by the house, the broad reaches of the park closing a delightful prospect. It will be noticed that the composition is symmetrical. Through the midst of the pleasaunce runs the long pathway from the descent, over the bridge, and between the wall-like hedges to the avenue beyond, and on either hand are all the beauties that can enrich a modern garden, while picturesque garden- houses are there, from which new charms may be enjoyed. FROM Tllb WITHAM. VIEW FROM THE UPPER TERRACE 168 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE RAISED WALK, Indeed, it is a new region of beauty that lies beyond the river. These dense and magnificent hedges, which would be hard to excel, form an avenue of approach to a gateway, and are the dividing feature of an enclosed tract of garden. The enclosure is by w alls and hedges, and the space is subdivided. Here are fruit trees and useful parts of the garden, and the pleasant and decorative form of the pleasaunce is truly admirable. The u-irden-houses are simple, but quaint and attractive, and all the details are good. It may be said of such a situation as this, that it possesses those elements which the Italian garden-maker loved. Here, at least, is the varied ground of hill and hollow which gave him the opportunity for his terraces and his flights of steps leading from level to level. He would have accentuated by hedges or balustred walls some features which at Easton Hall are left unadorned, but there is something of the distinction of national character in the different manners in which the same essentials are developed. This is as it should be. Mr. Sieveking, in that fascinating volume “ The Praise of Gardens,” remarks that much ridicule has been levelled at Italian pleasaunces for THE LCNG TERRACE. EASTON HALL. 169 THE TERRACES AND THE BRIDGE. 170 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE HOUSE FROM THE RIVER. in" only a means of walking up and down stairs in the open 'i;ggestion being, one suppose-, that the Italians have be:ately chosen to form their gardens on steep declivities, e choice is not always deliberate, but those are unfortunate have no well - accentuated slopes for their gardenage. A v. ;fy riter, Mr. Sieveking tells us, replied to the critic, that f h ban could find but little pleasure in the melancholy i an Engl sh park, and ltast of all in a large extent t 1 -.el ... n ; and that if vuu told him he was to contemplate \ ' ire .// 1 he would probably answer that he saw in it only Nature sinned. Now at Easton Hall Nature is certainly not over-dressed ; neither is it shaved ; there is a happy combination of effects such as we cannot but admire, and the house and the garden are as one. On the south side lies a lovely expanse of turf, and there also, as part of the architectural creation, lying between the two bays of the structure, is the great conservatory. Then the Temple Walk leads through a very pleasant region of the garden, and the long terrace, with its hedges and slopes and its fine statuary, forms another attractive feature. Particularly worthy of note are fine flower vases, elegantly sculptured and adorned, which are upon the upper stairway, by the bridge, and in other parts of the grounds. They add interest to the place, and, from the same point of view, the noble garden seat on the raised walk may be mentioned But in short wherever we go in such a garden as this, lying so advantageously in regard to situation, designed with so much skill, and kept in sue a a state of perfection, we cannot fail to discover many charms and many beauties of the garden world. It has been said in these pages that the character of the house should be borne out in its surround¬ ings, and we see that this is eminently the case at Easton Hail. The outlook from the terrace over the valley has nearly all the elements to be sought in the best English gardening — the varied slope, the abundance (f flowers, the water, the noble bi idge, and the many features of interest bey on J. THE UPPER TERRACE. FEW people, having regard to the date and character of the house, will be disposed to differ from old John Aubrey in his opinion of the famous place of Longleat. He said that it was the most august house in England. We do not compare it with such places as Blenheim or Chatsworth, but we look upon it as probably the finest example of that particular and charming style in which the lighter features of the Renaissance were grafted upon the sturdy old English character. Longleat is said to have been designed by the famous John of Padua, whom some have sought to identify with Sir John Thynne, the actual builder, but there can be no certainty in regard to ‘that, for, though the accounts of the building are complete, no architect is mentioned. What were the special features of the earliest gardens at Longleat we do not absolutely know, but there is record of those which were laid out by the first Viscount Weymouth, ancestor of the Marquess of Bath, who died in 1714. Kip, in his “ Britannia lllustrata,” has left a bird’s-eye view, showing, with much clearness, what those gardens were. There were groves, enclosures, long alleys with vistas, and the mounds derived from the gardens of an earlier time. The “leat,” or stream, from which the place is supposed to have derived its name, had been widened out at intervals into fishponds, which were all rigorously angular, and were bordered by chequered flower-beds and geometrical patterns. From the door of the house a long raised terrace, on a level with the highest step, was carried forward to the entrance gates, and thus divided the garden into two main portions. The gardens of the first Lord Weymouth no longer exist at Longleat. The third lord, who succeeded his father in 1751, appears to have found them fallen into some decay and disorder. They were, moreover, out of fashion, for every¬ where throughout England the school of Kent had gained favour, and the hand of “Capability” Brown was bus.. Lord Weymouth called the latter in, and very soon the old quaintness vanished, and, in place of the sequestered alley and the trim parterre, an attempt was made to create what was regarded as a natural garden. The hills and valleys of that beautiful country were rich in woodland, but it would appear that plantations were formed, and that the groups of trees were shaped to the ideal of Brown. That garden designer was rather famous for his treatment of water, and, though he found many difficulties at Longleat, he was successful in creating a lake, which was undoubtedly a valuable addition, to c ntrast with the great masses of wood and the lofty eminences in the extensive ranges of the park. His id^a was to produce the effect of a large river or serpentine lake amid umbrageous surroundings. An examination of our pictures will show that, though the GARDEN PLANNING. 172 GARDENS OLD AND NEW . THH NORTH FRONT. LONGLEAT . 173 THE WINTER GARDEN 174 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. work of Brown still remains, much has been done since his time to alter the character of the grounds. The water pavilion and the umbra¬ geous clumps of trees are in his style, but near che house are things he would scarcely have approved There is an excellent pattern garden in quaint beds edged with box, full of summer flowers ; there are yews and other bushes standing in f ormal lines; there is regular plan ing in the garden, with excellent well-kept hedges. Roses tl urish abundantly, and the arched rose bower is delightful. The special features, however, are few, and we shall leave the pictures to tell the whole tale of the richness and beauty of the Longleat gardens. Upon their face may be noted the influence of the changing ideas which have : aspired the garden designer. The terrace on the east front is noteworthy, but otherwise the architect has had little to do with the gardens. Longleat House, which is one of the greatest places in the West, lies some four miles from Warminster in Wiltshire, and it will give some idea of the extent of the magnificent domain if we say that the entrance is about two and a-half miles from the munsi in. Upon the site of the house stood anciently a priory 'if i 1 ick canons of St. Augustine, founded about the year 1270 'y Sir J1 hn Vernon, of which the church was dedicated to bt. Radegund, a Queen of France. The church had several altars, but the priory was a small establishment, and in 1529, having fallen into decay, it was dissolved, and its revenues transferred to the abbey of Cha r teriiouse Henton, twelve miles away, which itself was dissolved ten years later, after which the place was sold by the Crown to Sir John Horse)’. This new pos¬ sessor alienated it almost immediately to A’.r. John Thynne of Shropshire, afterwards knighted, a nephew of William Thynne, who had published one of the earliest folios of Chaucer. Sir John Thynne thus became possessed of the old mansion-house and offices of the priory, with an orchard and garden, covering perhaps 100 acres, but he bought neigh¬ bouring land, and before 1550 had formed the greater part of the estate. His wealth grew rapid'y, and he married the only daughter of Sir Richard Gresham, the well-known prince merchant of the time. He appears to have called in his architect in 1568, and the building of Longleat went on for many years, the expenditure being at the rate of about ,-£1,000 a year, which would have to be multiplied many times to indicate its value in money of our time. While the work was in progress, in 11575, Queen Elizabeth visited him at 1 HE WATER PAVILION. FROM I HE NORTH-EASI. LONG LE AT , 175 THE ORANGERY 176 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE EAST WALK. his house. He died in 1 5S0, leaving the larger portion of the structure finished, and from the hall to the chapel court inside, but no part of the west side was completed in his lifetime. There is mention, however, of a garden, an orchard, and a hopyard. His son, another Sir John, succeeded, and added the oak screen and wainscot. Sir James, the fourth ' wner, employed Sir Christopher Wren to carry on the work, and by that eminent architect the great staircase was designed. '1 lie knight died childless in 1670, and the estate passed to his nephew, known as “Tom of Ten Thousand,” because of the presumed value of his estate. The new owner laid out the road to Frome, carried on extensive work in plantation, and finished the dining-room of the house. He was a personal friend of the Duke of Monmouth, who was at Longleat in 1680. A strange fate befel Mr. Thynne. Having married the richest heiress in the country, the youthful widow of Lord Ogle, he encountered he envy and jealousy of Count Konigs- mark. who. with SOUTH WALK IN THE succeeded him, and was created Baron Thynne and Viscount Weymouth. This was the nobleman who laid out the gardens, as has been mentioned, and in his time his house became the refuge for many years of the deprived Bishop Ken. The third Viscount did much to the estate, and he it was who remodelled the grounds He was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in 1765, and in 1789, in which year he received the King, Queen, and Princesses in great state, he was created Marquess of Bath. The first Marquess of Bath died in 1796, and was succeeded by a nobleman widely known for his charitable disposition and public spirit. The second Marquess, about the year 1808, employed Wyatt — afterwards Sir Jeffrey Wyatt- ville — to make some alterations in the house, and he worked upon the grand staircase and galleries. Many hands have indeed been employed upon the structure of Longleat. It is preserved in admirable state, and, as the pictures will show, the grounds and gardens are full of charm. The orangery is one of the notable features, and there is great beauty in the arboretum. There are spots of surpassing beauty in the park, and from ‘‘Heaven’s Gate” the out¬ look is superb, The scenery is varied and beau¬ tiful in its rich 1 a n dscape character, and in its green expanses, sweil- i n g heights embosomed in foliage, its valley and its lake, it is scarcely surpassed any- WLsTER garden. where. LONG LE AT. 177 THE HAST FACADE [ 178 ] DRAKELOWE HALL, the home of Sir Robert Gresley, is one of those seats of ancient eminence which win the regard of all English¬ men, for, if not here, at least hereabout, have dwelt the family of the present possessor from almost the earliest times of our Norman history. The hall stands in the rich meadow and woodland country which borders the River Trent, some three miles from Burton. A broad bend of the river fringes the park, and opposite lies Staffordshire and the ancient way of the Icknield Street passing on from Derby to Lichfield. Gresley, some five miles from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and about four miles from Drakelowe, a busy centre of industry in these times, is the place from which the Drakelowe family took their name, and some part still stands of the conventual church of Gresley Priory, for Austin Canon, which William de Gresley founded in the time of Henry I. In that church is a monument of Sir Thomas Gresley, 1699, which gives the very elaborate heraldry of his progenitors. It was already a long line indeed. Ralph de Tceni, the standard-bearer of the Conqueror, who bore the banner on the field of Has'ings, is said by the chroniclers to have been descended in the female line from Malahulcius, uncle of Rollo, first Duke of Normandy. This Ralph was a man of fame in his day. Ordericus says of him that he gained great glory in the wars, and was reckoned among the first of the Norman nobles for honours, wealth, and long service. One of his descendants, named Nigel, held Drakelowe and other manors and lordships in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and was the ancestor of the Gresleys. It was Nigel’s son Will am who founded the Augustinian priory at THE NEW TERRAC NG AT DR KELOWE HALL. DRAKELOWE HALL 179 CREEPERS AND CUMBERS AT THE GARDEN GATE GARDENS OLD AND NEIL. ISO Gresley. The estate, it is curious to know, was held in capite by tire singular tenure of rendering periodically one bow u ithout a string, one quiver of a material described as “ Tutesbir,” and twelve arrows fledged and one unfledged. Camden says that Gresley Castle, where the Gresleys lived in those days, was a mere ruin in his time. To Willi im de Gresley succeeded Robert, ancestor of the Gresleys, summoned to Parliament as barons of the realm by Edward II. Seated at Drakelowe were in succession William, son of Robert, S;r Geoffrey, Sir William, another Geoffrey, a Peter, and still another Geoffrey. The eldest son of the latter was High Sheriff of Staffordshire in the time of Edward III., but the present family is descended from a younger son, Sir Nicholas, who married the rich heiress of the Wasteneys. In direct succession followed Sir Thomas and two Sir Johns, all of them men of note in the shire, which they represented in Parliament in the reigns of Henry IV. and his successors, and the grandson of the last- named was Sir George Gresley, created a Knight of the Bath at the Coronation of Anne Boleyn. Sir William and Sir Thomas suc¬ ceeded, of whom the latter was at various times High Sheriff, both of Staffordshire and Derbyshire. The Gresleys were very prominent in county business, and Sir George was one of the committee to arrange the details and the collection of the Commonwealth monthly assessment in 1644. This prominent country gentleman, of whom Glover says that he was distinguished for learning, was the first baronet of the family, being raised to the dignity on June 29th, 161 1, and his successor in the title was Sir Th anas Gresley, his grandson, who died in 1699. It is from this gentleman that Sir Robert Ge.sley is de¬ scended, and he is the eleventh baronet of the line, being the only son of the t( nth baronet, da I 1 1868, when his successor was but two years old. :t married in 1893 Lady Frances, eldest daughter of th Duke of Marlborough, and is a Deputy-1 ieutenant and J.P. for his county. ■ is a; i roached by a magnificent avenue of old ’ mile in length. The judicious hand of the planter much for the place, and the foliage is everywhere auti ul. the hall bears the aspect of Tudor or n times, and its embattled walls, its twisted chimneys . ts noble oriels and bays, with their mullioned extremely beautiful. Ivy luxuriantly vails, especially on the south front. The painted house deserves to be mentioned. It was a . that made men wish, while in their own houses, to seem to be out of doors. Here, in a recess, we look out, as it were, through a garden archway, with a railing, to a lake and mountains, while over-arching trees rise to the ceiling, and on the other hand the lake extends and mountains r:se, while the firei lace is like the mouth of some rugged cave, over which a classic mask has been sculptured. The room is quite characteristic, and, as a survival of an extinct taste, is interesting. The gardens at Drakelowe are equally rich and beautiful, and the chief charm of the place. They are specially note¬ worthy as being a pleasaunce which has lately undergone partial transformation. Under the skilful direction of the eminent garden architect, Mr. Inigo Thomas, the ground on the west side of the house has been excavated, and instead of the tame features of a lawn and carriage drive there are now fine balustered terraces, with double stairways, leading down to the water, on whose placid surface the ancient structure, with this ad¬ mirable and appropriate foreground character, is reflected. One of our pictures will show how admirably successful is the result. Turf walks are a notable feature of the garden. There is a sense of enclosure by banks of trees and hedges which is grati¬ fying. The circle garden is very fine, and beautiful; yet its elements are simple. In the midst is a circular stone -edged basin, with a mermaid in lead throwing up water from a shell, and a fringe of verdure encircles the water. There is then a circular gravel path, and an outer ring of turf, broken up by flower¬ beds, full of gay and fragrant blooms throughout the year. Outside, again, is another gravel path, and then there are hedges and glorious masses of trees. The flower - bearing vases and characteristic seats are part of an admirable arrangement, which is particularly satisfying to the eye. The same arrangement is carried out where a smaller stone basin occupies the centre of a beautiful garden, from which four grass walks diverge. Here the hedges and the turf, with the great masses of trees, have a most admirable effect. It will be seen from our illustrations that the new terraces, the broad turf walks, straight gravel paths, and a magnificent environment of trees are the features of the place. The long box garden is a delightful resort, and lias that characteristic sense of enclosure which is essential in a good garden. The Drakelowe garden is altogether charming and satisfactory, and it is pleasant to add that it is kept in perfect condition, and throughout the year is characterised by many successive beauties of the season. MODERN LEAD WORK. DRAKELOWE HALL 181 the four ways. THE CIRCULAR GARDEN. I1 L 182 ] SOME five miles south-westward from the goodly city of Bristol, in the pleasant land of Somerset, stands a house of name and fame in the West Country, and a place of very great note indeed. Barrow Court, the residence of Mr. Gibbs, is a house of which the history has been greatly chequered, and which has been valued by many who, through the inevitable passage of generations or the slings and arrows of ungentle Fortune, have been severed from it evermore. It has at length lighted upon good and seemly days, wherein, brought to new honour by its possessor, it stands as an exemplar of many excellent things, and a triumph admirably conceived. When the work of reconstruction began there remained the Jacobean doorway of the old house, most of the walls, windows, old chimney- pieces, stucco ceilings, and other features, one end of the farmhouse part alone having been rebuilt, and the Georgian drawing-room being replaced by a library and bedrooms over. Bat there was scope for much thinking before the plan of tire construction could shape itself fully. Then the gardens, \\ ith their short terrace walk above the field below, their shrubbery, and large kitchen garden, were to be restored in beautv and to be invested with new and unfamiliar charms. Visions of sunny courts, sequestered alleys, and fine classic garden-houses seemed to be mapped in the survey. It was a work which Mr. Gibbs placed before him when he took possession of the place analogous to that achieved at Athel- hampton in the neighbouring county of Dorset, at Great Tangley Manor in Surrey, and at Old Place, Lindfield, Sussex Mr. F. Inigo Thomas was the architect employed. In ancient times this Somerset Barrow was in the hands of the famous Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances, possessor of many manors, but, when it came again to the Crown, William Rufus granted it to Robert Fitz-Harding, whose son married a Gournay. Thus it received its distinctive appellation of Barrow Gournay, though the high land to the westward, where now Barrow Court stands, became known as Minchin Barrow, sometimes called “ Barwe.” There a Gournay, or a Fitz-Harding before him, founded a nunnery, dedicated to St. Mary and St. Edward, and afterwards to the Holy Trinity. The Gournays of Barrow Gurney died out in the time of Edward I.. their possessions passing to the Ap-Adams, and from them by conveyance to the Berkeleys, to whom succeeded the Comptons in the reign of Henry VIII. It was, however, from the dissolution of the priory that Barrow Court had its origin. The fallen house was granted by Henry for the space of five years, at a rental, to one John THE NORTH FRONT. BARROW COURT. 183 SIX MONTHS OF THE YEAR. Drew of Bristol, who, says Leland, converted the old building into a goodly dwelling-house. In due course the place reverted to the Crown, and was granted, w;th the manor of Minchin Barrow and the rectory and advowson, to William Clarke, Esq., whose son Christopher sold it, late in Elizabeth’s reign, to Francis James, LL.D. If the grey old stones of the mansion could speak they would asseverate, as by their aspect they do, that in those times they were moTly reared. The goodly house of John Drew had fallen into excellent hands, and upon the poor remains of the old priory rose a noble Tudor and Jacobean mansion. Later possessors added other features, and thus the venerable walls embody an unwritten history of men. The son of Dr. Francis Junes sold the place in the time of Charles I. to Sir Francis Dodington, but Sir Francis sold it again to William Gore, Esq., in 1659. After many changes it thus came to the hands of those who set store upon their beautiful possession, and who for generations continued to dwell therein, leaving many of their monuments in the church close by. In Colli nson’s “ History of Somersetshire,” published in 1791, is a view of the house, dedicated to Mr. John and Mr. Edward Gore, which depicts it standing with its many gabled front, THE KITCHEN GARDEN ENTRANCE. 184 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. closely adja- cent to the church, in the m i d s t of a spacious park, with belts of majestic trees on either hand, and ornamental groups stand- i n g by 7 the water-sK _ie. The Gores of B a r r 0 w Court passed away also, and the misfortune of neglect crept over the perfec¬ tions of their lmuse. Some¬ what sad was the state into which it had fallen when Mr. Gibbs began the work of regeneration, and now we may see by the pictures what it has become in his hands. Let it be noted first that its neighbour is the church, and that misfortune had overtaken the church as well as the house. Up to 1659 it retained some of its conventual features, but in 1823 the fabric was enlarged in very poor style. Mr. Gibbs restored it, and well was the work accomplished. The house also grew into new beauty without great struc¬ tural change, and the Jacobean entrance and many gables still face the park as in the days of the Gores. It is a fine and imposing facade with a grand play of light and shade upon its surface, and the grouping with the structure of the church is extremely beautiful. From whichever side we survey the place THE TERRACE. it presents an attractive pic¬ ture indeed. The character¬ istic gables look out over the gardens, and at the rear the m u 1 1 i 0 n e d windows and oriel and the long steep roofs face the vener¬ able tithe barn, an embodiment of quaintness, and the only relic of the old farm buildings. Our pic¬ tures of the gardens speak in part for themselves. It is an architect’s garden, as will be discovered, and, pace those who would hold back the architect to the barrier of the housewall, it is not to be gainsaid that the effect is very fine. The long terrace with the yew hedges and descents is most excellent, and the architectural courts at either end, in simplicity and appropriateness of character, would be hard to excel. Then how very delightful is the idea of figuring the months of the year on a segment of a circle by busts lifted aloft on p.ers. The garden is a monitor of the passage of time. It bears on its face the signs of changing seasons. From the slumbrous winter earth rise the heads of the fragrant spring flowers; from the stem, seeming dead, bursts the fruit-promising blossom ; all reaches fruition, and all in its turn decays, yet with the presage A GARDEN-HOUSE AND TEMPLE. BARROW COURT. 185 THB IRIS POND 186 Gardens old and new. THE SUNDIAL of another spring. Hence have we the year circle and the dial as tire ever-appropriate adornments of our gardens. The green court i'f smooth-shaven turf at Barrow Court, with the high- pinnacled garden-house, the twin curved flights of steps, and tire tenrple with the splendid vases, is a true poem in stone, lire garden architect Iras worked well, and with force and cnaracter tirat are not t > he gainsaid. Look again at the court o: the sundial, with the lofty ball-crowned piers, flanking the segmental stairway to the balustraded terrace walk, and an ideal garden seat. Then, once mere, how sweet and radiant is the iris pond, a veritable world of water gardening, with the picturesque dovecote beyond. 1 he kitchen garden entrance ; as e;.:elle!rt as the rest. “ God gives the increase” is its COURT. motto and adornment. All is good and beautiful— a place where the green turf is the friendly neighbour of the radiant flower-bed, and where tree and shrub are chosen for some specific end and aim. There are lessons in such a place, of course, which will suggest themselves to the re der— the charm of enclosure, the beauty of appropriateness, the excellence of detail, and the loving care of which the garden gives testimony. It is a garden wherein design has ruled the erection and attained the success, with a woodland neighbourh od for its framework. Such sur¬ roundings are often found in the case of Somerset gardens, lor the shire was a woodland region of old, and is still rich in its greenwood. Lovely country lies about Barrow Court. The beauty of Brockley Combe was dear to Coleridge, who in one of his wanderings through this country wrote some delightful lines which describe the charms of the region well, and deserve to be quoted : “With many a pause and of:-reverted eve I climb the comb’s ascent: sweet songsters near Warble in shade their wild-wood meio ly : Far off the unvaiying cuckoo soo hes my ear : Up scour the startled stragglers ol the flock That on green plots or precipices browse : From the deep fissures of the naked rock The yew tree bursts! Beneath its dark green boughs ('Mid which the May-thorn blends its blossoms white). Where broad smoo.li stonesjut out in mossy seats, I rest — and now have gained the topmost site. Ah ! what a luxury of landscape meets My gaze ! Proud towers, and cots more dear to me, Elm-shadowed fields, and pros¬ pect-bounding sea : Deep sighs my lonely heart : I drop a tear; Entrancing spot! Oh, were my Snra here ! ” N the search for beautiful houses — the homes of long - lineaged gentle- men, and not less the fruits of the genius and taste of later days — and of stately, radiant, and sweet-scented gardens, the county of Lincoln is found to be richer than some might suppose. They lie broadcast through the shire, and now another is selected to grace these pages, which picture so many places fur to behold. It is a very noble example of domestic architecture and garden adornment. The village cf Stoke Rochford lies in a favoured situation in the valley of the Witham, near to the Leicester and Rutland borders, and in the vicinity of the Great North Road, a rustic place of rural charm, with the beautiful park of Stoke Rochford Hall on one side and the not less attractive domain of Easton Hall, Sir Hugh Cholmeley’s place, on the other. The latter is also illustrated and described in these pages. The village has its distinctive appellation from an ancient family which came from Essex, the Rochfords, of whom tire earliest possessor seems to have become seized of one of the manors early in the fifteenth century, and who conferred their patronymic upon it. There were two churches at the place, now combined, and within the interesting edifice, which has a Norman arcade with massive piers and sculptured capitals, several memorials of that family remain. Under the eastern arches, on both sides, are Perpendicular tombs of certain of its members, the one on the south being under a canopy. The brass of Henry Rochford is a very good example of monumental art. There is also in the church a large monument to Sir Edmund Tumor, who died in 1707, and whose family have long been resident at this charming place. Christopher Tumor, of Milton Erneys in Bedfordshire, had for his eldest son Sir Christopher Tumor, a well-known Royalist judge and one of the Barons of the Exchequer in the Civil War, and Sir Edmund Tumor, knighted in 1663, the possessor of Stoke Rochford, was the latter’s brother. The ancient house in which the Rochfords had dwelt has long since perished, and BLhop Sanderson (1661) said that part of the gate-house thereof had been lately standing, while near by, taken out of the ruins of the other part, might be seen a large escutcheon with the Rochfords’ arms and crest. At a little distance to the westward, from the side of THE TERRACE GARDEN ON AN AUTUMN MORNING . 188 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. the hill, win¬ ning the ad¬ miration of the divine, flowed a goodly spring of clear water, then used for the turning of an ancient mill. The seven¬ teenth cen¬ tury, notwith¬ standing that it was a ti 1 e of civil war, was a pros¬ perous age, and o ii t of its prosperity flowed a wave of a r c h i - tectural fer¬ vour, which covered the land w i t h noble domes¬ tic structures. It was in 1665 that Sir Edmund Turner set about erecting a new house where the old one at Stoke Rcchford had stood, and in the next year two wings were added, which brought the building into the form of a letter H. The good knight also fitted up the old chapel “in a very elegant style.” Stables were built in 1676, and were so contrived as to form the west end of the garden. We can realise what such a house would be. There would remain in its structure those evidences of the taste of a former time, which lasted with vigour into the seventeenth century, and linked with them would be something of a classic aspect, giving the special character that seems to have belonged to the age in which it was built. There were formal gardens, laid out by the skill and care of the old gardener, with the tall, well - clipped hedges which enclosed the parterres, and terraces to adorn the slope of the hill. These gardens re¬ mained until compara¬ tively recent times in some form, and have very noble and stately suc- c e s s 0 r s , formed in accordance with the character of the land. On the wooded slope of the opposite hill was a summer-house, “which corresponded with the centre of the stables,” while the declivities on both sides afforded ample scope for an arrange¬ ment, “ in the Dutch taste,” of terraces and flights of steps, which then were general in gardens of importance. The successive members of the house of Turnor who possessed Stoke Rochford doubtless adorned it, each to his taste, under the changing influences of the times ; and still there are visible evidences of love for the old gardening in those fine hedges and conventional arrangements of the terrace THE SOUTH END. THE SUNK CROQUET LAWN. STOKE T{OCHFORD 189 FINE STUDY OF YEW HEDGES AND GARDEN URNS. 190 GARDENS OLD AND NEVA. garden. The form may have changed to some extent, but the spirit remains, and the style is wholly appropriate in its terraced symmetry and simple grace. Mr. Edmund Turnor of Stoke Rochford, who died in 1829, was a well-known antiquary, and author of “ Collections for the History of the Town and Soke of Grantham,” which is an interesting survey of the antiquities and annals of many interesting places, and contains “authentic memorials” of Sir Isaac Newton, the great astronomer, who was born at Woolsthorpe close by. The existing house of Stoke Rochford is modern, and a very noble example of the best Jacobean style, with some elements of an earlier character. The older manor house stood somewhat nearer the bridge over the ornamental water. The character of the hall is seen well in the pictures, and is unquestionablv imposing and picturesque, with a good deal of richness and gaiety in its composition. The noble conservatory built by the architect as a part of the structure, and .therefore perfectly harmonious, will be observed at the south end. It is The house is surrounded by a beautiful park, rich in its variety of surface, and distinguished by the presence of fine patrician trees, some thorns being especially noteworthy. A spring rises near the bridge and forms a sparkling cascade, issuing from the limestone, and herons may often be seen haunting the borders of the brook, and seeking food for their young. The situation lent itself to the hand of the gardener, for there were level expanses for his regular ornamental efforts, and the slope gave scope for excellent terracing. The pattern gardening, with box edging, is very good. The grass descents, by which many pleasant garden resorts are reached, give character to the place, and the foliage is very beautiful wherever we look. Note how the sunk croquet ground is embowered by imposing masses of dark green, and you will see how the true character of the old enclosure by tall yew hedges, extremely fine and as good as may be found in most places, is retained. The effect is most admirable in this typical example of good gardenage. '1 here is colour, both rich and varied, and strong A STATUE • t- 1 by < rii.irnental stonewoik a d characteristic urns, and roof is thus concealed. There have been many arguments the merits of architectural conservatories. 'I hey may ys gratify every aspiration of the flower-grower, are situations in which th y are wholly successful, Rochford seems to be one of them. None, at a 1 gainsay the high architectural merits of the n rv at ties there. I : ■ : foe court on the west front is true to the ti nth an i seventeenth centuries, and in and bold chimney stacks there is much etc ay w hile a hold | lay of light and shade ■ 1 by a skilful grouping of the structural 1 character of the house is, indeed, both animated Tl ecourt is enclosed by a most beautiful entrance gate is an admirable piece of enriched flanking piers, crested by splendid sift r< d urns, are in excellent character. Better garden JnteUure could scaieeiy be. IN SHADOW. character imparted in a most successful way. These glorious dark hedges and superb belts of trees offer a pleasing contrast to the sunny outlook over the green lawns ; but, indeed, the whole place is rich in its variety of attraction. The sculpture, which is never intrusive, fills a right place in this well- arranged pleasaunce, and the carved urns and vases are particularly noteworthy. They are of the finest art character, with the elegance of old Greece, and are in more delicate style than is commonly found in garden sculpture. In this matter, as in many others, Stoke Rochford may serve as an example. No garden that is not purely natural can ever dispense with distinctive features, be they of a topiary character, or sundials or temples. Long usage has sanctioned the introduction of the urn, whch is endeared in memory by associations of literature and emotion, and the artistic successes attained in its adornment — as is exemplified at Stoke Rochford — are proof enough that the practice is sound. Here are distinctions found in very many good gardens. [ 191 ] sv' ^ I n% m ^ K. < i=±£ ^ vv >x\ \ < f many Scottish gardeners and architects. John Reid, in his “Scots Gard’ner ” (1683), gives instructions to those who w ould make terraces upon the natural declivity of the land. “ As to terrass walks, if the brow on which you make them be not too steep, the work will be the more easy. If you build tlu-m up with walls, be careful to found deep enough according to the level ; and if the middle of the terrass be on the central line of the house, or of any walk, make the stair to part at a ; ft on the head, going down on both sides. So much of the staircase may be within as that the outer edge thereof may be : 1 a line with the border of the wall ; by this it mars not the ill: ; the rest may be at the ends. Plant the borders at the up| -r ide of the walk with wall trees; the under side, being b ,t an ell high, with laurels, etc. But if your terrass consists onlv of walk's and si >ping banks, you may have the border at i. 1 ami foot of each bank, on either side of the walks, I i iut' I with standard cherries, etc., and the banks of violets, strawberries, or grass.” There- are more stately terraces in Scotland, but, go . --re u m a- , we shall find none so full of the ravishing , o r so happily embodying the features of the let tiral mil na.ural styles as those here depicted, pi im iples rather than his details are exemplified at P, 1 I i t!i, the character of the ground having enforced the isposition of the stairways. There are four terraces or walks ■ ]uelv and beautifully planned and constructed. I "t tin- Avon is some 50ft. below the level of he let livity is very steep. This lowest u - race, deeply shaded by trees, and at one end t 1 gar 1 ( -n-house, w ith a twisted double stairway ' u; per to ey, while at the other end is a charming , from wiii h rises a low fluted column, with a , throwing up a sparkling jet of 1 -■ i ■ istrade at the edge of the declivity is very nature of the slope causes the wall to curve untain. A beautiful acacia grows upon the terrace, and its lovely enduring green and beautiful flowers add much to the charm of the place. At the end of the terrace near the fountain are two rustic arches under the upper wall, and a rustic stairway leads up to the higher levels. The retaining wall of the second terrace walk is covered with ivy and climbing plants, and crested with characteristic vases. Above, upon the level which it bounds, is a gravel walk, with, a border of flowers, giving access at one end to a second garden-house. Roses border the way, and there is a stone bank supporting the next higher level, overgrown with wallflowers, ferns, etc. Still mounting the steep, therefore, we reach the third terrace, which is a beautiful grass walk, bordered by a long flower-bed, and commanding a charming outlook over the sylvan gorge. The retaining wall of the fourth level is agai i clustered with climbing plants, and there are several yew trees along the upper border. Very quaintly are these cut, and they possess a curious attraction, in contrast with the gay flower-beds which neighbour them. A baiustraded wall, with vases, is behind the terrace, and there are many pleasant places to explore, the f recourt of the house being on that side. The pictures will show how very delightful is the effect of this terracing upon the declivity above the Avon. The masonry is exceedingly good, and there is a happy union of classic formality with something of rustic charm. I here were oppor¬ tunities which do not fall to every garden-maker’s hand, but not every designer would have used them so well. The illustrations will complete the description of this delightful hillside garden. It is a place full of suggestion for tho^e whose houses may lie adjacent to woodland gomes, which present opportunities that are not always realised, and such places need not always be left in native wildness. The formation at Barncluith is rock, and much excavating must have been required, but the soil is deep enough to give rootage to the splendid trees, while the sunny slope is conducive to a luxuriant growth of flowers. The place is as beautiful in winter as in summer, for the green yews are there, and the other trees lilt their varied tracery against the sky, while below the rushing sound of the Avon is heard. It is a fine river, full of salmon, trout, perch, lampreys, and silver eel. Allusion has been made to the splendid growth of trees in this region. Hamilton Wood, on the Avon and the Barncluith Burn, is a great woodland tract, which, with its gnarled and venerable trunks, represents practically all that remains of the ancient Caledonian Forest. The storms of centuries have blown over some of the oaks, which thrive extremely well, many being venerable trees of great size, some even measuring 36ft. in girth. Larch and Scotch fir are numerous, and the river banks are crowned with luxuriant foliage. Silver and spruce fir succeed, and the cedar of Lebanon has attained considerable size. Here may be seen the only herd left in Scotland of the old white Caledonian wild cattle. The Barn¬ cluith Burn joins the Avon about half a mile from the town of Hamilton, after flowing down through the wood, and leaping over five or six declivities in brawling picturesqueness, adding greatly to the beauties and attractions of the scenery. “ In one impetuous torrent, down the steep It thundering shoots, and shakes the country round, At first, an azure sheet, it rushes broad; Then whitening by degrees as prone it falls, And from the loud resounding rocks below Dashed in a cloud of foam it sends alofc A hoary mist, and forms a ceaseless shower.” These lines have been used of one of the neighbouring Falls of Clyde, and they may be applied, with modification, to the lesser falls on the Barncluith Burn. The whole of the vale of the Avon, with the gorges of its tributary burns, is markedly beautiful, and has all the charm that is found in Scottish river courses, with a richness that does not invest them all. I he gardens of Barncluith have also, as we have seen, a marked and attractive character, and the succession of terraces has probably in its kind no rival in Scotland. There is picturesqueness in their character, arising from varied treatment, too rare in formal gardens, which may serve to show that formal gardening is no bar to the introduction of a sweet naturalness, but rather that it lends itself to such a character. It is a lesson for the garden-maker which the pictures in this volume will not fail strongly to enforce. [ 221 ] 1 ' ik n Q. f\\ t J; cv fi? k?s AGECROFT o o • I I Iv Lv^ LANCASHIRE:, ,r>Ku'- R&ckKtnv }n\>\ ™E SEAT or Mr. ROBERT DAUNTESEY ,:4 -M. M ' • IV'T'it.I.'.lG A GECROFT HALL is one of those strongly i n ci i - /\ vidualised mansions of ancient date in which the L — \ county palatine of Lancaster is singularly rich 1 m. What that district of England may lack in the genial climate that vests the brick dwelling-places of Southern England with those lichens which, in their hues of orange, yellow, green, and grey, form so incomparable a vesture, it has compensation for in those “magpie” moated structures, impressive in time-worn oak, rich in beautiful carving, picturesque in their many gables and their grey slate roofs, which grow mellow under rain and sun. When such houses are valued and preserved like the old mansion house of Agecroft, and others illustrated in this volume, and are made beautiful with gardens and pleasure grounds, they do most certainly deserve to hold a high place among the quaint and beautiful mansions of the shires. Agecroft is both fortunate and unfortunate — fortunate in the loving care which adds new beauty to its antiquity, unfortunate in the fact that the country thereabout is much given over to the busy whirl of modern things. Yet advantages may be won even where discouragement might prevail, and thus close to Agecroft Hall is a pond or lake, formed by the sinking of the ground, owing to coal mines below, and constituting a very pleasing feature amid the trees, over-hung by flowering bushes in the garden. The Irwell flows near by ; in truth, somewhat lower down, a Stygian stream, bearing in waters no longer pellucid the waste products of many manufactures. Nevertheless, the course of the river in this part of the valley has considerable elements of beauty, and the winding stream, with overhanging woods, is not without attractions. Agecroft Ha l stands upon a low tongue of land which here stretches down from Pendlebury into the valley, and the house is probably, as the crow flies, not more than four miles from Manchester Cathedral. These ancient halls manifest a predilec¬ tion on the part of their builders for the neighbourhood of rivers. It was convenient to have water near, and very often the stream possessed some advantages in the matter of defence. It is interesting to observe that near these ancient oaken structures we rarely find much in the way of formal gardening, and, save for a bridge or a garden seat, the arch tect seems THE SIDE PASSAGE IN THE QUADRANGLE. 222 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. rarely to have played a large part. Simplicity characterises the surround¬ ings, and there is nothing to delay the pen in a description of the great charm of th e lawns, flower-beds, and hedges. These are all-sufficient in their relation¬ ship to such houses, and none can deny that the pictures pre¬ sented of house and garden are singularly sweet and attractive. The views of Agecroft Hall will show how, without great effort and without ambitious design, eminently satisfactory results are attained. Fortunately for this ancient place, it has fine trees in its neighbourhood, wherein rooks have built their nests, adding something of an air of dignity and antiquity by the presence of their busy colonies in the boughs. And now, in regard to the character of this great class of Lancashire houses — and let it be said that Cheshire possesses them also — it might be useful to refer to several of the venerable confraternity, such as Speke Hall, near Liverpool, Smithells Hall — which has a place in these pages — Samlesbury, Ordsall, Crumpsall Old Hall, H a u g h Hall, Barton Oid Hall, Urmston Old Hall, Kersal Cell — a very pretty example of timber archi¬ tecture, quite near to Agecroft — a n d many others. The old halls, mansions, and manor houses of Lanca- shire are a mixed company. Many have fallen upon evil days, and are half ruined or divided into cottages ; others have been swept away, leaving some fragment for memory ; and comparatively few are those preserved. In the northern part of the ccunty the dwellings are more castle-like, but the typical Lancashire house is of timber, and belongs to the time of the Tudors or of James, and, especially in South Lancashire and Cheshire, possesses the general characteristics of the example we depict. They have bars, vertical and horizontal, angles and curves, oriel windows, and many gables to break the skyline. ln>ide are chambers and corridors, many and varied, and antique stairways leading to the upper storey. Everywhere is oak panelling, with fine carvings, and in the more dainty FROM THE STABLE-YARD. tAGECROFT HALL 223 THH ANCIENT ENTRANCE 224 Gardens old and new. parts the wainscot is divided by fluted pilasters. A prodigious amount of oak has been employed in building a quadrangular house like Agecroft. It would almost suggest to us that a grove of oaks must have bowed beneath the woodman’s axe ere that structure was raised, and the operation must have somewhat resembled the building of a great ship, for here, too, the seasoned timber was jointed and pegged to withstand the storms. Agecroft occupies a somewhat peculiar position. On the west side is the edge of a steep cliff, and there are evidences that the three remaining sides of the quadrangle were protected by the moat. The square is complete, and measures about iooft. externally, and the main gate, which has a beautiful Tudor arch, with a lovely oriel window over it, is on the east side. It would appear that a large part of the house was built in the reign of Henry VII. or his successor, and the beautiful carving of fine Perpendicular character, in the corbelling of the windows on the east front, is verv noteworthv. Owing to the effect of It is, however, time, having described the house itself, that we should say something about those who have lived therein. In 1327 John de Langley and Joan his wife paid a fine to William de Langley, Rector of Middleton, for the manor of Pendlebury and other lands, and here the knightly family of Langley of Langley established itself. To this family is said to have belonged Robert Langley, Bishop of Durham, Lord Chan¬ cellor of England, and a Cardinal. He was supervisor of the will of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and, by his will, left a number of books to the College of Manchester, in the founda¬ tion of which he had been concerned. It is interesting to know that in the windows of Agecroft Hall are portions of ancient glass, zealously protected by wire frames externally, in which are the bearings of the Langleys and of Joint of Gaunt. The house and estate came in 1560, on the death of Sir Robert Langley, to his daughter and heiress Anne, who married Thomas Dauntesey, and thus Agecroft passed to the family which long continued to reside there. It was afterwards occupied by the »ll»t THE EAST FRONT IN QUADRANGLE. v • 1 th< r the south face of the building has called for partial it , 1 ■ .va 1 , and not much of t ie ancient plaster-work remains, 1 ut the east facade is quite original. Pa sing through the arch we reach the interior of the ( ,1 t\ and, which is picturesquely attractive. Opposite to us , tii Dug window of the great hall, with magnificent decorative r-work over it, the kitchen and offices and the servants’ quarters to the right, and the fa mi ly apartments on the let . !, with the chapel, now converted to the dining-room. Mr. H. I a \ lor, 1 his “ Old Hills in Lancashire and Gheshire,” ili' A:-' 1 Mitt had open galleries as corridors in on of the quadrangle, similar to those which may still in many old hostel ries ; but, with the exception of one gth, th se are n ,w enclosed. The interior has been a ;al modernised, and the great hall is now used as a iard-room. It was doubtless inevitable that some changes intro uced, but it is satisfactory to find the place so v 1 ally valued and so well preserved. Rev. Richard Buck, and there have been other occupants, but Mr. Robert Dauntesey is in possession, and the house is in good hands. Enough has been said to indicate the character and history of Agecroft Hall. It may be interesting to mention that at the bottom of the hill the Irwell is crossed by Agecroft Bridge, which leads to Kersal Moor. The river was once pure and 'well stocked with fish, but much more than a century ago pollution had set in. A certain Mr. Rasbotham, waiting in 1786, said : “ The river hath trout, shoulders, chubbs, dace, gudgeons, and eels. Salmon came to it before the establishment of the fishery at Warrington, higher than this township; but there is no such thing experienced at present.” Those who know the Irwell will wonder that salmon should ever have visited its waters. That day is long past, but we may hope that the ever-growing bustle of modern things may yet fur centuries spare the ancient beauties of Agecroft Hall. A GECKO FT HALL. 225 PEGGED AND JOINTED ENGLISH OAK. 226 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE GATE-HOUSE AND THE SOUTH GARDEN-HOUSE AT WESTWOOD PARK. [227 ] WHETHER we regard Westwood Park from the historical, the personal, the architectural, or the gardening point of view, we shall find that it is an unusually interesting place. It has charac¬ teristics that are not discovered in many great seats, and it has been associated with not a few men of eminence in the State and Society. The house lies something less than two miles to the west of Droitwich, in Worcestershire, 'n a very fine situation, upon an eminence commanding very beautiful prospects, and its park covers about 208 acres, with a fine lake in view of the mansion on the east side. The park is laid out in “ rays of planting,” as shall presently be described. Here, in ancient times, was a small priory of Benedictine nuns, subject to the Abbey of Fontevraud, the site of which appears to have been upon the slope of the bank- above the present fish-ponds. After the Dissolution, the place was granted by Henry VIII . to Sir John Pakington, a sergeant- at-law, who was given many judicial offices, chiefly in Wales. When the knight died he possessed some thirty manors, and the greater part of his estate passed to his nephew. Thomas Pakington, the son of his brother Robert, who had been murdered in London in 1537. The new possessor was knighted by Queen Mary in 1553, and died in 1571. It does not appear to be known with any certainty that a mansion house existed at Westwood at the time, and the central block of the existing structure dates from the possession of Sir John Pakington, who succeeded on the death of his father, Sir Thomas. When Queen Elizabeth visited Worcester¬ shire in August, 1578, she seems to have been attracted by the wit and the handsome person of the squire, not yet Sir John, who had been educated at Christchurch, Oxford, and had studied the law at Lincoln’s Inn. The Queen invited him to Court, where he was received with great favour, and plunged into the vortex of the fashionable life of his time. Pakington was knight d in 1587, but he appears to have outrun his means and to have been enmeshed in financial difficulties. His residence was then at Hampton Lovett, but he seems to have conceived the idea of building a kind of banqueting- house or place of resort at Westwood. To him the central portion of the house is due, but it did not become the residence 3W0 if1" i maBBESmt IfT “1" ■P'jpi THE ANCIENT GATE-HOUSE. 228 GARDENS OLD AND NEW, r THE WEST FRONT AND DIAGONAL BAY WESTWOOD PARK . 229 THE SOUTH-WEST FRONT, 230 GARDENS OLD AND NEVA. of the family until after the Civil War. It stood in the midst of a fine w oodland, and Pakington constructed a lake, probably represented by the present sheet of water. His lake, however, encroached upon the highway, and his right to divert the road being questioned, he very impetuously ordered his embankments to be cut through, and his waters were dispersed through the \ alley, probably to the dismay of those who had opposed him. Sir John had married the daughter of Humphrey Smith, the Queen’s si kman, widow of Benedict Barnham, and she had brought him a considerable estate, which enabled him to retrieve his fortunes. The knight was succeeded by his son John, who was created a baronet in 1620, and was M.P. for Aylesbury, in CENTRE OF ROSE GARDEN. which district the family had estates. He died as a young man, and was succeeded by Sir John Pakington, the second baronet, who suffered much in the Royal cause in the Civil War, and to whom the present character of Westwood Park must be ascribed. The house at Hampton Lovett had suffered heavily in the Civil War, and the cavalier baronet transferred his residence to Westwood. The King came to his assistance, and a grant of gCpooo was made to him under the name of “ Edward Gregory,” as the King explained, lest the example should be prejudicial. It was at this time that Westwood received the lour diagonal wings, which were built cut from the original structure, giving it a form that appears to be unique. The 1 noble bay windows rising to the third storey, the quaint gables, and the striking character of the diagonal wings all mark- out Westwood Park as an extremely fine example of the architecture of that time. What is specially worthy of note is that Westwood Park does not stand alone. I here is the grand and characteristic gate-house, which may go back to the time of the first builder, with its admirably picturesque gables, its arch, and the delight¬ fully fantastic character of the lofty structure which supports the cupola roof in the midst. At a little distance from each wing, and lying in the diagonal direction from each corner of the house, stood most picturesque garden-houses or banqueting-rooms, of which two still remain, and are fine examples of garden architecture, their old brick walls, mullioned windows, quaintly corbelled chimneys, and picturesque tiled roofs giving them a most attractive appearance. The site of the house upon an eminence in a wooded country doubt¬ less suggested the distribution of the grounds, which are admirably illus¬ trated in a bird’s-eye view by Dr. Nash. The private garden seems to have been on the north-west, and to have been divided by paths crossing both ways, bordered by formal trees, into four portions, though not of equal size Opposite to each angle of the house, and again opposite to each front, a way was cut through the wood, so that in each of these direc¬ tions there was a vista and an avenue. A large circular space was cleared of timber round the house, and at some little distance further away a circular road intersected the avenues, so that the wood was cut up into segments of sylvan rings. It is true that the arrangement was not carried to completion on one side of the house, where the ground declined to the lake, and in this direction was a broader outlook, which gave variety. I his symmetrical plan of the garden at Westwood deserves to be specially noted. • With its garden-houses and avenues the place had features that may be said to have brought it into relation with the school which we associate with Le Notre. Sir John Pakington, the cavalier baronet, died in 1680, and was succeeded by another Sir John, who spent a retired life at Westwood, and was reputed to be one of the finrst Anglo-Saxon scholars of his time. He represented his county in Parliament from 1685 to 1687 Dean Hickes was his intimate friend, and appears to have written some of his learned works at Westwood. His “ Grammatica Anglo- Saxonica ” is dedicated to Sir John Pakington, and the beauties of West- wood and its gardens and park at the time are set forth The student baronet was succeeded by a worthy gentleman, another Sir John Pakington, who lived until 1728, and is supposed to have been the original of the famous Sir Roger Je Coverley. It is true that Addison disclaims having had any originals for his characters, but, although Sir Roger does not altogether answer to Sir John in the circumstances of his life, there are undoubtedly resemblances in the two personalities, and again in Coverley Hall and its surroundings, as resembling Westwood Park, with a ruined abbey near it, and its pleasant walks “struck out of a wood in the midst of which the house stands. Addison’s baronet was a bachelor, but I HE EXIT FROM THE ROSE GARDEN. IVES'TIVOOD PARK , 231 THE Sir John Pakington was twice married. Two of his sons pre¬ deceased him, but his third son, Sir Herbert Perrot Pakington, succeeded at Westwood Park as fifth baronet, and, like many of his ancestors, represented his county in Parliament. Sir Herbert’s two sons — Sir John and Sir Herbert — followed him in succession, and the baronetcy became extinct on the death of Sir John, the eighth baronet, in 1830. The eldest daughter of the seventh baronet had married Mr. William Russell, of Powick Court, and their son, Mr. John Somerset Russell, who, on the death of the last baronet of the original creation, had taken the PORCH. name of Pakington in lieu of Russell, was himself created a baronet in 1846. This gentleman was a well-known politician, and was Colonial Secretary, twme First Lord of the Admiralty, and Secretary of State for War. He was made a G.C.B. in 1859, and in March, 1874, was raised to the peerage as Baron Hampton of Hampton Lovett and of Westwood, Worcestershire. Westwood Park is illustrative of much that is notable in the history of the country. Its present owner is Mr. Edward Partington, whose son-in-law, Mr. R. B. Ward, resides there. 232 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. VISTA AT LEIGHTON [ 233 ] THE judicious guide who instructs the visitor ns to how best to see the notable p'aces in the upper valley of the Severn, in that romantic part of it which lies adjacent to Welshpool and below Montgomery, will often tell him to drive from the former place to Powis Castle, where he may survey its ancient glories, and then, cross¬ ing the Severn by the bridge, to visit the splendid modern domain of Mrs. Naylor at Leighton Hall, rich in recent improvements, in farms, mills, and sawing establishments, and so beneath the shadow of Leighton Church to return to Welshpool. Some¬ thing like this has been done in these pages, for the reader has looked with delight upon the pictures of antique Powis and the glory of the terraces on the steep, and now has before him the picturesque and noble mansion of Leighton Hall, and the loveliness of its well-kept gardens and grounds, from which Powis Castle is itself a prominent object in a beautiful landscape, famous for its grand hills and w oded steeps, and the meadows by the river Severn, here but a youthful stream that may be passed at Leighton ford. Hereabout are fine prospects of the Vale of Severn, and from the heights one may look upon Moel-y-Golfa and the Breiddin Hills, and, if the day be clear, even Plinlimmon, Cader Idris, Snowdon, the Arans, and A renigs are within the view. Leighton is a small parish in the hundred of Cawrse, ii. Montgomeryshire, about two miles from Welshpool, and the Hall lies in the valley, nearly at the foot of the Long Mountain, which forms a range running north-east between this point and the Breiddin Hills. It is a region full of history and rich in romantic traditions and associations, and here was fought the last contested battle for Welsh independence in 1294, when the Welsh were commanded by Madoc, Llewelyn’s brother. It is not surprising that such a district should have attracted the wealthy, and the region is somewhat famous for the beautiful seats that distinguish it. In the neighbourhood of Leighton Hall are Garth, Nantcribbu, Glansevern, Vaynor, and other fine places. To Mr. John Naylor, J.P., D.L., at one time Sheriff of Montgomery, the architectural beauties of Leighton and the perfection of its surroundings are mainly due. In the work of erection, and of adornment within and without, there was scope for much wise planning, and for the exercise of fine FRO At THE SOUTH-EAST. 234 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. artistic taste. How well all was done the pictures will disclose. In bringing to per¬ fection such a place as Leigh¬ ton Hall, de¬ veloping its individual character, and surrounding it with gardens like these, many qualities were called for, but the chiefest of them was love for the higher forms of art, and the resolve to give splendour to the dwelling. A rc hite c- turallv, Leighton Hall is imposing and stately. It is well and substantially built of stone, in a tasteful adaptation of the mediaeval style of the fourteenth century, with tall gables and mullioned windows, and covers an ample space of ground. There rises from it a lofty octagonal buttressed tower, with an embattlement, somewhat ecclesiastical perhaps in its character, and having a turret and a gallery for the outlook. There is much to survey in this romantic vale, and the tower promises to those who climb a truly glorious prospect. Within, of course, the house is choice and beautiful in design and plenishings, and is somewhat famous for its pictures and other art treasures. With- out are the arti stically at¬ tractive gardens, which are mainly our sub- j ect. S uch a house demanded beautiful grounds for its comple¬ ment, and it is deserving of note thatthe harmony between the mansion and its surroundings is such as we should desire. The opportuni¬ ties were many, and they have been well used. An undulating space at the toot of the hills suggested special treatment, and gave unusual opportunities to the garden architect. It was decided, for the convenience of the ways, and also, we may suspect, for the stronger character of the gardens, that the hollows should be spanned by bridges. The Lion Bridge illustrates the style of work, and alike in solidity and elegance is admirable. Its buttressed piers rise from a sylvan dell, and carry a roadway flanked by a balustrade, and having pleasant seats for those who would linger thereby. Those who would descend may do so by a simple but truly admirable stairway, THE EAST TERRACE FROAt THE SOUTH-EAST. W' o ■ Ac. THE SOUTH-EAST TERRACE. LEIGHTON HALL. 035 THE LIBRARY GARDEN. 236 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE LION BRIDGi. which leads by several flights into the enchanting region below. On the south side of the house is the principal garden, which is in a measure formal. A terrace lies along the front of the mansion, stone-edged, and having stairways down to the level space of greensward, with its flower-beds and flowering bushes. Here is a magnificent fountain rising from an octagonal basin, with dolphins below, and very finely modelled figures above. It is well seen in one of the pictures, and is truly a glorious work in bronze. There is much statuary in the gardens, and this is the material of nearly all of it. The effect is superb, for bronze, like lead, has a hue that falls well into a garden picture, and It has the advantage that its hardness and quality make it the fitting vehicle for fine artistic expression. Now the statuary in this material at Leighton Hall is by eminent artLts, and in pose, lovely con¬ tour of limb, and excellent model- I i n g is most excellent work of the. sculptor’s h a n d. T h e Venus and Cupid below the east terraces in this garden is a lovely ex rmpleof work, and the amorini everywhere have individual merit and character, while t e Icarus, in t i o n , falling and admirable. The vases also are bronze, and are most beautifully wrought. There is nothing more difficult than to place sculpture well in a garden, but the success at Leighton Hall is complete, and very few gardens can boast of such admirable statuary. At the east end of the garden the ground rises, and the terraces and stairways, which are of fine and unusual character, lead up the slope to the park, where the foliage is magui cent 1 he belts of trees that enframe the garden are a fine and reposeful feature, and are of varied hue and foliage. At the other end of the principal garden the ground falls, and there the landscape character will delight those who love natural gardenage. In this quarter is a small lake or pool — the same into which the son of Daedalus p’ unges in his headlong fall — bordered by grass slopes, and reflecting the umbrageous landscape. Here are great masses of water-lilies and other water- loving plants, and on the banks the rhodo¬ dendrons are glorious in the summer, wh.L the trees are of beautiful orna¬ mental varieties. It will have been noticedthat the lormal and landscape fea¬ tures are closely juxtaposed, and, indeed, each is the foil and com¬ plement of the j other. So far we have noted noth¬ ing of the really old s ch 0 0 1 o f BOYS OF BRONZE. LEIGHTON H.4LL. 237 THE POOL AT LEIGHTON HALL. 238 GARDENS OLD AND NElV. gardening, but this is found in the walled library garden, which lies near to the east t nd of the principal garden. This is a most beautiful and sequestered resort, seemingly set apart for studious reflection or pleasant converse. The wall that encloses it has an excellent coping, and the low buttresses are of the same period a> the house. I he area is grass, with flower¬ beds framed in the turf, the garden being divided into spaces by gravel paths, and where the g round rises a 1 o w terrace has been formed, with a grass slope and a flight of steps ascending, beyond which is a \ ista through a green archway to the g a r d e n b e y ond. Flanking the stairway and the path are dc- hghtful little amorini of individual merit, all in bronze, like the rich ll >wer vases which are in the area, and upon their st ne pedestals these line the top of the grass slope that has been alluded to. The walls of this library pleu- sau ce are themselves gardens, and have a esture of loveliness in the flowering climbers that clothe t hem . Here roses flourish abundantly, and the fine sylvan background completes a truly beautiful garden picture. Though there is at Leighton a most Raise, with alt active pleasure grounds, estate, the character of the whole is simple to delay the pen. What we observe is a happy union of various styles of gardena ge — t h e broad a n d ef fee five character r f the pi incipal garden, with its foun¬ tain and admir¬ able statuary, the excellent and o r i g i n a 1 terraces at the east end, w here the the whole, and the radiant space of the retired library garden within Various features are thus and an setting is its wails, periods and of gardening represente .1, a d m i r a b le provided for the architectural s pi e n d o ur of the mansion. Reserve is another distinguishing character of the gardens. There is no lack of richness, as the visitor realises he traverses enchanting It was no thing, for to bring ICARUS. charming dwelling- and a considerable and there is little SOUTH END OF THE FAST GARDEN. vvnen these places small example, together so many excellent works of sculpture, and to dispose t em well. They import into the garden something of a spirit that is alien to that of the architectural period to which the house belongs, but the result is undeni¬ ably pleasing and attractive. There is a partial breaking and intermingling of styles w ich adds a fresh¬ ness to the older forms. Here, perhap-, a lesson may be cuggested. Let not the garden planner set up too rigid a method in his work, else will he most certainly exclude some things which, with a broader view, he might have welcomed to his satisfaction. Charming indeed is the sculpture in the garden at Leightrn Hall, though some purists might have been willing to exclude it on the ground of its being the outcome of the classic and naturalistic school. There are many beauti¬ ful gardens in this part of Wales, a -id those of Leighton Ha l deserve to be accorded a high place among them. They are radiant, beauti¬ ful, varied, and architectu rally i nteresting, therefore both admirable and attractive. The tall spire of the modern Early English church, erected by Mrs. Naylor, adds to the attractions of the landscape. t 239 ] THE picturesque Welsh villa qe of St. Fag m’s, lying upon the river Ely, not far from ancient Llandaff, takes its name from the saint to whom the quaint old Norman and Decorated church there is dedicated. Tradition alleges that the goo.i man arrived in Britain about the year 180, and that he founded a church in the Ely valley, of which the existing structure is the successor. The village cf St. Fagan’s, with its many quaint, old-fashioned ihateh-roofed cottages, its Tudor gabled mansion, and its interesting church, almost hidden among spreading trees, is one of the most charming and pleasing in that part of the Principality. Its principal attraction lies in Lord Windsor’s beautiful seat, the castle of St, Fagan, which, though not of imposing grandeur, indeed possesses in its hoary walls and many gables, its ancient features, and its Tudor embellish¬ ments, a character which we love to find in the old houses of the land. The oldest portion of the remains probably dates from the thirteenth century, indicating the existence of a strongly fortified dwelling- place, commanding the neck of the Ely valley. This castle has left features of interest in our garden pictures, and of value in the garden plan. St. Fagan’s un 'crwent reconstruction later on, and Rice Merrick refers to it, in 157S, as one of the castles near the “frontiers of the mountaynes.” Its owner at the time was one John Gabon, a doctor of the law, and it seems probable that the manor house vvas built about that date. It possesses the gables, mullioned windows, and chimneys which we associate with Tudor days, and is a bold and impressive house, standing on the crest of the hill, and looking, from its many windows and ancient embattled walls, over the gardens which lie upon the slope and in the valley to the landscape beyond. The position is very advantageous, and has lent itself extremely well to the formation of the gardens. Before describing them, let us note the fact that the neighbourhood was the scene of a very sanguinary engagement THE LEAD TANK IN THE FORECOURT. 240 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. in the Civil War. The Royalists had arranged a plan by which the entrance of the Scots into England was to be a signal for a simultaneous rising in every quarter of the kingdom, but the zeal of theWel sh¬ in e n did not brook delay, and a force of 8,000 men quickly gathered. Chep¬ stow was sur¬ prised, Carnar¬ von besieged, and Colonel Fleming defeated, but success led on the Welsh to their ruin. Laughern was hastening towards Pembroke on May 8th, when, at St. Fagan’s, he encountered the Parliamentary forces under Colonel Horton, who had been sent by C romwell to enforce disbandment. A hard-fought engagement took place, in which the Welsh were defeated with great slaughter and the loss of many prisoners. Of St. Fagan’s parish alone sixty-five inhabitants were slain, and it was impossible to reap the next harvest for want of men. The Parliamen¬ tary tide flowed on to Pem¬ broke, where a siege ensued, which detained Cromwell’s forces for six weeks before the place sur¬ rendered. In the seven¬ teenth century St. Fagan’s C is le, or manor house, passed into tire hands of the family of Lewis of the Van, and by the marriage of Miss Lewis with the third Earl of Ply¬ mouth, who died in 1732, it came to a family new to tire district. The Earls of Plymouth did not reside much at St. Fagan’s, and the castle appears to have fallen into disrepair. Part of it was, in fact, u ed as the village school, but the late B ironess Windsor gave it as a residence to her son, the Hon. Robert Windsor-Clive, after his m mriage with Lady Mary Bridgeman. This gentleman largely restored the old house, and furnished it with excellent taste, col.ecting the old calc and fine tapestry and china which it now co. .tains. A great A SUNNY CORNER. ipX MARBLE VASES ON THE TERRACE. ST. F AGAVE’S. 241 THE WATCH-TOWER -EARLY MORNING. 242 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 1 HE BAITLEMENT WALK. rounded by grass, which we illustrate. Such an object is very unusual in our gardens, and is perhaps unique, but the history of it seems not to be known. It is a glorious example of craftsmanship in lead. The date is 1620, and the tank bears the Royal arms. Grouped about it are features of exceptional interest — on one side the rugged walls of the mediaeval castle, on the ther the many-windowed structure, luxuriantly vested with roses and climbing plants. Tl.e principal garden front of the house, however, is on the other side, where the embattled wall, after partially enclo ing the forecourt, extends towards the crest of the hill, which it lines with most admirable and picturesque effect, giving a glorious outlook over the terraced gardens to the south. There are gardens, however, on the north side of the wall, lying on the right of the approach to the house, of which something may be said before we pass to those on the slope. Here is the moated rose garden, which has the unusual feature of a narrow stone- margined water channel sur¬ rounding its central part. Roses flourish abundantly, and group with admirable effect against the grey stone walls of the AUTUMN MIST. olJ building, JUNIPERS IN deal was done at this period, and many imp. ovements and alterations in the grounds were suggested by the rough old walled garden and the picturesque contours of the ground. It remained, however, for Lady Mary Windsor-Clive to carry on the work after the death of her husband, who had designed and completed the terraces and fish-ponds, which are such an attractive feature in the place. The present Lady Windsor has added much to the beauty of the gardens, and work is still going on, so that the charming house and surroundings of bt. Fagan’s maybe expected to grow in their attractions. Entering the grounds by the gate on the north side, very beautiful is the picture discovered. A broad drive, flanked by trees, and by green and spacious lawns, lea Is to an archway through the ancient castle wall, behind which rise the lofty gables of the Tudor structure. The grey walls of the ancient place gave rare attraction to the scene, and a FAGAN’S, 243 ST. THE THIRD TERRACE. 244 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. ROSES AND for on this side the remains of the ancient castle are many The garden of annual flowers, enclosed within walls, is a delightful example of gay and successful gardening, and the walls are floral also. Near by is the characteristic and fanciful trellised garden, a triumph in its way, and the rose garden proper is also on this side. The rosery has been formed by the present Lady Windsor, and is a perfect dream of loveliness, and an ideal home for the queen of flowers. Here are bowers, screens, and pergolas with delightful green TRELLIS-WORK. turf paths, and beds of the best varieties in great masses, the borders of hardy flowers arranged in a free and natural manner. There is also an orchard, in which are well-grown old trees, rich in blossom and heavy with fruit in the season. This is a happy place also for the cultivation of bulbs, and a succession of crocuses, narcissus, tulips, and other spr ng flowers makes this part of the gardens a place of enchanting beauty in the early months of the year. We are tempted to recall the thoughts of Ruskin in this garden — to think that the FAGAN’S, 245 ST. I THE TERRACES AND PONDS FROM THE BATTLEMENTS. 146 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. flowers rightly flourish here for those who love them. “1 know you would like to think that true,” he says; “you would think it a pleasant magic if you could flush your flowers into brighter bloom by a kind look upon them ; nay, more, if your look had the power, not only to cheer, but to guard!” Something like this seems the influence at St. Fagan’s. The long embattled wall which crests the hill there, separates the delightful garden region on the elevated land from the romantic beauty of the terraced garden on the southern slope. The wall is the most important portion of the old castle still remain¬ ing. It overlooks the Ely River ; and the “wall walk,” which commands the prospect, is well preserved, and terminates in a small turret, being a pic¬ turesque part of t'.'.e modern offices built in the middle of the last century. From this exalted position in the castle gardens there is a great deal to survey, and the quaint turret is the place for the outlook in its realm of flower- land. The terraces are in close proximity to the mansion, and there is a most lovely view over them from the battle¬ ments, terminating below in the fish-ponds, which reflect THE HIGHER POND, a magnificent growth of trees, partly enclosing them on the further side, over whose topmost branches, from our lofty position on the hill, we look out to the lovely landscape beyond, rich in the sylvan beauty and green spaces of the country There are five successive terraces, edged with stone or grass, and some of them having grass slopes, while the descent from the house is by a fine fl ght of steps, flanked on either side THE LOWER POND. ST. F AGAVE’S 247 by rows of junipers. The arrangement is superb, and may serve as an example for many who would form their gardens on the slope. In such a garden, where formality has not been sought, it is natural to find that the architectural features are few. Yet, at the various descents, the work is extremely good and very characteristic, and the masonry is handsome, and falls rightly into the garden picture. An abundance of flower vases forms an attractive feature, and roses and pelargoniums, the blue African lily, and multitudes of fine flowers are thus cultivated in perfection. All along the terrace walls also exceeding care is displayed in cul ivating beautiful things. Here are exquisite borders, full of admirable plants, and the walls are rich in flowering climbers. It is a garden of subtle and abundant charm, created and tended with unfailing skill and care. The garden melts, as it were, into the surroundings on The village of St. Fagan’s may be described as a garden also. It has that picturesqueness which we delight to find in our rural villages. The quaint cottages, admirably picturesque in their irregularity, are embowered in Iragrant shrubs and trees, their porches gay with sweet-smelling honeysuckle and jasmine, and roses climbing to their chimneys. There is nothing to break the rural charm, and St. Fagan’s is a village dear to the artist, who finds in the quaint cottages and in the ancient walls of the castle many subjects for his pencil. The church is a feature in the landscape, and its ancient character and many memorials make it interesting to the antiquary. The neighbouring country adds the right grace and charm. There are undulating pastures, wide sweeping dales, v/oods, and rippling streamlets, all constituting a most agreeable country. We remember that it was here the famous battle was lost and won, in which, in some measure, was decided the THE EAST END OF THE TERRACE. this side, and when at length, going down by the various descents, we arrive at the border of the ponds, where the water-lilies grow, we find ourselves in a natural landscape — a transition most delightful. In the silvery surfaces of the ponds the surrounding trees are reflected, and when we have passed to the other side, looking back we see the house reflected, with all its terraces and gardens — truly an enchanting picture. The two ponds, though close together, are separated by a walk giving access to the park beyond. On the southern slope, where the terraces are, all things prosper, and the terrace borders are triumphs in successful gardening, the place being beautiful and fragrant because of the admirable selection of flowers grown, from early spring until the last winds of autumn have blown. 1 he trees are magnificent, though not of great size, and include fine planes, lovely birches, branching oaks, and stately and imposing conifers, which last are green all the winter through. Indi¬ vidually and in masses the trees adorn both the foreground and the distance with admirable effect, and the outlook' over the garden, with the rushing streamlet and waterfalls, and the perfect sylvan beauty, conjures up in the mind the idea of some southern land. fate of a kingdom and a commonwealth, but we may say with Byron : “Those clays are gone, but beauty still is here; States fall, Arts fail, but Nature doth not die.” We must add that to the present Lord and Lady Windsor, who are true lovers of all that makes the country and country houses beautiful, are due the preservation and the enrichment of the sylvan and rural beauty of St. Fagan’s. The r.ver Ely flowing through the valley enhances the charm of the landscape. Few would suspect that within a few miles lies the busy port of Cardiff, where the ships ever come and go, and the town is busy with the hum of men. Up on the hill at St. Fagan’s, or down by the fish-ponds and the woods, we do not think of such things. We are content to look upon the beautiful terraced gardens, to linger in the rosery, or among the annual flowers, and to endeavour to trace out the plan of the old castle which stood here long ago. Much of tire beauty of these islands is due to the care and judgment, and the love of natural things, of those who, like Lord and Lady Windsor, devote themselves to beautifying and adorning with new attractions the places in which they dwell. 248 CARDENS OLD AND NEW. , THE TROUT STREAM AT L1TTLEC0TE [ 249 ] THE famous house of Littlecote — the ancient home of the Darells and the Pophams — stands within the Wiltshire b rder, but at a distance of some three or four miles from Hungerford in Berkshire. Leland describes its grounds as “a right faire and large parke hangynge upon the clyffe of a higlie hille welle woddyd over Kenet,” and the description is true to-day, for the Kennet still flows through the park, and the woods still are green. The situation is low, a id the land by the house level, but higher to the south, so that as the visitor nears it, approaching by the old avenue, he sees the red br'ck walk and the gables, of which there are some forty, and the chimney-stacks rising above the hedges and garden adornments. Truly a house of marvellous charm is this, in a grouping of old-world picturesqueness, a feast of colour also, when seen in the setting sun, with the dark green foreground and the sky behind, and countless panes in its mullioned windows to reflect the evening glow. I he alterations made nearly a century ago by General Edward Leyborne-Popham, who had married the heiress of the Pophams and taken the name, do not in any way break the antique spell. What kind of garden should we desire to adorn such a house ? We might have chosen a low terrace, perhaps, for our outlook, but, in any case, we should have demanded simplicity. Now, simplicity is the dominant characteristic of the place. There is enclosure by walling and hedges, and every wall is used as the support for fruit trees or climbing flowers. The Kennet lends a branch of its stream on the north side to form a trout water in the garde s and meadows, and there are well- kept grass walks on either side, flanked by glorious borders of herbaceous flowers. Here sta ely lilies, giant hollyhocks, gay phloxes, glorious poppies, and tall foxgloves, snapdragons, and larkspurs flourish, with many a humbler gem at their feet, and the unrivalled background of a dark, dense hedge, or a mossy, well-clothed wall. There are beautiful lawns, and a bowling green covered with perfect turf, and a quaint “ Dutch garden ” — though why that fair retreat should not be English no man can say. Klower-beds and garden seats are there also. Then the south court is approached by a superb iron gateway, leading to the grass plot, the dial, and the porch, and we think of the generations of Darells and Pophams who have entered that way. Everywhere are fine trees rising naturally in masses and affording cool sh ide and the aspect of repose. The park, which is some four miles in circumference, D varied in character and contour, and picturesque, v ith a certain wildness in its aspect that is charming and beautiful. On one side rises a THE SOUTHERN COURT. 250 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE COAT OF ARMS OVER THE DOORWAY. 1 HE NORTH FRONT AND BOWLING GREEN. LITTLECOTE. 251 252 GARDENS OLD AND NElV. lofty hill, crowned with wood, and form¬ ing a fine con¬ trast with the 1 n x u r i a n t and level meadows extending along the banks of the Kennet. Radiance, sweet¬ ness, and natural attraction are everywhere to be found. Littlecote was long the seat of the Darells, and here lived, in the six¬ teenth century, William Darell, tire last of the line of its builders, whose stormy career is still recounted by the neighbouring peasants, when they tell the tale of “ Wild Uareii,” The story gees that one dark and st irmy night a hasty messenger arrived on horseback at the cottage of a Berkshire midwife, demanding her services for a lady. Plenteous was the reward, but he strange condition was that the woman should be blindfolded, and be carried on the horseman’s pillion to her duties. Her scruples were overcome, and tire pair rode on until they reached a lonely mansion, where the midwi.e, still blindfolded, v. as conducted to an upper room. She performed her duties to a lady, whom tradition avers to have been masked, but scarcely had the new-born infant been thus strangely ushered into the great world, when a man of ferocious aspect entered, and brutally extinguished its new-budded life by flinging it on the back of a great fire which roared on the hearth, amid the shrieks of the mother and the cries of the woman. Then the midwife, again blindfolded, was mounted on the pillion, and , hurriedly riding in the breaking day with her silent com¬ panion, was put within her own doors ; but the strangeness of the summons had aroused her curiosity, and, on reaching the house, she had counted the steps and had cut a piece out of the lady’s bed-curtain. Thus ultimately was the horrid deed brought home to its cruel author, and palpable was the proof of his guilt. Yet Darell escaped the penalty of his crime. Old Aubrey avers that a dark transaction wrought his freedom. “ The knight was brought to his tryall; and, to be short, this judge had his noble house, parke, and mannor, and (I thinke) more, for a bribe to save his life.” The judge in question was Sir John Popham, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, a sound lawyer, but a severe man, who presided at the trials of Sir Walter Raleigh and Guy Fawkes. The story, it must be confessed, seems improbable, though it is not to be denied that Darell lived, and that Popham possessed his estate, but it would appear that Darell sold the reversion to him in 1586, and that he entered into possession when the murderer died in 1589. The manner of his death is stated by tradition to have been consonant With his desperate and passionate life. He had always been a wild THE NORTH LAWN. » '*&*&■*? A ttiSSsaSem _ i ; . — ~ THE WESTERN COURT. LITTLECOTE. 253 A FLOWER BORDER BY 1 HE TROUT STREAM. THE ORANGERY 254 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE ASCENT TO THE BOWLING GREEN. THE SOU I HERN Sir Francis was Sir Edward Popham, a distinguished admiral and general, who was buried in Westminster Abbey in 1651. It is unnecessary, however, to follow the generations of the Pophams of Littlecote. The present owner is descended in the female line from Alexander Popham, just mentioned. Macaulay records that William of Orange, after his con¬ ference with the Commissioners of James at Hungerford, December 8th, 1638, retired to Littlecote, where a great assemblage met him. He occupied the rooms of which the windows, shown in the picture of the north-west corner of the garden, look out along that lovely grass walk. The present owner is Mr. Francis William Ley- borne- Popham, elJest son of the late Mr. Francis Levborne - Pop¬ ham, D.L., J.P., of Littlecote, who died in 1880. Mr. Leyborne - Pop¬ ham married, in 1890, Maud Isabel, daughter of the late Mr. Henry Howard, of Greystoke Castle, Cum¬ berland. For some years Littlecote has been let, and Mr. Leopold Hirsch is the present FORECOURT. tenant. horseman, and they say, dashing in frenzied career across the. park, his steed fell in the headlong course, an 1 was killed with his rider on a spot still known as “ Darell’s L eap.” Such is the story told with bated breath at Littlecote, lending a strange interest to the old house and the grounds in which these scenes were enacted. The place, in all appropriateness, has its haunted room, and the curious will like to know that it is the chamber with the open window in our I icture of the north front and bow ing green. With the Pophams the house long remained, and happily it is still in their possession. The judge’s only son was Sir Francis P 0 p h am, a soldier and poli¬ tician of litigious tern pe r a m e n t, who I a din 164a. 1 lis son John had lied before him, and was buried with great pomp at Littlecote in 1 6 3 8 . Alex- c 255 ] WITHIN some three miles of the busy Lancashire town of Bolton-le-Moors, noisy with the hum of the spindle and the rattle of the shuttle in the loom, stands ancient Smith, ills Hall, apart in its gardens, and preserving its old-time splendour undimmed. In these pages several of the black and white — or “magpie,” as it is sometimes called — tinber-work houses of Lancashire have been depicted. We might dwell upon the charms of that old English style, which has few finer exemplars than the house ol Smithills, but it is perhaps unnecessary to refer again to the general character of such places. What is specially gratifying in regard to this antique house is that, though it lies so near to a manufacturing town, it is maintained in something even greater than its pristine charm. Such additions as have been mate to fit it for a modern habitation are in admirable taste, and the stone enlargements are in excellent harmony with the whole structure. Beautiful gardens and a good park are the setting of the place. Their character is broad and simple, and without elaboration, as will be seen from the pictures, and the effect is eminently satisfactory. In the ancient courtyard there is a pleasant arrangement of flower-beds. The long lawns which are upon the south front form a raised terrace, and there is nothing to detract from the architectural proportions or the harmony of the structure. At the outer edge of this terrace runs a low wall without any balustrade, and there are three simple descents, with stonework margins and the old adornment of stone balls. The stairways lead down to a long walk, with a fine flower border under the wall, and a grass margin on the other hand, beyond which is another low stone wall with grass lying below. The garden masonry is everywhere excellent, as may be noticed in the illustration of the ascents to the mount. That mount is a feature in the garden, and it has been conjectured that it was the mound or ba, the gate-posts with their ornamental tops, the fruit and flowering climbers, the splendid herbaceous borders, - pe stered ways, like that under the pergola to the a, are the features of truly delightful gardenage. a .mmer garden that we depict, but Groombridge is il at all times of the year, with charms that the town- m arcely suspect. Thus in the winter frosts -rk a sumes a deeper hue, contrasted with the . er tracery of the boughs and the snow-laden Th< f< liage is magnificent in character and variety, and l long ago bears its fruit now. Nothing could surpass nifi ent colour and form of the sylvan groups, lge, and ascending the slope, the terraces are i ii ill mav be surveyed. There are pleasant ways by stairs and green slopes, where stone edgings mark the ascent, with vases full of flowers, and when we reach the top, with the glorious trees behind us, there is an outlook over the house, gardens, and water spaces which appeals most powerfully to the imagination when its beauties are contem¬ plated and the historic memories which make it famous are recalled. In such a garden as this there is infinite charm because of its great variety. There is the pleasant border by the old brick and stone garden wall, with the huge buttresses, and the vista beyond to the pergola. Look again at the moat, reflecting the cultivated woodland, margined with a terrace walk, and crossed by bridges thickly grown with ivy, while the moat walls give kindly hospitality to many plants that root them¬ selves therein. Then there is the pleasant fountain in the north garden, where the triton blows upon a shell in a region of summer flowers and evergreen bushes. The green slopes by the water are a great feature, and water counts for much in the character of the Groombridge gardens. Still more notable, perhaps, is the prodigal growth of flowers in the long borders, like those which margin the grass walk in the upper garden, where the history of the year may be read. Here we think the first snowdrop came, here colonies of crocuses, daffodils, and narcissi also ; the blue gentians followed, and the colum¬ bines, and the great globe paeonies, the dark blue monk’s- hood ; perhaps, the spiked veronica, and the meadow-sweet, the lady’s-mantle, and the evening primrose, and then in the late autumn the tall-growing lilies, lancifolium, it may be, or auratum. The more stately part of the garden, with its trimmed hedges of yew and laurel, recalls the days of Evelyn. He was ever counselling and advising his friends. Thus, when he went with his “ brother Evelyn ” to Wotton, it was to give him directions about his garden. There a mountain, overgrown with huge trees and a thicket, was to be removed, and the moat was to be drained, which was done at no great cost. Perhaps in these days Evelyn would not have recommended the destruction of moats. At least we may congratulate our¬ selves that, notwithstanding his opinion, Groombridge stands where it did, with the moat to reflect the charms of its architecture and its garden. [ 269 J lEW great places in the east of England have so inadequate a record of their past as Lord de Saumarez’s mansion and famous gardens at Shrubland. Some remains of the original house still exist at a little distance from the present Hall. The date, 1637, and the initials, N.B., show that it was probably built in the later days of its tenure by the Bacons. It appears that the place from the days of Edward III. passed through a great number of hands, and did not remain long in the possession of any famil/ until Helen Lytton, granddaughter of Sir Robert Lytton of Knebworth, brought it to Edward Bacon, third son of Sir Nicholas, the Lord Keeper. It remained in the Bacon family for four generations following the first owner of the name, and was sold, after the death of the Rev. Nicholas Bacon in 179;, to Mr. William Middleton of Crowfield, who was created a Baronet in 1804, and assumed, by sign-manual in 1822, the name of Fowle, in addition to and before that of Middleton. Sir William was a native of South Carolina, and a grandson of a former Governor of that colony. The estate, after the death of his son, Sir William Fowle Middleton, passed to his nephew, Admiral Sir George Broke-Middleton, and after his death to his niece, the present Lady de Saumarez, daughter of the late Captain Charles Acton Broke. Sir Philip Broke, who commanded the Shannon in the famous action against the Chesapeake, married a daughter of Sir William Fowle THE UPPER TEMPLE. •270 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. Middleton. His fourth son took the name of Middleton from his mother’s family. The hero of the Shannon was thus the ancestor of the lady who now owns Shrubland, and is married to the descendant of another of the most famous of English Naval heroes. The site of Shrubland is the finest of any house in Suffolk, except those on the Orwell River. The vallev of the river Gipping, a small deep navigable stream, which runs down from Stowmarket to Ipswich, forms in front of the place, a typical alluvial valley, of the kind which Constable delighted to paint. The side of this valley, on which the house stands, is one of the last pieces of chalk in East Suffolk, with light sandy loam above it. The contour is far steeper than that of the ordinary heavy loams of the county, which lie for miles behind the park. Consequently, it forms a long elevated ridge, all covered with park and woods from foot to crest, where the Italian house and stately garden architecture of Sir Charles Barry had full scope for display. The gardens and pleasure grounds are exceptionally large, even as those of the great houses go ; and the gardens and “kept” grounds cover sixty-five acres. There are greater houses in England than Shrubland Park, but probably not another possesses such a very stately example of the grand style of gardening, as the creation of comparatively recent times, and in a situation where a great and truly magnificent descent from level to level could be formed upon so attractive a steep. To survey these gardens is, indeed, something of a liberal education in the splendid aspects of the art of gardening. Through the centre runs a magnificent green drive bordered with arbor-vita and yew. Green drives are also cut and kept mown through the parks and woods as additions to the garden views Sir William Middleton has long joined the majority; but his memory is still kept green, especially among the people on the estate. He held Shrubland during the years when A WALK BY THE GREAT STAIRWAY. 1 ndour of the gardens must appeal to all. They are set in a large wild park, full of deer, and planted with trees hath new and old. The latter belong probably to the era of e old Hall, the former to that of the present house, which r » i t for Sir William Eowle Middleton by Sir Charles in 1830. Sir Charles also designed the elaborate wisely costly garden architecture and “ lay out,” jsted largely by Lady Anne Middleton (a sister of Earl ) in imj rov.ng the great additions — not the : in which a lady has exercised an important ; 1 1 ti.e h ghost developments of garden design. nlow terra e ” still recalls the memory of her 1 ■ units, which probably formed the rid house, were spared where 1 ossible. I hirteen m, probably among the largest and oldest in England, surement of the finest tree is, at the present time, cumfe 1 use. At 3ft. from the ground it 22ft. gin., and it is 88ft. 6in. high. What was • st tree, but now sadly broken by storms, round line, and 30ft. at 3ft. from the agriculture was in its most flourishing condition and the fine estate was yielding its maximum return, and this, with his other revenues, he spent mainly in keeping up his demesne as well as a place of the kind could be maintained. In the history of the great country houses a prime factor is the revenue spent upon the wages of those whose hands are busy from year’s end to year s end in the upkeep of all this beauty and stateliness. Few persons, except the owners, know what the maintenance of a great place means, or the number of men employed. The “lay-out” of the gardens may be gathered largely from the illustrations. '1 he ground lent itself to terracirg, and terraced it was, with the utmost splendour of material, design, and decoration. Iwotieis, the fiist decorated with a Palladian archway, adjoin the south front. Below this is the first terrace garden. This is probably as fine as anything of its kind in England. What is called the Upper Temple is a splendid piece of garden architecture. It is really a gate-house, through which further flights of steps lead to the lower gardens and the Lower Temple, a less satisfactory piece of work, in which, though the aichitect SHd^UBLAKT) PARK. 271 did not desert purely Italian models, the effect at a distance is slightly Sara¬ cenic, From the grand stairway, looking south, is as tine a pros¬ pect of formal garden arrange¬ ment as can be seen elsewhere in England. The whole coup d’oeil is complete. Successive stairways and b a 1 ustraded platforms drop down through cedars and pines to the lower gardens, the circular fountain basin being immediately at the foot of the stairway, and an immense lower terraced garden, with perfectly formal bedding, and a semi-circular sweep on either side of balifttrading, and another terraced slope, lead to the parks and woodlands below. Beyond is the wooded valley, and the timbered line of hills far beyond it, a representative English landscape, in which, on the principle that all good things go together, the splendid and extensive Italian gardens take their place as foreground with admirable effect. The vast amount of building, the hundreds of thousand s of cubic yards of earth re¬ moved, and the extent of walling and terracing, account in part for the staff of masons and brickmakers kept on the estate, doing almost entirely ornamental, or at any rate non - remunera- t i v e , work. There are no odd corners at Shrubland ; every side was cared for equally. The east terrace, for instance, has its gushing fountain. Close by is a stone terrace set with vases and statues down to the fern gates, made in a design admirably suited to the classical setting of which they are an ornament. It will be seen that at a greater distance from the house, and lower down the slope, the garden architecture assumes a lighter character. Pierced parapets take the place of the heavier balustrades. The garden-houses have Anglo-Italian finials and decoration and flat pierced work, and children and cupids replace adult gods and goddesses and classic busts. This is seen in the view of the panel garden THE LOWER TEMPLE. THE EAST TERRACE. GARDENS OLD AND NEW, SHe%UBLANeD PARK 273 274 GARDENS OLD AND NEW . ON THE LOWER TERRACE. and the lower terrace. From the sides of these subordinate gardens vistas like the famous green walk run out into the- pleasure grounds. But perhaps the most striking use of turf terracing is that of the crossing lines of sward, such as that which runs for a great distance right through the grounds at the foot of the stone terraces, passing the lower pleasaunce, with its upright yews, its pavilions and cedars. Modern taste lias mitigated the severe classicisms of the Shrubland gardens by covering the balustrades with roses and letting climbing plants drape the terrace walls. But they still remain one of the finest examples of the Italian style of garden embellishment as British architects under¬ stood it. When Sir William Fowle Middleton died the estate was vested in a trust, now terminated, but of a kind containing rather unusual provisions. The upkeep of the gardens was specially provided for by an endowment of ,£2,000 a year to be spent in their maintenance. It probably was not at all too much for the task. There are serpents of golden yew lying on green cushions of turf, gardens hanging 100ft. above other gardens, and along the great transverse walk is a whole series of gardens each in a different style. You take your choice of anything you fancy, or can imagine yourself in Japan at one moment, or at Hampton Court the next. Going to the right from the panel garden the visitor sees the fountain garden, a blaze of colour ; next is a Chinese garden ; then a box garden follows, devoted to the treatment of that staple of the topiary art; a verbena garden follows, and then a maze. The poplar garden is greatly in place in Suffolk, where that tree forms in its wild state the most striking feature in the landscape. There are also a rose garden, a tent garden, and detached groups of flowers stretching away to lake and wood. The looking-glass garden sends two brilliant borders up to an open summer¬ house, whence the coup d’oeil can be surveyed at leisure. THE FERN GATES. SH%UBLANT) PARK . 275 THE UPPER TERRACES AT SHRU BLAND PARK. 276 GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE PRIVATE GARDEN AT FRGGMORE. [ 277 ] N C E the time when William the Conqueror laid the foundation of Windsor Castle each English Sovereign in succession has added to it an expression of his or her individuality, and that of the longest lived of them all lingers there still. We scarcely know what great and inspiring memories may not be evoked by the prospect of these enchanting scenes. Here the long line of our Sovereigns has lived. Hither have come the Ministers of State, the great soldiers and seamen, heroes of every sort, the highest personages in our literary and art annals. How many great men have looked upon these historic scenes, which many are now privileged to survey ! Frogmore especially represents the tastes Queen Victoria, just as Sandringham, the and character of place which has, so to speak, grown up under his ownership, represents those of King Edward VIE, while Windsor is the great exemplar of Royal taste and kingly majesty. Already the places are being changed and modified. Throughout her whole life, but especially towards the end, Queen Victoria had the affection of a strong nature for what was old and endeared by long association, so that she was averse to the removal of ancient landmarks. And what a great deal Windsor and Frogmore must have been to her ! Here was her stately and historic home during life, and for long years of widowhood she contemplated sleeping in death side by side with her beloved husband under the mausoleum she had erected to his memory at Frogmore. Set there in stillness, amid sombre green trees, it suggests Goethe’s THE ROSE GARDEN. WATER-LILIES AND WOODS AT THE DUCHESS OF KENT’S MAUSOLEUM. FROGMORE AND WINDSO% 279 THE GOTHIC RUINS GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 230 ?-'emn line, “Stars silent over us, graves under us silent.” Within a hundred yards is the tomb of her mother, the ft: chess of Kent. There remains the simple tea-house 1 much of her time was spent, and close to it two very fine old evergreen oaks, holm or holly oaks, as they ire sometimes called. Between them and under the shade cost by tite dark foliage of their gnarled limbs she used to receive endless visitors who came about affairs — Cabinet Ministers, diplomatists, and the others who have business ith Rovalty. Queen Victoria ever delighted in trees, and there are few parts about Frogmore that are not distinguished bv : >ble specimens. There is the beautiful lime avenue, one nf the finest extant, in which the upper parts of the trees are ■.hick with bunches of mistletoe; we know of no other place : H inland where it grows more profusely. Not far from the Duchess of Kent’s tomb there are three remarkable trees. One s a maidenhair, Salisburia adiantifolia, said to be the finest of its kind in Europe ; another is a towering deciduous cypress ; and the third a Californian Thuja gigantea, planted by the Princess Hohenlohe in 1857. Of a curious historical interest ' fne well-known Luther beech. Its history is written in the tablet placed at its root. “ This tree was raised from he beech tree near Altenstem, in the Duchy of Saxe- to be attempted. Plot and box edging and yew hedge are to all appearances left as she found them. But the rose garden at the further end has, of course, received the magnificent roses developed by scientific nineteenth century horticulture. In all the grounds there is nothing more eloquent of the late Queen’s tastes than this exquisite, tasteful, and admirable private garden. Fragrance, floral beauty, the reposeful aspect of the hedges and borders, and the general air of quiet and calm, are the note of character in this pleasaunce. Time and long usage have imparted to it a sweetness of their own, and it is easy to believe that in this seclusion the widowed Queen found solace and refreshment. This quiet feeling is very appropriate at Frogmore. The house itself is elegant rather than grand, and’ was long the residence of the Duchess of Kent. The estate is an ancient demesne of the Crown, although during the Civil Wars it was sold by Charles I., but was returned to its original owners during the reign of his son Charles 11. The house was built by Queen Charlotte, who at her death bequeathed it to the Princess Augusta, who resided there till 1840. The approach is by a semi-circular drive, planted with shrubs, and there are many art treasures within. A very fine and pleasing building, mm lead vases, and 1 he castle terrace. n, < a lied Luther’s Beech, under which Dr. Martin • a arrested and conducted from thence to Wartburg 'i I . 1 i tt 1 1 offshoot was brought to England from King William IV. in 1825, and planted by iide near ihe house at Bushev Park. Her , .■ it!.* I it in her last will to His Royal Highness A bert, with the request that it might be trans- 1 1 1 < - enclosure at Adelaide Cottage.” This was 1 1856. Queen Adelaide’s Cottage was ’s I'* lee, but was greatly enlarged and \ y pretty and attractive it looked, with its of simple spring flowers — primroses, forget-me-nots, and the like. 1 favourite and private garden the 1 v ry old-world air. It is surrounded with t tif) to the dipping —how m m> or how long say. I ln'ii you come first to tiny rut . canal, simple style of the early period. Ea h has its tiny box ■ ff< ct if one of being carried back for II" Queen Vi< toria followed her 1 ti \'t- instincts, and would allow no modernisation it was, as will be remembered, given by the late Queen as a residence to the Prince and Princess Louis of Battenberg. The gardens comprise about thirteen acres, and an artificial lake, which we believe was dug out simply for the purpose of finding employment for the labourers in a spell of depression, enhances the beauty of the surroundings. Our picture gives a good idea of the formal plots and trim shrubs and neat walks of the terrace, with its fine lead vases, all in keeping with the strong, stern lines of the castle, which completely dominate every other feature of Hit landscape. There is something severe in the arrangement, but, as the gardens are surveyed, new and attractive beauties are disclosed. We should scarcely expect to find these gardens like others. The Windsor gardens are, indeed, great, distinguished, and Royal. In themselves splendid, they disclose from their terraces prospects that England can scarcely surpass. The park is noble and truly Royal also, with the magnificent avenue of the Long Walk, three miles in length, flanked by its double lines of glorious elms, and terminating at Snow Hill, where is Westmacott’s statue of Oeorge III. Other avenues are here, like Queen Anne’s Ride, and there is the famous Rhododendron Walk, where one may stroll for a mile among the radiant flowers. FROGEMORE AND IVINDSG% 281 A MARBLE URN ON THE TERRACE AT WINDSOR. GARDENS OLD AND NEW. THE TERRACE AT HADSOR [ 283 ] THE pleasant county of Worcester is famous for its many fine houses, great churches, and picturesque villages. It is a county of orchards, gardens, and cornfields — though there are now fewer of these than of yore — where the rustic cottages are garlanded with flowers, and the great houses stand bravely in the midst of great domains. Its rural fame of rare productiveness is of ancient date, for William of Malmesbury describes it thus: “A land rich in corn, productive of fruits in some parts by the sole favour of Nature, in others by the art of cultivation, enticing even the lazy to industry by the prospect of a hundredfold return ; you may see the highway clothed with trees that produce apples, not by the grafter’s hand, but by the nature of the ground itself, for the earth of its own account rears them up to fruit in excellence of flavour and appearance, many of which wither not under a year, nor before the new crops are produced to supply their place.” Robert of Gloucester, too, referred to the rich fruitage of Worcestershire where he describes the character of various places in England. Here stands the fine house of imposing aspect which we depict, plain in its classic severity, but expressive both of domestic comfort and of cultured leisure. It is a place of some antiquity, altered and modernised by its present owner, Major Hubert George Howard Galton, R.A., or his predecessor. The Amphletts were former owners here ; and of them several monuments may be seen in the village church, which is a fine Decorated structure possessing some ancient glass. Here, also, is a memorial brass of the late John Howard Galton of Hadsor Hall. The church stands near the house, as was the custom in olden times, when it was often but a stone’s throw from the cradle of the child to the place where his aged bones should lie. Mr. Galton did a great deal to beautify Hadsor. and his fine taste may be seen in many parts of the structure and its surroundings. Within is a fine and valuable collection of pictures, including admirable portraits by Reynolds of the sixth Duke of Hamilton and his wife, one of “the beautiful Miss Gunnings.” There are examples at Hadsor also of Vandyck, Rembrandt, Velasquez, Mytens, Guyp, Berghem, Morland, and many more ; as well as sculpture by Thorwaldsen and Canova. These, and the rich plenishings of the stately rooms, are beautiful features at Hadsor ; but they are rivalled by the attractions without, where the garden is a most successful example of harmonious grouping, very charming and reposeful in character. There were old gardens and pleasure grounds here, but the late Mr. Galton remodelled them entirely, and they were laid out with the assistance of eminent gardeners. The situation was favourable for good garden effects, for the sheltered position and deep rich soil favour the growth of tender things ; and it will be seen that in tubs and vases palms are finely grown. A broad and ample terrace extends before the house, excellently laid out with flower-beds. Let it be noticed how appropriate is the character. There is no gulf between the mansion and its gardens, and we pass from iff THE WEST WALK. GARDENS OLD AND NEMO THE CIRCULAR BOX- HEDGED ■ lie t.rrace by the steps to the lower lawn, with the feeling th tilt- architectural character is fading into the landscape and the woodland as we go I he garden architect has wrought excellent things in st ne at this house. The finely-worked balustrades and the masonrv supporting walls are as good as could be wished, and t: •• many vases which adorn the place are all of the best, and ich in masses of flowers. A surprisingly beautiful colour- in t is earned by making such vases as these brilliant points r glowing hue, to contrast with the cool stonework and the various greens of lawns and trees. The garden seat is an extremely pleasing example of what we have said, for stone and flower growth are here brought together in satis¬ factory fashion. What more pleasant place could we wish than this in which to welcome the vernal sun, or in the fading autumn to catch the glow of his fading beams ? The flower vases here are particularly fine, and the splendid yew hedge behind is the foil that enhances the charm. For in the matter of well-hedged gardens, again, Hadsor is as we should wish it to be. The trim lines of these well-kept hedges remind us that in the “ductile yew’’ and box we are able, without grotesqueness or exaggeration, if we will, to express some¬ thing of architectural charac¬ ter ; and thus the hedge or the formal bush may be the link between the house and GARDEN. its green surroundings. There is an attractive circular garden, full of beautiful things, and enclosed by an excellent box hedge, with notable variety in the manner in which it is cut. From such a garden wandering we return with the impres¬ sion that Hadsor is a place wherein an excellent artistic idea has found embodiment. It is a study of harmony and of con¬ trast, in which, from opposites, and from things of like nature, we find developed a spirit of completeness that is delightful. Hadsor, indeed, though not one of the most imposing places in Worcestershire, is one that deserves special considera¬ tion for the harmony and beauty of its architecture and its garden. ~r kmJ japcAW - '■?; A GARDEN SEAT.