]885.] A DAY IN AN ENGLISH PARK. 11 



A DAY IN AN ENGLISH PARK. 



BY D. F. MACKENZIE, MOETONHALL, MIDLOTHIAN". 



Pakt I. 



IEECENTLY had an opportunity of realizing a long, wistfully- 

 desired visit to Cirencester Park, the property of the Eight 

 Hon. Earl Bathurst, one of the largest, certainly one of the most 

 beautiful of those English parks, which are so prominent in their 

 display of the science and practice of arboriculture. Through 

 the courtesy of the noble proprietor, I minutely inspected the 

 specialities of this domain in a day's visit, — a task that might 

 otherwise have been spread over a week ; and I shall try to have 

 your readers share in my arboreal delights. 



I have said the park is large and beautiful ; it is also useful, 

 every yard of surface being utilized to the best advantage. To the 

 minds of Scotch foresters generally, a park means an enclosure 

 from a score to several hundreds of acres, securely fenced against 

 the public, studded and belted with trees, usually adding greatly to 

 the expense rather than increasing the revenue of the owner. The 

 Cirencester Park, however, is the reverse of this. It covers an 

 area of many thousands of acres, intersected by over sixty miles 

 of rides, drives, and shady, well-kept walks ; the scenery is varied 

 and beautiful, the surface being gently undulating and well covered 

 with trees, of diverse ages and varieties. It also contains several 

 ornamental and architectural buildings said to have been designed 

 by the poet Pope, during the life of the first Earl Bathurst, as well 

 as a lake of considerable area and beauty, together with a large 

 deer park, well stocked with the " denizens of the forest." 



Great effect is given to the scenery by the arrangement of the 

 rides and drives, which divide the whole area like a network, and 

 at irregular distances, each different from the other. 



Lying as they do, close to Cirencester, the house and park are 

 shut out from the town by a massive stone wall, between which 

 and the mansion is a magnificent yew hedge, well trimmed, it 

 being only a little over 2 feet in thickness, though over 35 

 feet in height. The line of this hedge represents the section of 

 a huge Gothic moulding, having the house as its base. Within its 

 lines are gravelled walks and a parterre, all in harmony with the 

 surroundings. 



The principal avenue, called the '•' Broad Kide," is one of the 



