145 



first so employed in England. For soniotime after llie death' 

 of the Queen, William nef;!ected this paltice, but he at length 

 returned to it, and amongst other improvements added to the 

 grounds the Great Terrace next to the Thames, " the noblest 

 work, says Switzer, of that kind in Europe.''* Kensington 

 Gardens were commcnred by this monarch. Tiiey were small 

 but neatly kept. Tlie approach was under a double row of 

 Elms, from the town of Kensington, through an enclosed field, 

 rendered still more unsightly by a gravel Pit. To remove this 

 disfigurement London and Wise were afterwards employed, to 

 effect which they introduced a mimic fortification, the bastions 

 counterscarps, &c. of which were of clipped Yew and variegated 

 Holly, which was long an object of wunder and admiration, under 

 the name of the " siege of Troy." Such vegetable sculptures, 

 and embroidered parterres, were now in the highest vogue. 

 Sir William Temple's, beau ideal of a Ciarden, given in his " Es- 

 say on the Gardens of Epicurus," is that of a Hat, or gently 

 sloping plotof an oblong shape, stretching away from the front 

 of the house, the descent from which to it was from a terrace 

 running the whole length of the house, by means of a flight of 

 steps. Such a Garden he says, existed at RloorPark, in Her'- 

 fordsliire, formed by the celebrated Lucy, Countess of Bedford, 

 one of the cliief wits of her time. It was on the slope of a Hill, 

 with two Terraces, rising one over the other, and united by a 

 magnificent flight of steps. A parterre, wilderness, higldy or- 

 namented Fountains, Statues, Alcoves, and Cloisters, were its 

 prominent parts and ornamcots. 



Queen Anne, was a patroness of Gardening, and manifested 

 at least an acquiescence to a better taste. She allowed the Box 

 to be removed from the Gardens at Kensington, had them re- 

 modelled, and added another, says Switzer, " behind the G r en- 

 house, which is esteemed amongst the most valuable pieces cf 

 work, that has been done any where." Several other imjrovo- 



■* Icnographia Rustica, v, i. p. 76. 



