NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS 



time an old kitchen garden was converted into a delightful circular 

 rose garden with beds of flowers radiating from a central point on 

 which stands a sundial. The design is in Mr. Mawson's most 

 characteristic manner, and the way in which it has been carried out 

 does the utmost credit both to him and to Mr. Tingle, the head 

 gardener at the Hall, who was responsible for the gardening details. 

 The photographs from which these illustrations were reproduced 

 were taken at the beginning of September, and they show well the 

 condition of the garden, hardly more than six months after the work 

 on it was begun they record clearly the success of a wonderful piece 

 of garden-making. 



The Priory, Bidston, Cheshire (Plates CL, CIL, and CIIL), is ^ 

 another new garden and by the same admirable designer it is a note- 

 worthy example of the treatment of a site by an artist who is in touch 

 with the modern point of view. The house was built in 1 902 in the 

 middle of a fir plantation, and originally the cutting of some drives 

 and walks among the trees was all that was attempted in the way 

 of laying out the ground. But about two years ago the owner, 

 Mr. Bibby, commissioned Mr. Mawson to remodel the whole place 

 on a well-considered plan, and the garden, as it is now, is very 

 attractive as a piece of thoughtful arrangement. Its natural character 

 has not been radically altered, but many features of great interest 

 have been added and brought pleasantly into relation with their 

 surroundings. 



Ribston Park (Plates CIV. to CVIII.) is famous in the horticultural \/ 

 world as the place where the Ribston pippin was first grown. The 

 stem of the original apple-tree some two hundred years old is still 

 standing, but it is a shoot from the parent tree which is now growing 

 and bearing fruit. The pleasure gardens at Ribston Hall show con- 

 siderable variety of treatment, and in planning them advantage has 

 been fully taken of the inequalities of the ground by which departures 

 from set convention have been made possible. The nature of the 

 site, indeed, has helped appreciably to make the gardens markedly 

 interesting because it has allowed the designer scope for the exercise 

 of the right kind of ingenuity. In front of the house is a terrace 

 with a small formal garden, and from this terrace woodland paths 

 lead to the principal flower garden, which is prettily situated and 

 surrounded by trees and shrubberies. In another part is a pinetum 

 which contains some rare and remarkable specimen trees ; and there 

 is a dell which is quite exquisite in its tangle of foliage. In it grow 

 plants of giant hemlock, which in this sheltered spot reach a 

 height of twelve or fifteen feet and carry enormous heads of bloom. 



xxxi 



