THE MEDIEVAL PLEASAUNCE 



99 



so called on account of its length and of the manner 

 it is erected, having a view on one side of the garden, 

 and on the other of the said valley toward the river." 

 In the middle of tne garden was a pavilion, covering 

 apparently a fountain of white marble. The other 

 garden was placed in the valley. Near it the Cardinal 

 had erected an " isolated or Carthusian dwelling-place, 

 abounding in every pleasure." 



But what of the mediaeval pleasaunce remains in 

 England to-day? Unfortunately, very little. More 

 than half of the six or seven hundred castles built 

 between the Norman Conquest and the reign of Henry 

 VIII have entirely disappeared, many others have 

 fallen into dis- 

 use, and of those 

 still inhabited 

 few retain their 

 original sur- 

 roundings. 



Perhaps the 

 most satisfactory 

 survival is at 

 Penshurst. Here 



the gardens were replanted about fifty years ago, but 

 they must have been laid out at a much earlier date. 

 It vividly recalls the mediaeval pleasaunce, although 

 differing from it in certain details. There are embattled 



DIANA'S POOL'-PENSHUR&T 



Penshurst. 



