196 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



water, fed by a quick and swift river, so well and 

 plentifully stor'd with fish that for pike, carp, breame, 

 and tench I never saw anything approaching it. ... 

 The waters are flagged about with Calamus Aromaticus, 



with which my Lady has 

 hung a closet that retains the 

 smell very perfectly. There 

 is also a certaine sweete 

 smelling willow and other 

 exotics, also a very fine 

 bowling greene, meadow, 

 pasture, and wood ; in a 

 word all that can render a 



GATE-WAY: on AY TON 



STONE STEPS '- DRAY TON 



country seat beautiful and delightful." 



Drayton. At Drayton, in Northamptonshire, is perhaps the 



most perfect specimen of a seventeenth-century gar- 

 den now in existence. The 

 pleached alleys, the parterre 

 with its gravel walks edged 

 with grass, the banqueting 

 houses, beautiful wrought-iron 

 gates, and orangery are all 

 in keeping. The Elizabethan 

 wing, added to the original house of Drayton, bears 

 date 1584, and has been attributed to John Thorpe, 

 who was much employed in the neighbourhood. The 

 owner and builder was Lewis, third Lord Mordaunt, 



