FRENCH FASHIONS 



209 



GATE BY TJJOU.HAMPTON COURT 



greater than those of Versailles on account of the 

 proximity of the river Thames, but there was less 

 opportunity for obtaining 

 a view of the surrounding 

 country. When Charles II 

 began his improvements, 

 the stretch of ground be- 

 hind the palace was ap- 

 parently devoid of interest. 

 His gardeners (inspired by 

 Le Notre, if not under his 

 actual guidance) laid out the three avenues of limes 

 converging in a goose-foot at the west of the palace. 

 On the line of the principal axis of the palace beyond 

 the goose-foot, is a canal of water 

 three quarters of a mile long and 

 one hundred and twenty-six feet 

 wide, fed by the Longford River. 

 Five hundred acres came within 

 the scope of the design which was 

 afterward completed by William III. 

 In Knyff and Kip's " Britannia 

 Illustrata " is a bird's-eye view of 

 the palace and its surroundings 

 as they appeared early in the 

 eighteenth century, with the Pond Garden, the banqueting 

 house, and other Tudor features much as they were when 



: HAMPTON CQUHT 



