120 A BOOK OF ENGLISH GARDENS 



these houses was both effective and useful. The 

 celebrated one at Beckett is supposed, without 

 doubt, to bear upon it the seal of its master the 

 princely Inigo Jones. 



It distinctly shows the influence which Chinese 

 architecture and art exercised in Europe in those 

 days. The little Chinese figures and houses which 

 crept into England on the beautiful Oriental 

 porcelain were the originals of many designs of 

 a light and graceful nature. And on such lines 

 a number of these Garden-houses were carried 

 out. 



Originally the Garden House at Beckett stood at 

 the edge of a small stream, long since turned into a 

 fair-sized lake, the alteration being due to the 6th 

 Viscount Barrington, and the effect now is certainly 

 pleasing which cannot, unfortunately, be said for 

 many such changes. 



The Garden House is placed on what might be 

 called a wide platform projecting into the lake. 

 From the house it is approached by a long 

 Terrace-walk of grass, bordered on each side 

 with gay flowers, behind which runs a railing 

 covered with trailing Roses. Below, against the 

 Terrace wall, there is a beautiful border of 

 Magnolias, Figs, Fuchsias, and Clematis, making 

 a bright spot of colour among the surrounding 

 green. 



By going down the Terrace steps, another path 



