200 A BOOK OF ENGLISH GARDENS 



on the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII. 

 coveted the magnificence of Hatfield ; but fearing 

 the anger of the people should he possess himself of 

 it, or give it to one of his favourites (as in many 

 instances he had done before), he effected an 

 exchange with the Bishop of Ely, giving him lands 

 in Cambridgeshire, Essex, and Norfolk in the place 

 of the Manor of Hatfield, which became a Royal 

 residence and entered upon a new epoch of interest. 

 Henry gave his new Palace to his son Prince 

 Edward, who received there the news of his 

 father's death in 1547. Two years later Edward 

 granted Hatfield to his step-sister, the Lady Eliza- 

 beth, with whom the beautiful old Gardens (on the 

 west side of the present House) are for ever linked 

 in memory. Elizabeth's love of the open air and 

 of manly pursuits, as well as her devotion to books, 

 contributed to that happy combination of physical 

 force and mental capacity which stood England in 

 such good stead when the country was at its lowest 

 ebb. Daily she must have walked under the shade 

 of the Pleached Alley, book in hand, reading one of 

 her favourite authors Plato, perchance for Roger 

 Ascham never failed to find his apt and witty pupil 

 in the Garden or Park when the hour for study 

 came. Elizabeth never lost this craving for the 

 open air, and many a time an important Council 

 was held under the huge trees of some park, or 

 amid the flowers of some beautiful old Garden. 



