332 A BOOK OF ENGLISH GARDENS 



scale, as it is a Garden in which the design 

 dominates and the beauty of flowers is practically 

 out of place. There are many lessons to be learnt 

 within its green Alleys, chiefly the power of propor- 

 tion, the value of masses of green, and that flowers 

 are in reality only an addition, not a necessity, to 

 this type of Garden. This beauty of proportion 

 is a legacy from the genius of the original designer ; 

 and obliterated as it is in many places by the lapse 

 of years, it is still felt in the same way as in a 

 beautiful old building. 



There is no doubt that a clever artist could 

 introduce flowers, carefully chosen, into some parts 

 of the Garden if desired, but the whole is so perfect 

 that a false note would sound more discordant at 

 Wrest than in other Gardens. 



The climax of charm is reached in the Wilderness 

 at Wrest, so full of mystery, with its little intersecting 

 grass paths, hedges of cut Yew, Laurel or Box, and 

 tal) trees, below which in Spring is spread a carpet 

 of Primroses. Hidden in the depths of these 

 Bosquets are many Altars, Rustic Columns, and 

 Statues in memory of people who have lived, loved, 

 and walked in these Gardens, the owners of Wrest 

 possessing the rare gift of remembrance. Some of 

 these are of too great interest to be ignored 

 among them the altar erected by Lord Hardwicke 

 to commemorate the completion of " The Athenian 

 Letters," a book written by him and some of his 



