40 



GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 



Copyright. 



it and the old gatehouse, is a 

 fine expanse of turf, with excel- 

 lent specimen trees about it 

 grand evergreen oaks, a fine 

 old cork tree, deciduous 

 cypresses, and others. 



We do not go far at Stone- 

 leigh without finding something 

 to admire in the garden archi- 

 tecture and accessories the 

 terrace walls and balustrades, 

 the vases, the fine gate-posts 

 and flights of steps, and perhaps 

 more than all in the excellent 

 character of much of the iron- 

 work. It is all good garden 

 architecture, carrying the spirit 

 of the mansion into its sur- 

 roundings, and the vases are 

 particularly excellent. Fine 

 ironwork, in gates and clair- 

 voyees, adds infinitely to the 

 interest and attraction of stately 

 gardens, and gives them a 

 character of individuality which 

 they might otherwise lack. The 

 craftsman in stone, iron, and 

 lead is, indeed, a powerful 

 auxiliary, and many examples 

 of skill are to be found at 

 Stoneleigh. And, as might be 

 expected at such a notable 

 place, there is everywhere the 

 evidence of the high state in 

 which the garden is maintained, 

 and the lavish care bestowed 

 upon it. 



It is not possible to stand on the terrace without desiring 

 t-i explore the sylvan beauties of the famous park. We cannot 

 forget that "This is the Forest of Arden." We are on the fringe 

 of it, perhaps, but its character is upon the land. For Arden 

 was never a forest in the legal sense a place set apart for the 

 preservation of game for the sovereign or some great subject, 

 with its officers and courts for the repression of forest offences. 

 The legal forest was not necessarily, nor, perhaps, usually a 

 country of woodland. It often included great expanses of moor 

 and heath, and was a region given up to the chase, where the 

 way of transgressors was hard. But the Forest of Arden. made 

 famous by 

 Shakespeare, 

 was, even in 

 the modern 

 sense, a well- 

 wooded district 

 of glades and 

 thickets, lying 

 mostly north of 

 the Avon, and 

 distinguished 

 from the Feldon, 

 or more open 

 country to the 

 south. In his 

 "Origins of 

 English His- 

 tory," Elton 

 said, indeed, 

 that a squirrel 

 mi^ht leap from 

 tree to tree 

 nearly the whole 

 length of 

 Warwickshire. 



In a certain 

 .therefore, 

 it may be held 



THE GARDEN GATES. 



C fyrighl. 



THE WORK OF THE GARDEN CRAFTSMEN AT STONELEIGH. 



that the umbrageous beauties 

 and pleasures of Stoneleigh park 

 are accounted for. But this 

 would only be partially correct. 

 Thesoil is suitable for the growth 

 of trees, but it has been the 

 care of successive owners which 

 has invested the place with its 

 charm. The trees have been 

 planted judiciously for their 

 broad effect, and the variety 

 of hue and contour is very 

 charming. 



Indeed the visitor, before 

 reaching the mansion, has 

 already had a foretaste of the 

 glories of the surroundings. The 

 abbey is often approached from 

 the west lodge, known as Glass- 

 house Lodge. The road hence 

 traverses the home park by a 

 fine avenue, and crosses the 

 Avon by a handsome stone 

 bridge designed by Rennie and 

 erected in 1809. Here are many 

 noble forest trees, but the deer 

 park is even more beautiful. 

 The whole country-side is much 

 diversified, and the slopes are 

 dotted with splendid trees, 

 sometimes singly and sometimes 

 in groups, or even woods, some 

 of them in their prime, others 

 the gnarled and mighty giants 

 of a former day. If these 

 ancient monarchs of the glade 

 could speak, if there were 

 "tongues in trees," what stories they might unfold ! Near 

 the abbey is a huge pollard oak, 33ft. in girth, and legend 

 says that Shakespeare wove his fancies beneath an oak in 

 the deer park. Other grand old trees cast their broad shade 

 by the north lodge. Close to the keeper's lodge there are 

 the remains of a fourteenth century cross ; Stare Bridge, on 

 the way to Stoneleigh village, is a picturesque structure of 

 many arches, narrow, with recesses in the parapet, built by the 

 monks at the same date ; from the higher ground you may discern 

 the three spires of Coventry rising far away to the north, and 

 there is a great and rich district all around, famous for natural 



beauties and rich 

 in historical asso- 

 ciations, making 

 a fine framework 

 for the special 

 charms of 

 S toneleigh. 

 Park and garden 

 are indeed 

 glorious, and the 

 abbey itself, 

 with its varied 

 features of many 

 dates, and the 

 great art collec- 

 tions with which 

 it is adorned, is 

 truly one of the 

 noblest mansions 

 in the land. Of 

 its history a good 

 deal might have 

 been said ; its 

 many beauties, 

 here suggested, 

 would be hard 

 adequately to 

 describe. 



' Cmttitry 



