GARDENS OLD AND NFW. 



life of the garden is not overshadowed by the neighbourhood 

 of arboreal curiosities. 



But before \ve enter the garden, let us say something about 

 the spacious and beautiful house. What manner of dwelling 

 was here when the Parliament of Edward 1. sat at Acton 

 Burnell hard by the nobles in the castle, and the commons in 

 a barn to pass the famous " Statutum de Mercatoribus," we 

 do not know. The estate was purchased in the reign of 

 Henry VIII. by Thomas Owen, who appears to have built the 

 house itself in or about 1598, to be completed by his son. 

 Camden says of him that he was " a great lover of learning, 

 who, being dead, left behind him a son, Sir Ro^er, an excellent 

 scholar, and worthy of so excellent a father." Thomas 

 Owen was native of Condover, and a gentleman of the law, 

 who rose to be Queen's Sergeant in 11,93, ari( J a Justice of the 

 Common Pleas in the following year. He died in 1598, and is 

 buried in Westminster Abbey, where his fine monument may 

 be seen. 



Sir William Owen, of Condover, was a wary gentleman in 

 the Civil Wars, who contrived, with a certain agility, to be 

 now en one side of the hedge and now on the other. He 



still survives among the beautiful houses of the land. The 

 Owens continued to live at Condover for many years after 

 that critical period in the fortunes of their house, until by 

 marriage the mansion and estate came to the family of 

 Cholmondeley, and it has recently passed to the hands of its 

 present possessor. 



The house within is beautiful, spacious, and abundantly 

 interesting, though not to be described here. Fine panelling, 

 rich ceilings and mantels, old portraits, and plenishings 

 of the richest kind, add to its old-world charm, and through 

 mullioned windows there are delightful views over the gardens 

 and park. 



Rare and beautiful, with a subtle charm, these gardens 

 are. The principal flower garden is on the south side, where 

 the pictures illustrate the character of the grass terraces with 

 their conical yews, and the noble trees and glades of the park 

 beyond. .The arrangement is formal, and quite typical of 

 some gardens of the class. It will be observed that there is 

 nothing elaborate in the design. The slope of the ground lent 

 itself to a terraced arrangement, and there is a simple charm 

 about the varied grass walks, with suggestion, in the character 



Ccf>yright. 



THE GRASS TERRACES 



was in the Commission of Array, at least, and signed 

 certain warrants, being a supporter of the King, and was in a 

 position of authority at the council house in Shrewsbury. The 

 Parliament Committee afterwards averred in his favour that, 

 when they first " took footing " in the country, and were in 

 the poorest condition, penned up in the garrison of Wem, and 

 there surrounded by the enemy, he held correspondence with 

 them, and offered them possession of his house at Condover, 

 " being a strong stone building within three miles distance of 

 Shrewsbury." Though they were not in a position to garrison 

 it, the circumstance led them to the conclusion that his 

 "affections were always right towards the cause of the 

 public," and if he ever acted otherwise this could scarcely 

 proceed from disaffection, but rather "from some passion of 

 timorousness, or the facility of his nature." Not content with 

 this plea in Sir William's favour, the Parliament p.irty 

 asserted that, after the taking of Shrewsbury, he had mani- 

 U'sU'd the bt-st dispositions towards their cause, while his 

 backwardness in contributing mortgages or yielding assistance 

 M the Royalists caused them to threaten to bum his house. 

 Fortunately for himself and for us, too, his noble mansion 

 escaped the fury of the Royalists he had disappointed, and 



of the pleasaunce, for those who do not seek enclosure, but 

 prefer a broad outlook to the charms of a sequestered parterre. 



Geometrical gardening marks the west side of the house. 

 There are as fine tall box edgings as you could wish to see, 

 giving character and distinction to the place. Their quaintness 

 is delightful, though to keep edgings in such condition as those 

 at Condover is no easy matter, and with unkempt raggedness 

 the old-world aspect and beauty straightway disappear. The 

 spiral junipers and Irish yews are here an attractive feature. 

 At the end of the garden zinnias, roses, and other lovely 

 flowers fill the beds, and those who enjoy the satisfying shade 

 of a good yew hedge the glory of many a fine garden will 

 find a splendid one here, in association with many notable 

 specimens of the golden pyramidal yew. 



Something of the character of the beautiful park at 

 Condover will be seen in the pictures. The little river Cound, 

 from which the place takes its name, winds through the 

 pleasant glades overshadowed by very fine trees, and the 

 ground is diversified with hill and hollow. The elms of the 

 park are noble specimens of one of our finest forest trees, and 

 there is a splendid giant on the lawn with branches sweeping 

 the turf. 



