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GARDENS 

 OLD-&NEW 



ATHELHAMPTON HALL, 

 DORCHESTER, . . 



THE SEAT OF .... 



MR. A. C LAFONTAINE. 



WITH nl! candour be it confessed that there are 

 thorns and traps on either side of the path of 

 him \vho would deal with such a topic as 

 Athelhampton. For Athelhampton as it 

 stands, that wonderful and artistic harmony 

 of house and garden, is truly an "architect's garden," and 

 in the main the work of one who is an architect in the widest 

 sense of the word. Now Mr. William Robinson, whose 

 services to the cause of the beautiful in country life are beyond 

 all price, and many with him, as we have suggested already, 

 cannot tolerate the architect in the garden. " The architect 

 can help us much by building a beautiful house. That is his 

 work The true arclrtect seeks to go no farther/' On the 

 other hand, the ambition of the architect in many ways a 

 noble ambition knows no limits. He will prescribe for you 

 the plan and outline of the garden over which his windows 

 look, and even, perhaps, the very plants and shrubs which 

 must be grown in the various parts of the garden. Some years 

 ago there was a feud, of that bitterness which appears to be 



inseparable from literary and artistic controversy, between 

 Mr. Robinson and thase who think with him on the one hand, 

 and a group of young and cultivated architects on the other. 

 There is much to be said on both sides. The architect, 

 in designing his house, must think of the work 

 which the gardener has to do afterwards ; and the 

 gardener, in his turn, must think of the opportunities wh-ch 

 the architect has given to him. In a word, as has several 

 times been said in this volume, the spirit of the house must, 

 if in some indefinable sense, pervade the garden. The ideal 

 situation would be if "the compleat gardener" could work 

 hand in hand with the excellent architect. That kind of 

 combination of talent is, however, possibly rare, and it may 

 happen, especially where an ancient and historic house has to 

 be rehabilitated, that one mind will be called upon to plan, out 

 of existing materials, and subject to present conditions, an 

 harmonious whole. Such was the problem which was placed 

 for solution before Mr. Inigo Thomas at Athelhampton in 1890. 

 How great was his success is shown by our illustrations. 



Cofrrigkl. 



THE FOUNTAIN IN THE CORONET GARDEN. 



' Country Life.' 



