192 



GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 



now, in its general architectural 



features, recalls the houses of an 



earlier time. To describe the 



mansion is unnecessary, for its 



excellent gables, high roofs, and 



mullioned windows, all very 



charming, are well seen in the 



pictures. The land hereabout 



was monastic property, and the 



location bears the evidences of 



antiquity. The road that passes 



by is the old pack-horse way 



from Bristol to Gloucester, and 



many thirst)' wayfarers have 

 doubtless tarried in the village 

 of Henbury, an. I recently in 



levelling the ground at Henbury 

 Manor a skeleton was discovered, 

 which seems to point to an 

 ancient burial-ground having been 

 here. 



The mansion stands in 

 a fine position, and the 

 grounds are very appropriate, Cofyn^t. 

 with excellent grass slopes 



and a most attractive disposition of trees, bushes, an.I flowers. 

 At the beginning of the cc itury the ancient yew hedges 

 were a solid wall of greenery, evidently of great age, 

 but it was boldly decided to cut them into arches, and the 

 result was undoubtedly an addition to the attractiveness 

 of the effect, an enhancing of the form and character. Such 

 an operation should of course be entered upon with great 

 consideration, especially in the case of old hedges, but none 

 can say that the arch-cutting at Henbury was other than a 

 conspicuous success. It is recorded, however, that the yews 

 were a long time in shooting after the first arch was cut. It 

 was as if they resented a little the intrusion of the tree-cutter's 

 hand. But the yew is the friend of man ; it lends itself to his 





THE SOUTH FRONT. 



" Country Life." 



taste and his uses, and is kindly in its response to his skill ; 

 and so the lofty hedges of Henbury at length budded anew. The 

 two lines of curiously-shaped trees partly enclose a velvet-like 

 croquet lawn, which is in a situation that could not be bettered, 

 since it is in close proximity to masses of beautiful flowers, 

 and there is a landscape outlook that is really superb. 

 How delightful is the turf of English gardens, how soft and 

 velvjty are our lawns. The college lawns of England are 

 doubtless the richest of all. Thus did Nathaniel Hawthorne 

 feel their indescribable beauty, shadowed by their ancient 

 trees, living a quiet life cf centuries, nursed and tended with 

 such care and so sheltered from ruJe winds that they seemed 

 the happiest of lawns. At picturesque Henbury, too, there are 



Copyright. 



THE GARDEN REST. 



-Country Li/e." 



