[ 262 ] 



RENISHAW HALL 

 CHESTERFIELD 



GARDENS 



OLD-&NEW 



RENISHAW HALL is one of the many great houses 

 that are an ornament of the fine country lying 

 along the borderland of Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and 

 Nottingham. Quaint and beauiiful old Barlborough, 

 which is already known to the readers of these 

 pages, is its neighbour, and within a dozen miles or thereabouts 

 to the east and south are Welbeck, Clumber, and Hardwick. 

 Renishaw is in Derbyshire, in the valley of the Rother, there 

 flowing northward to mingle its waters with those of the Don. 

 The whole country is extremely pretty and quite charac- 



THE AVENUE AND POND. 



teristic, and the traveller by the railway to Sheffield is attracted 

 by the prospect of the rich hanging woods of Renishaw, 

 which clothe the hills rising on the left. The natural attrac- 

 tions are many in this region, though in places they are 

 marred by the advances of industry, and the walks are very 

 beautiful, that to Worksop markedly so, by way of the 

 romantic dell of Markland Grips and Cresswell Crag. 



There is much that is pleasant in the long lines and the 

 embattled cresting of Renishaw Hall, its pinnacles and bay 

 windows, and the varied play of light upon its frontage, but 



evidently the modern hand 

 has replaced some things that 

 were old, and Renishaw is 

 now no architectural marvel 

 like its neighbour Barlborough. 

 We are here, however, to 

 look for garden beauties, and 

 how many they are the 

 numerous pictures will suffi- 

 ciently disclose. What is the 

 character that we find here ? 

 That of spaciousness and yet 

 of enclosure in the first place, 

 of broad terrace levels with 

 fine descents, excellent in 

 architectural fitness, of floral 

 wealth, of a great outlook, 

 and, above all, of splendid 

 trees. What more should we 

 seek ? There has been no 

 straining after effect. All is 

 simple and natural, and we 

 pass from level to level, 

 attracted now by some sweet 

 and radiant flower-bed, nosv 

 by the creeping things that 

 clothe the walls, here and 

 there by an appropriate acces- 

 sory of dial or dovecots, always 

 by the long borders that fringe 

 the terrace walls. We linger 

 in the woodland garden 

 beneath the trees, where the 

 sunlight, falling through the 

 trembling foliage, invades the 

 shadow. We find many a 

 pleasant vista among the 

 woods, anJ look out through 

 that delightful gateway anJ 

 iron grille from the garden 

 into the park. We love the 

 ancient limes that rise aloft to 

 unaccustomed height, with the 

 most imposing effect which 

 dignifies the whole girden, 

 and we emerge upon the open 

 lawns, where there is a far 

 outlook to other masses of 

 trees. 



A pure and simple effect, 



11 Country Lift." 



