GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 



and heiress of Thomas Hesketh 

 of Heslington, and thus 

 brought the Hall into the 

 hands of a family with 

 whose representatives it 

 has ever since remained. 

 One of Yarburgh's daughters 

 married the famous Sir John 

 Vanbrugh. 



But Heslington was to 

 pass through heiresses to 

 other families which assumed 

 the name of Yarburgh. Mr. 

 John Graeme married one of 

 the Yarburgh heiresses, and 

 his son, Mr. Yarburgh Graeme, 

 adopted the new surname, 

 but he died, leaving no son, 

 and the estate passed to his 

 sister's son, Mr. George John 

 Lloyd, afterwards Yarburgh, 

 who died in 1875, and was 

 succeeded by his eldest conns'.! 

 daughter, who married the 

 second Lord Deramore. 



The principal front remains scarcely altered since the time 

 in which it was built, though an unfamiliar Diana now hunts 

 in the forecourt. In other parts, however, alterations have 

 been made, for the house was restored and enlarged in 1854. 

 Yet its distinction is that it retains the features of the time in 

 which it was raised. The gardens occupy a notable place in 

 the history of English gardening. Their strange, quaint, and 

 fantastic yews, unlike anything else ever seen on sea or land, 

 are own brothers to the better-known curious creations of 

 Levens. There are no judges' wigs nor royal courtiers shaped 

 out of the ductile yew at Heslington, but only cylinders, 

 globes, and adaptations of beehive forms, with some other 

 odd imaginings carefully kept with the picturesque aspect of 

 the eld. It is a garden world of strange character, such as we 

 like to linger in, but with marked features of a kind that would 



THE HOUSE FRO.M THE LAKE. 



Country Li't." 



not bear too frequent repetition. The old skill of the pleacher 

 and the topiary gardener gave great distinction to the gardens 

 of Elizabeth's reign, and it is something to be thankful for that 

 still at Levens and Heslington garden features exist which 

 belong to a not much later date. The yew hedges are also 

 remarkable, and afford curious vistas through which fine 

 architecture and an old sundial or other such features may 

 be viewed. You may look between these hedges, too, to the 

 more natural charms that lie beyond, to radiant masses of 

 flowers, and to a green park in which are many groups of 

 splendid trees. The old bowling green is still used, and it 

 neighbours a silvery lake, which is an attractive feature in 

 these grounds. 



The gardens are not given up to their sombre and curious 

 yews. Embodying much of the rich floral charm which 



THE QUAINT PLF.ASAUNCE WITH US WORLD OF YEWS. 



' Country Life.' 



