16 



GARDENS OLD AND NFW. 



features of the outlook. He described the prospect as complete 

 both in the foreground and the di?>tance. " The former is an 

 elevated park scene, consisting of a <:reat variety of ground, 

 well planted, an.l descending into ihe plain below. Among 

 the trees which adorn it are a few of the most venerable oaks 

 of the forest, probably of an age long prior to the Conquest. 

 From this granJ foreground is presented an extensive forest 

 view. It consists of a wide range of flat pasturage, garnished 

 with tufted clumps, and wooded promontories shooting into it, 

 contrasted with immense woods, which occupy all the rising 

 grounds above it and circle the horizon. The contrasts between 

 the open and woody parts of the distance, and the grandeur of 

 this park, are in the highest style of picturesque beauty." 

 How rare is the attraction of this prospect will be realised in 

 imagination when it is remembered that such is in the foreground 

 of the garden we illustrate a garden so sweet, quaint, and 

 beautiful that the artist loves to depict it. The Brokenhurst 

 garden, indeed, furnished one of the most fascinating scenes 

 in the delightful garden pictures of Mr.G. S. Elgood, R.I. 



sixteenth Earl of Erroll, and was the father of the late Mr John 

 Morant, who died a few years ago, having been High Sheriff 

 of Hampshire in 1869. The present possessor is the latter 

 gentleman's son. 



We may well imagine with what delight the^e successive 

 squires of Hampshire have surveyed and beautified their great 

 possession. It was a master hand that worked in the creation 

 of these gardens, directed by a mind which had imbibed the 

 classic spirit of Italy. The late Mr. John Morant of Broken- 

 hurst, who formed them, was, indeed, a man of great and 

 discriminating taste, and many of the trees and bushes, which 

 are so splendid a feature of the place, were planted by him 

 within the last thirty years. Thus this Hampshire pleasaunce 

 was invested with some of the charm that belonged to the 

 great gardens of the southern land. The long pathways 

 between ilex and cypress, the gloom of the solemn green made 

 radiant in the sunshine, the still ponds and canals reflecting 

 the gods and heroes of old Rome, the marble stairs leading up 

 the terraced heights to the walls of an Italian palazzo, seem to 



THE DUTCH GARDEN. 



The Morants of Brokenhurst Park, in whose hands this 

 garden has taken shape and grown, are old dwellers in the 

 region of the New Forest. Veracious Burke tells us that they 

 claim descent from the Moraunts of Moraunt's Court, Kent, 

 who are said to have sprung from the ancient Norman house 

 of Morant of Chateau Morant. Soon after the sei/.ure of 

 Jamaica, in 1655, John Morant settled in the island. To him 

 succeeded his son John, and to him another John, which last 

 gentleman was the father of Mr. Edward Morant, M.P. for 

 Hindon 1761, Lymington 1776-78, and Yarmouth 1780-84, 

 who died in 1791. His son succeeded him at Brokenhurst, 

 and took, like himself, a great interest in the condition 

 of the New Forest, and resisted what he regarded as 

 the unwise measures of the Government in an attempt to 

 regulate it. Mr. John Morant died in 1784, leaving an infant 

 son of the same name to succeed to the estate. At this 

 time Brokenhurst House was temporarily the residence of Mr. 

 Tln-ophilus F<;u!ks ; but in due time the heir entered into his 

 own, becoming a man of note in the county, a J.P. and D.L., 

 and High Sheriff in 1820. He married a daughter of the 



have their English counterparts in this truly imperial garden. 

 There is a richness and beauty of detail and effect that is 

 perhaps unrivalled in the land except in very few places 

 indeed. Let us note the singular beauty and sequestered calm 

 of the long walks between those lofty walls of ilex, the vista 

 ended by some antique bust or figure. Think of the delight of 

 entering that august pie jsaunce through the golden gate. Mark 

 the rare loveliness of the green court, with those admirable 

 statues flanking the way to the place where the old medlar 

 tree extends its arms over the seat in the shade. 



Wherever we go there is something that well deserves to 

 be called imperial. Look at the canal, with its water plants, 

 leading away from the mansion to the splendid steps to the 

 Dragon Fountain at the further end. It is worthy to be 

 compared with any marble-lined canal, perhaps flanked with 

 lofty arcades of yew and crested with g'cnes, pyramids, or 

 crowns, in any garden of Italy. No marble enframes the water 

 at Brokenhurst, but there is something truly English in the 

 work in brick and stone. The moulding of the margin is 

 excellent indeed, and the fountain playing like an inconstant 



