i 171 



\ 



LONGLEAT, SEAT 



or TMK .... 

 WARMINSTER. MARQUESS OF BATH 



-'.>.- ~V b4i 



FEW people, having regard to the date and character of 

 the house, will be disposed to diffi r frm old John 

 Aubrey in his opinion of the famous I ongleat. 



He said t> at it was the most august house in l-.nj.ind. 

 We do not compare it with such pl.uv^ .is Blenheim 

 Of Chiitsworth, but we look upon it as pr h.ihly tin- tinest 

 example of that particular and charming style in \vii vh tin 

 r features of the Renaissance were grafted upon tin- 

 sturdy old English character. l."n^K.it is -aiJ tu have been 

 designed by the famous John of Padua, \vljmn s.niu- luve 

 sought to identify with Sir John Thynne. the actual h.iilder, 

 but there can be no certainty in rejard to that, for. though 

 the accounts of the building are complete, no architect is 

 mentioned. 



What were the special features of the earliest gardens at 

 Longleat we do not absolutely know, but there is record of 

 those which were laid out by the first Yi-count Weymouth. 

 ancestor of the Marquess of Bath. wh<> died in 1714. Kip, in 

 his "Britannia Illustrata," has k-ft a birdVe\e v;ew, show ing, 

 with much clearness, what those gardens were. There were 

 groves, enclosures, long alleys with vistas, and the mounds 

 derived from the garJens o| an earlier time. The "leat," or 

 stream, from which the place is supposed t> have derived its 

 name, had been widened out at intervals into fishponds, which 

 were all rigorously angular, and were bordered by chequered 



38? 



flower-beds and geometrical patterns. From the door of the 

 house a lung rais. d terrace, on a level with the highest step. 

 was carried forward to the entrance gates, ;( nd thus dr. 

 the garden into two main porti-ns. 



The gardens of the first Lord Weymouth no lunger exist 

 at Longl-.-at. The third lord. w!m sucn-i drd his latlu-r in 

 '7SI. appears to have found them lallen into s,. 

 disorder. They were, mou-.i\ei, out oi tashm i, t r every- 

 where tluoughout Hngland the sii,,,i| . t Kent lud g.nne.t 

 favour, and the hand of "Capability" Hro\\n u.is tnis. 

 Lord Wes mouth called the latter in, and \ -i the l I 



quaintiu-ss vanished, ;ind, in ph.c of th sequestered all<\ 

 and the trim parterre, an attempt was made t A li.it 



was regarded as a natural garden. The hills and \ illi . 

 that beautiful country were rich in woodland, b it it would 

 appear that plantations w.-re formed, and that the groups nt 

 trees were shaped to the ideal n: Brown. That garden lesigner 

 \\.is rather famous for his treatim nt of water, ind. though he 

 found many difficulties at Longle.it, he \s.is su^c-sstui m 

 creating a lake, which was undoubtedly a valuable addition, 

 to c ntrast with the great masses of wood and the lo.ty 

 eminences in the extensive range, ot the park. Ili- 

 was to produce the effect of a large river o: serpentine lake 

 amid umbrageous surroundings. 



An examination of our pictures will sho-.\ that, though the 



OAKDEN PLANNING. 



