176 



GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 



THE EAST WALK. 



his house. He died in 1580, leaving the larger portion of 

 the structure finished, and from the hall to the chapel court 

 inside, but no part of the west side was completed in his 

 lifetime. There is mention, however, of a garden, an orchard, 

 and a hopyard. His son, another Sir John, succeeded, and 

 added the oak screen and wainscot. Sir James, the fourth 

 ( wner, employed Sir Christopher Wren to carry on the work, 

 and by that eminent architect the great staircase was designed. 



The knight died childless in 1670, and the estate passed 

 to his nephew, known as "Tom of Ten Thousand," because 

 of the presumed value. of his estate. The new owner laid out 

 the road to Frome, carried on extensive work in plantation, 

 and finished the dining-room of the house. He was a personal 

 friend of the Duke of Monmouth, who was at Longleat in 

 1680. A strange fate befel Mr. Thynne. Having married the 

 richest heiress in the country, the youthful widow of Lord 

 Ogle, he encountered .he envy and jealousy of Count Konigs- 

 mark, who, with 

 the aid of three 

 confederates, 

 broughtaboui his 

 assassination 

 The four villains 

 were had up, and 

 the three agents 

 were executed , 

 while the arch- 

 villa i n was 

 liberated, to be 

 Killed four years 

 later at the 

 siege of Argos, 

 while the lady 

 married Charles 

 Seymour, 

 seventh Duke of 

 Somerset. 



When Mr. 

 T h y n n e was 

 dead his second 

 cousin, Thomas 

 1 h y n ne of 

 Kempsford, 



SOUTH WALK IN THE WI.sTER GARDEN. 



succeeded him, and was created Baron Thyn:ie and Viscount 

 Weymouth. This was the nobleman who laid out the gardens, 

 as has been mentioned, and in his time his house became the 

 refuge for many years of the deprived Bishop Ken. The third 

 Viscovnt did much to the estate, and he it was who remodelled 

 th> grounds He was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in 1765, and 

 in 1789, in which year he received the King, Queen, and 

 Princesses in great state, he was created Marquess of Bath. 



The first Marquess of Bath died in 179^, and was 

 succeeded by a nobleman widely known for his charitable 

 disposition a:-.d public spirit. The second Marquess, about the 

 year 1808, employed Wyatt afterwards Sir Jeffrey Wyatt- 

 ville to make some alterations in the house, and he worked 

 upon the grand staircase and galleries. Many hands have 

 indeed been employed upon the structure of Longleat. It is 

 preserved in admirable state, and, as the pictures will show, 

 the grounds and gardens are full of charm. The orangery is 



one of the 

 notable features, 

 and there is 

 great beauty in 

 the arboretum. 

 Thsre are spots 

 of surpa^ing 

 beauty in the 

 park, and from 

 ''Heaven's 

 Gate" the out- 

 look is superb. 

 The scenery is 

 varied and beau- 

 tiful in its rich 

 landscape 

 character, and 

 in its green 

 expanses, swell- 

 i n g heights 

 embosomed in 

 foliage, its valley 

 and its lake, it 

 is scarcely 

 surpassed any- 

 where. 



