202 



GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 



QUAINTLY-CUT SHRUBS. 



The son of th? builder of Moyns Park was Henry Gent, 

 High Sheriff of the County in 1632. He died in 1639, his 

 eldest son, Thomas, of Lincoln's Inn, having passed away in 

 the previous year, leaving an only daughter, Frances, heiress 

 to a considerable estate, which she conveyed to her husband, 

 Sir Edmund Alleyn, of Hatfield Peverell, in the same county. 

 Once more an heiress succeeded Arabella Alleyn, who was 

 twice marred. The estate of Moyns Park had, however, been 

 excepted from the female descent, and passed to George, the 

 second sen of Henry Gent, mentioned above, upon whom the 

 estate had been settled by his father. Successive possessors 

 bore the name of George, and one of them died in 1748 at the 

 age of ninety-four. Upon the death of his son the place passed 

 to a collateral branch, and through various hands to those of 



THE FISH-FOND. 



the late Major-General Cecil Robert St. John Ives, who at one 

 time commanded the Royal Horse Guards (Blue), and died 

 in 1896, having mairied the daughter of Lord Talbot de 

 Malahide. 



The gardens of Moyns Park do not demand extended 

 notice. Their character is simple and beautiful. There are 

 ample spjces of lawn, excellent grass paths, and an admirable 

 long bowling green, flanked by a dense yew hedge kept in 

 rounded form. Some other quaint features, in the shape of yews 

 cut in table-like shape, are in the gardens, but generally speaking 

 there is an absence of formality. Roses grow rampantly upon 

 the garden walls, and there are long herba.'e >us borders full of 

 lupines, proud poppies and paeonies, and phloxes, and having 

 r,ay colonies of other flowers that fill them with raJiance. 

 From the pergola under the old gables 

 on the south side the rose garden 

 may be en ered, and is full of colour 

 and fragrance. The ornamental trees 

 aie numerous and of fine character, 

 and there are evergreens which have 

 a we come effect in the winter-time. 

 The value of trees and bushes re- 

 taining their leaves when many have 

 fallen is everywhere recognised, and 

 there should be n ornamental garden 

 devoid of this beauty in the months 

 of winter. Moyns Park is well fur- 

 nished in this respect. In one place 

 is a fish-pond, with sloping grass 

 margins. It may be mentioned, too, 

 that from the gate-posts excellent 

 li il::i j s extend to enclose the forecourt 

 of the house. The park covers 

 about 200 acres, and is well wno.lrd 

 with a profusion of fine timber. The 

 ground is level, and does not, there- 

 fore, present many advantages ; but 

 excellent planting bears its fruit, and 

 the ancient place lies am:d very 

 pleasant surroundings. 



