214 



C.4KDENS OLD AND NEW. 



From t !i e 

 paths near the 

 house all the 

 beautiful things 

 which we have 

 described may 

 be surveyed. 

 Water pervades 

 the place, for 

 from the Pond 

 Court and the 

 rock garden it is 

 but a few paces 

 to the river, 

 which flows at 

 the foot of the 

 slope, with an 

 old flour mill on 

 the left. Most 

 tempting are the 

 walks laid out 

 by the stream. 

 Here great firs, 

 sycamores, 

 and elms over- 

 shadow the 

 way, as well as 

 daffodils light up 



THE SUNDIAL. 



many ornamental trees, while nodding 

 the grass and irises border the stream. 

 The water is crossed by a bridge which is very tasteful, and 

 beyond it is another region of delight in the rose garden, divided 

 into square spaces, und neighboured by a delightful croquet 

 lawn. The details of the garden have been carefully thought 

 out, and no point of harmony or contrast has been overlooked. 

 The shrubs and trees in the upper part of the garden have a 

 most happy effect from below, and the vistas opened through 

 the grounds in ev.ry direction, and particularly from the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Pond Court, are extremely delightful. Truly, 

 before the gardener began his work, Nature had done very 

 much to prepare for the exercise of I. is skill. There was a 

 green slope, and there was a flowing river in two branches 



at the foot, and 

 the whole of the 

 area was graced 

 by beautiful 

 trees. There 

 was nothing ex- 

 cept i o n a 1 in 

 these conditions. 

 They may be 

 f o u n d almost 

 a n y \v here in 

 sunny England; 

 but not every- 

 where has such 

 a sympathetic, 

 discerning, and 

 artistic hand 

 been found to 

 plan and work- 

 out such a crea- 

 tion. And yet it 

 is astonishing 

 how few and 

 simple, and how 

 easily obtain- 

 able are the main 

 essentials of a good garden, and strange therefore how rarely 

 these essentials are well employed. The garden of Adeline 

 Duchess of Bedford is a very successful example, and a very 

 suggestive one, as to how, where magnificence is not sought 

 and where, indeed, it may not be desirable the talent of a 

 skilled hand may proJuce what magnificence could not achieve. 

 In this garden all the work is particularly good, and the masonry 

 is everywhere as excellent as could be desired. Note, for 

 example, the character of the edgings to the flower-beds in the 

 Pond Court, and the wholly satisfactory character of the rose- 

 twined pillars and the panelled masonry. Then, again, it was 

 an admirable idea tnus to create in the Pond Court a centre 

 from which the various features of the garden might open out, 

 and the excellent result is conspicuous in our pictures. 



MDOKING FROM THE COURT. 



