280 



GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 



solemn line, "Stars silent over us, graves under us silent." 

 Within a hundred yards is the tomb of her mother, the 

 Duchess of Kent. There remains the simple tea-house 

 where so mujh of her time was spent, and close to it two 

 very fine old evergreen oaks, holm or holly oaks, as they 

 are sometimes called. Between them and under the shade 

 cast by the dark foliage of their gnarled limbs she used to 

 receive endless visitors who came about affairs Cabinet 

 Ministers, diplomat! ts, and the others who have business 

 with Royalty. Queen Victoria ever delighted in trees, and 

 there are few parts about Frogmore that are not distinguished 

 by noble specimens. There is the beautiful lime avenue, one 

 of the finest extant, in which the upper parts of the trees are 

 thick with bunches of mistletoe ; we kn nv of no other place 

 in England where it grows more profusely. Not far from the 

 Duche.-s of Kent's tomb there are three remarkable trees. One 

 is a maidenhair, Salisburia adiantifolia, sniJ to be the finest of 

 its kind in Europe ; another is a towering deciduous cypress ; 

 and the third a Californian Thuja giguntea, planted by the 

 Princess Hohenlohe in 1857. Cf a curious historical interest 

 is the well known Lirlier beech. Its history is written in 

 the tablet placed at its root. " This tree was raised from 

 the beech tree near Altenstem, in the Duchy of Saxe- 



to be attempted. Pint ai.d box edging and yew hedge are to 

 all appearances left as she found them. But the rose garden 

 at the further end has, of course, received the magnificent 

 roses developed by scientific nineteenth century horticulture. 

 In all the grounds there is nothing more eloquent of the 

 late Queen's tastes than this exquisite, tasteful, and 

 admirable private garden. Fragrance, floral beauty, the 

 reposeful aspect of the hedges and borders, and the 

 general air of quiet and calm, are the note of character 

 in this pleasaunce. Time and long usage have imparted 

 to it a sweetness of their own, and it is easy to believe 

 that in this seclusion the widowed Queen found solace and 

 refreshment. 



This quiet feeling is very appropriate at Frogmore. 

 The house itself is elegant rathrr than grand, and was long 

 the residence of the Duchess of Kent. The estate is an ancient 

 demesne of the Crown, although during the Civil Wars it was 

 sold by Charles I., but was returned to its original owners 

 during the reign of his son Charles II. The house was built 

 by Queen Charlotte, who at her death bequeathed it to the 

 Princess Augusta, who resided there till 1840. The approach 

 is by a semi circular drive, pi mted with shrubs, and there are 

 many art treasures within. A very fine and pleasing building, 



LEAD VASES, AND I HE CASILE TERRACE. 



Meiningen, called Luther's Beech, under which Dr. Martin 

 Luther was arrested and conducted from thence to Wartburg 

 in 1521. The little offshoot was brought to England from 

 Meiningen by King William IV. in 1825, and planted by 

 Queen Adelaide near the house at Bushey Park. Her 

 Majesty bequeathed it in her last will to His Royal Highness 

 Prince Albert, with the request that it might be trans- 

 planted into the enclosure at Adelaide Cottage." This was 

 successfully done in 1856. Queen Adelaide's Cottage was 

 originally a keeper's lodge, but was greatly enlarged and 

 improved. Very pretty and attnctive it looked, with its 

 surrounding borders of simple spring flowers primroses, 

 wallflowers, forget-me-nots, and the like. 



In the late Queen's favourite and private garden the 

 spectator breathes a wry old-world air. It is surrounded with 

 thick yew hedges, which themselves testify to the clipping 

 and care of i-everal generations how m.my or how long 

 it would be difficult to say. Then you come first to tiny 

 flower-plots laid out in the formal, simple style of the early 

 ( f.rgian, or an earlier period. Each has its tiny box 

 edging, and the general effect is one of being carried back for 

 at least two hundred years. Here Queen Vicioria followed her 

 tine conservative instincts, and would allow no modernisation 



it was, as will be remembered, given by the late Queen as a 

 residence to the Prince and Princess Louis of Battenberg. 

 The gardens comprise about thirteen acres, and an artificial 

 lake, which we believe was dug out simply for the purpose of 

 finding employment for the labourers in a spell of depression, 

 enhances the beauty of the surroundings. 



Our picture gives a gooJ idea of the formal plots and 

 trim shrubs and neat walks of the terrace, with its fine lead 

 vases, all in keeping with the strong, stern lines of the 

 castle, which completely dominate every other feature of 

 the landscape. There is something severe in the arrangement, 

 but, as the gardens are surveyed, new and attractive beauties 

 are disclosed. We should scarcely expect to find these 

 gardens like others. The Windsor gardens are, indeed, great, 

 distinguished, and Royal. In themselves splendid, they 

 disclose from their terraces prospects that England can 

 scarcely surpass. The park is noble and truly Royal also, 

 with the magnificent avenue of the Long Walk, three miles 

 in length, flanked by its double lines of glorious elms, and 

 terminating at Snow Hill, where is Westmacott's statue of 

 George III. Other avenues are here, like Queen Anne's 

 Ride, and there is the famous Rhododendron Walk, where 

 one may stroll for a mile among the radiant flowers. 



