n6 



GARDENS OLD AND NK\V. 



I lunwell, near Banbury, where, says Leland, they had 

 a " very pleasant and gallant house." Sir Anthony 

 Cope of Bramshill, created a baronet in 1611, was a 

 descendant. Sir Walter, somewhat vaguely described 

 as " of the Strand," possessed at one time or other 

 nearly the whole of the parish of Kensington. He 

 had risen rapidly, had become a Gentleman of the 

 Privy Chamber, and had held many offices both of 

 honour and profit, from the emoluments of which he 

 was enabled to purchase land in a locality of which he 

 appears to have discerned the distant future. In the 

 parochial annals his wealth and influence are constantly 

 traced. The design of Cope's splendid "castle" was 



interesting, because it suggests how his "castle" 

 stood amid its surroundings. He describes "all 

 edifices, houses, barns, stables, gardens, orchards, 

 yards, and courtyards within the circuit of the utmost 

 brick wall of the said house." The lady enjoyed the 

 estate for some seven years after her husband's death, 

 but at the expiration of that period she married Sir 

 Thomas Fowler, and her connection with it ceased. 



The mansion then went to the husband of Isabel, 

 sole daughter and heiress of her father, who, in his 

 lifetime, had married Sir Henry Rich, younger son 

 of Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick. The new possessor 

 continued the work upon Holland House, and in his 



THE WE SI WING. 



made by the famous John Thorpe, and is still 

 preserved in Sir John Soane's Museum. Cope was 

 living at the time at a house known as the " Moats," 

 and was able to superintend the work and to lay out 

 the grounds, which he had secured with the Abbot of 

 Abingdon's manor there. As very often happened, 

 he built that others might enjoy, and, when he died 

 in 1614, the place was far from being complete. 

 The building went on, in fact, though no doubt with 

 intermission, for some forty years after his death. 

 His part of the structure is the central portion, of red 

 brick, with ornamental gables. In his will he left 

 the estate to Dame Dorothy his wife, to hold so long 

 as she remained single, and his description of it is 



time it would appear that the two wings, with the 

 arcades, which are so noble and attractive a feature of 

 the place, were added. The design is attributed to 

 Inigo Jones, and it is certain that he was engaged 

 upon the structure, for the old water gate, which 

 groups so finely with its surroundings, and is so good 

 in classic character and detail, is from his design. 

 The arcade and terrace frontage to the enclosed 

 forecourt is not surpassed in England for beauty and 

 richness of detail. It will be observed that the 

 ornamental cresting is based upon the pattern of the 

 fleur-de-lys, from the arms of the Riches. The 

 delicate work bestowed upon the enrichment of these 

 additions to Holland House will not escape those 



