! , J LQDG1 





As, ow ; ng to .1 r right or'w.i\ t.i the s.>uth, 



the . e north, it had the a.ldcd ill- 



of I'cv t by the north-east blast, and 



when, in 1 90;, the new garden work" were instituted, 

 w .;htly deoded to prefer shelter to extended 

 outlook towards the north, while the south v: 

 which, despite Morant's opinion, we must consider 

 the best, remained unimpeded. A considerable slue 

 of park, which at this point was flat and featureless, 

 i-mlosed, and form and definifeness was given to 

 the croquet-ground by stretching down each si.ic of 

 it the hnc pergolas of" late sixteenth century t\|K-, 

 with their pillared supports and round, arched roof's 

 centring in domes, already wreathed and Uiwcred 

 with creepers ; while beyond this much-unproved old 

 section of the garden was constructed the ample and 

 dignified Mink garden of our pictures, that best of 

 materials, Ham I lill stone, being used for the 

 purpose. The central feature of this garden 

 balustered pool, akin to the original one at Montacute, 

 but on a larger s<..ile, as it t.ikes the form of a canal 

 over looft. in length, which in summer is literally 

 abla/e with various coloured water-lilies. The 

 balustrade has K-en criticised as in some measure- 

 shutting off the onlooker from intimacy with the w.-.ter 

 and its brilliant denizens ; but as a mere matter of 

 ease, the support and lont.ut of the balustrade, as one 

 learvs over to enioy the lilies spangling the limpid 

 water, is a great gain, while the value of this architci 

 tural incident in the general composition was fully 

 realised by Mr. 1'eto, as it had been by his Elizabethan 

 predecessor. Many of the rarer and more delicate- 

 varieties of the hybrid water-lilie-. were intnxiuced 

 with some anxiety .is to how they would fare in the 

 1 ex climate. They have flourished beyond expec- 

 tation, the water seeming to gain a welcome tepidity 



from the heat radiating from the stone flagging. 

 The liberality of this ri is compared to the 



it of the flower U-ds is worth notuing. The 

 advantage "f a stone or briik over a grass sur 

 rounding to the IK\|S lies in the freedom thus gained 

 from knife and shears, from the murderous trimming 

 and harsh straight edging of the plants, whose- natural 

 growth and graceful outlines are preserved. But as 

 summer advaiues this means a vcr\ lonsiderahlc 

 trespass, tim often forgotten by the designer on paper, 

 whose- narrow \\a\s and vents and interspace* arc 

 apt to become disagreeably straitened, if not wholly 

 obliterated, at that engaging moment of riotous 

 exul>erance and tangled luerue to which plant-life 

 abandons itself, as if conscious of its insecurity, at the 

 approach of the first autumn frost which brings on the 

 stern reatness of winter tillage. At 1- .asfon, the ample 

 stretih of paving is reached by six flights of steps, while 

 around and above the great sunk square run broad 

 L;r.iss terr.u es, sentinelled with Irish yews, Uuindcd by 

 i y press hedges and terminated by semi-circular il.issu 

 1-rom both ends of the sunk garden open 

 shrubberies having wide grassy ways, and Ix-ing intel- 

 ligently set with groups .m,i masses of choiie and 

 varied flowering bushesth.it give :i long secession of 

 interest and variety of mlour in blossom, leaf and 

 twig, for the planting has been carried out with a 

 view to autumn tints, so that late in the year the 

 garden is almost as lovely anil interesting as in the 

 earlier seasons. But these shrubberies do not match, 

 for the western one merges into a different and 

 ungeometru.il feature. Aness was here desirable to 

 a long natural fold or iotu.i\ity in the otherwise plain 

 s|< pe of the park, and in order that this access might 

 l>e lx>th sheltered and picturesque a gradually 

 descending valley was excavated, the earth so obtained 



OCTStDE Tllh XORTH /'EKGO1.A. 



