NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS 



great amount of topiary work of the more fanciful type, clipped 

 box hedges on a large scale are freely introduced, particularly in 

 the older parts of the garden, where they subdivide the main spaces 

 into smaller compartments and surround — as in the terrace garden 

 in Plate XXVII. — some complicated piece of flower bed patterning. 

 Altogether, Castle Ashby is to be reckoned among the most note- 

 worthy of the great pleasure grounds which are to be found in the 

 Midland counties. 



But for sumptuousness of effect and vast expansiveness it would be 

 difficult to rival the grounds of Chatsworth (Plates XXIX. to 

 XXXIV.) which, though originally laid out by George London 

 in 1688, are as they appear to-day almost entirely the outcome of 

 the prolonged labour of that remarkable master of gardening, Sir 

 Joseph Paxton. The dominant note throughout is a stately magni- 

 ficence which is attained rather by the breadth and dignity of the 

 design as a whole than by any undue elaboration of particular parts. 

 Plates XXXI. and XXXIII. give a good idea of the scale on which 

 Paxton worked, and of the grasp he had of the essentials of ambitious 

 garden making. But there are, besides, many examples of the clever 

 management of detail ; in the French and Italian gardens, and in 

 the delightful rock garden, which contrasts so agreeably with the 

 examples of more formal art, there is much that deserves admiration 

 and repays close study. The " Ring Pond," with its surrounding 

 of clipped hedges, statues, and pyramidal yews is an excellent 

 instance of the right kind of alliance between nature and art. Fine 

 statues and garden ornaments and many good fountains add to the 

 beauty of the gardens. 



At Cleeve Prior, in Worcestershire (Plate XXXVI.), the quaint 

 avenue of clipped yews is memorable as an illustration of topiary 

 work on a large scale. These trees, which represent the twelve 

 Apostles and the four Evangelists, are said to have been planted in 

 1500 by the monks of Evesham. They make an exceedingly 

 effective adjunct to the charmingly picturesque old house. Another 

 curious feature of a garden is illustrated in Plate XXXVII., the 

 summer house at Clifford Chambers, which, though really only 

 an amusing eccentricity, has the merit of being pictorially quite 

 pleasing. Much more serious and responsible art is represented in 

 the pictures of Clumber Park (Plates XXXVIII. to XLL), where 

 the natural characteristics of a fine site have been turned to full 

 account, and the resources of sumptuous garden designing have 

 been freely drawn upon. The terraces sloping to the water's edge 

 and backed by masses of foliage, the broad walks flanked with 



C 2 XXV 



