NOTES OX THE ILLUSTRATION'S 



a simple regularity of form. The garden is well placed below the 

 high terrace wall, where it has the double advantage of being fully 

 sheltered and vet completely open to the sun. Melbourne Hall 

 (Plates LXXX. to LXXXV.) is noted particularly for the statues, 

 vases, and other garden ornaments in lead and stone which are 

 distributed about the grounds. One of these ornaments, a vase of 

 very elaborate design, is placed on the central point of an amphi- 

 theatre of limes, from which vistas radiate in all directions. These 

 lime avenues were planted when the gardens were re-arranged and 

 enlarged bv Henrv Wise at the beginning of the eighteenth centurv 

 and they form part of the plan for which he was responsible. At 

 that date the French influence — due to Le Notre — was very active 

 in England, and under this influence Wise worked, so that the 

 grounds of Melbourne Hall, which, save for some minor alterations 

 made about fifty vears ago, remain as he designed them, represent 

 instructively the French manner of design as it was adapted to the 

 English demand. The place as a whole provides an object lesson of 

 undeniable value, as owing to the irregularity of the space available 

 considerable ingenuity had to be exercised by the designer to 

 produce the effect he desired. A grove of the kind in which 

 Le Notre delighted was planted by Wise, and the fishpond and 

 fountains were added to complete the scheme. The previous 

 terraced garden enclosed with brick walls was destroyed and on 

 part of the space it occupied the grove was placed. In the history 

 of English gardening Melbourne is important as a nearly perfect 

 example of an old fashion in design which has left a distinct mark 

 upon garden work in this country. 



The beauty of the garden at Movns Park (Plate LXXXVI.) comes 

 not from magnificence of manner like that of Melbourne Hall but 

 from a quaint homeliness which pervades the place. The old 

 half-timbered house, partly surrounded bv a moat, is set among 

 lawns and grass walks gav with rlowers, and the main garden is 

 ornamented with clipped trees though it is not strictly formal in 

 design. One of its special features is a bowling green surrounded 

 bv a clipped vew hedge ; and there are, too, a pretty fish pond 

 with sloping grass hedges and a pergola which leads to the rose 

 garden. New Hall (Plate LXXXVII.) is reputed to be the oldest 

 inhabited house, still surrounded by a moat, in England, possibly 

 a not much envied distinction in these days when the moat has 

 come to be regarded as an insanitary addition to the attractions or 

 an eligible residence. But the moat certainly increases the 

 picturesqueness of New Hall and sets off the quaintness of the 



XXX 



