NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS 



little reason there is to fear that plain masonry will be unsightly is 

 proved by the beauty of these walls, time-stained and half-veiled 

 with flowers and climbing plants. The sloping grass terrace at 

 Warwick Castle has also the merit of simplicity, but a slope so short 

 can scarcely be as effective as a low wall ; the grass terrace needs 

 more height and space if it is to have its full decorative value in a 

 garden design. Beside such amazing architectural efforts as the 

 terrace at Shrubland Park these little things might possibly be 

 accounted insignificant, but they are far more fitted than the greater 

 examples for study by the men who make gardens now. 

 Like Thoresby Park, Welbeck Abbey (Plates CXXIV.and CXXV.) 

 has grounds which are so vast that any conciseness of decorative 

 effect is almost unattainable. The flower garden is laid out in a 

 formal pattern, but the smallness of the beds relatively to the total 

 amount of space over which they are distributed causes this pattern 

 to seem disjointed, and the absence of boundary hedges and defined 

 paths increases the feeling of disconnection. There is a sort of 

 suggestion that flowers so unprotected from the winds which might 

 be expected to sweep the face of such open country would be 

 unlikely to flourish, and though this suggestion is only a sentimental 

 one, after all, it is distinct enough to destroy that sense of content- 

 ment and quiet satisfaction which every happilv imagined garden 

 ought to inspire. Great places like this are, in fact, less gardens in 

 the true meaning of the word than parks into which some of the 

 details of garden design have been introduced. Only by subdivision 

 into compartments, each of which is treated more or less inde- 

 pendently, and definitely separated from the others, can the large 

 garden become restful and acquire the proper air of seclusion. Even 

 when there is some concentration of details, as in the East Garden at 

 Welbeck, the immensity of the place cannot be forgotten and the 

 idea that comfort has been sacrificed for the sake of magnificence 

 persistently obtrudes. 



The compact, homely garden which hits the happy mean between 

 overcrowding and bareness is seen in a very attractive form at 

 Witham Hall (Plates CXXVI. to CXXIX.), where natural beauties 

 of a charming kind have been cleverly enhanced by the gardener's 

 art. The breaking of the level stretch of lawn before the house 

 by the fountain basin is ingenious, as it brings a prominent feature 

 into the open space without cutting it up unnecessarily ; and the 

 basin itself becomes a sunk garden of the quaintest kind. The 

 pergola, which runs beside the lawn and communicates by a small 

 flight of steps with the sunken basin, provides a means of approach 

 xxxvi 



