10 LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 



inner gardens, that were specially reserved for the Bishop, 

 the great garden and the " grassyard," were separated by 

 railings and locked doors from the vineyard. The 

 " grassyard " was mown, and a tithe of the proceeds 

 from the sale of the grass paid to the Rector of St. 

 Andrew's, Holborn. The wine produced was more 

 of the character of vinegar, and was also sold ; as much 

 as thirty gallons of this "verjuice" was produced in 

 one year. Extra hands were hired to weed and dress 

 the vineyard, and apparently the vineyard entailed a 

 good deal of trouble, and for many years it was let. 

 Think of a warm day in early autumn, clusters of grapes 

 hanging from the twisted vines, men and women in gay 

 colours carrying baskets of ripe fruit to the vats where 

 they were trodden, and the crimson juice squeezed out ; 

 the mellow rays of the sinking sun light up the high 

 walls and many towers of the City, and the distant pile 

 of Westminster is half hidden by the mists rising from 

 the river, while there, too, the vintage is in full swing, 

 and the song ^ of the grape-gatherers breaks the stillness 

 of the October evening. Away to the north the land- 

 scape is bounded by the wooded heights of Hampstead 

 and Highgate. Most of the country round London 

 then was forest land, and in spite of the changes of 

 centuries a few acres of the original forest remain in 

 Highgate Woods to this day, now owned by the Corpo- 

 ration of London. Between the hills and the city on the 

 north-east lay the marshy ground known as Moorfields, 

 for some 800 years the favourite resort of Londoners 

 wishing to take the air. Gradually this open space 

 has been built over, although a few green patches, such 

 as Finsbury Square, the Artillery Ground, or the more 

 ^ See Alexander Necham, De Naiiiris Rerum, twelfth century. 



