GREENWICH PARK 107 



Those who are the ready champions of the rights of 

 the people to the common lands, and who justly inveigh 

 against all encroachments, must feel bound to admit that, 

 in the case of Greenwich Park, what they would call 

 pilfering in other instances is thoroughly justified. The 

 land which forms the Park was part of Blackheath until 

 Henry VI., in the fifteenth year of his reign, gave his 

 uncle Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, licence to enclose 

 200 acres of the wood and heath "to make a park in 

 Greenwich." 



The modern history of Greenwich Park may be said 

 to begin in Duke Humphrey's time, but it was a favourite 

 resort long before that. Situated on the high ground 

 above the marshy banks of the river, and near the Wat- 

 ling Street between London and Dover, Greenwich was 

 found suitable for country residence in Roman times. 

 On one of the hills in the Park, with a commanding view 

 over the river, the remains of a Roman villa have been 

 excavated. Over 300 coins were found, dating from 

 2S B.C. to A.D. 423, Bronzes, pottery, a tesselated 

 pavement, and the remains of painted plaster were 

 discovered, showing that it must have been a villa of 

 " taste and elegance," and there were indications that 

 the final destruction of this charming abode was by fire. 

 A peep into the past might reveal the last of its 

 Roman occupants flying before the barbarian Jute. 



Doubtless in its prime there would be a garden near 

 the villa — perhaps a faint imitation of those Roman 

 gardens like Pliny's. There, " in front of the portico," 

 was " a sort of terrace, embellished with various figures 

 and bounded with a box-hedge," which descended " by an 

 easy slope, adorned with the representation of divers 

 animals in box," to a soft lawn. There were shady trees 



