114 LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 



date. In March 1644 John Evelyn made a note in his 

 Diary about planting some trees at his house of Sayes 

 Court, Deptford, and adds, " being the same year that 

 the elms were planted by His Majesty in Greenwich 

 Park." The avenues and all the fine sweet chestnuts 

 were planted about this time, besides coppices and 

 orchards. John Evelyn must have approved of these 

 avenues, as in his " Sylva " he praises the chestnut for 

 "Avenues to our Country-houses; they are a magnificent 

 and royal Ornament." Their nuts were not appreciated 

 in England. " We give that food to our swine," Evelyn 

 continues, "which is amongst the delicacies of Princes 

 in other Countries ; . • . doubtless we might propagate 

 their use amongst our common people . . . being a Food 

 so cheap and so lasting." 



A series of terraces sloping down from the tower 

 formed part of the design, and their outline can still be 

 traced between the Observatory and the Queen's House, 

 which faces the hill at the foot. Each terrace was 40 

 yards wide, and on either side Scotch firs were planted 

 24 feet apart. These trees were brought by General 

 Monk from Scotland in 1664, and until forty years ago 

 many were standing, and the line of the avenue was still 

 traceable ; some of the trunks measured 4 feet in diameter 

 at the ground. Smoke tells so much more on all the 

 coniferous tribes than on the deciduous trees, that they 

 have all now perished. The last dead stump had to be 

 felled some ten years ago. The old Palace was much 

 gone to decay when Charles II. began the alterations, 

 so he pulled it down with the exception of the Queen's 

 House, the only part said to be in good repair, and 

 commenced a vast building designed by Wren, one 

 wing of which only was completed in his reign. 



