HISTORICAL GARDENS 297 



wick Square lies to the west, and Mecklenburgh Square 

 to the east, so the Hospital grounds are still airy. There 

 is a small garden at the back of the building in front of 

 the Infirmary ; on the east is the Treasurer's Garden, 

 a fair-sized enclosure, and on the other side, with the 

 poplars growing in Brunswick Square overhanging it, lies 

 the other and larger of the two " convenient gardens." 

 There is nothing old-fashioned or attractive in these 

 gardens left ; merely a green lawn, a weeping ash, and a 

 few commonplace '* bedding-out " plants ; not altogether 

 in keeping with the age or dignity of the building and 

 spacious forecourt. 



Less well known is the delightful Garden of the Grey- 

 coat School in Westminster. Most of the old founda- 

 tions in Westminster have vanished, such as Emanuel 

 Hospital and the " Blue-coat School," which disappeared 

 a few years ago, but so far this charming old house has 

 been respected. Quaint figures of the children in the 

 dress of the time — it v/as founded by the citizens of 

 Westminster in 1698 — stand on either side of the 

 entrance. The children from the parishes of St. 

 Margaret and St. John the Evangelist, who have 

 attended the elementary schools for three years, are 

 eligible for admission, up to the age of ten. The 

 school was reconstituted as a day school for 300 girls 

 in 1873, ^"'^> i^ spite of all educational vicissitudes, has 

 been allowed to survive, and the sweet and wholesome 

 influence of those old-fashioned surroundings would be 

 a great loss, should it ever be swept away. The Garden 

 is delightful. It is practical as well as ornamental, as it 

 furnishes the staff of teachers with a good supply of 

 vegetables. They have each a small flower-bed too, 

 tended with great care, and the children are allowed a 



