346 LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 



finest was blown down some years ago, and the timber 

 afforded panelling for a large room and many pieces of 

 furniture. Perhaps the most beautiful of the trees is 

 the copper or purple beech. Not only, is it very tall 

 and has a massive trunk (14 feet 6 inches at 2 feet from 

 the ground), but the shape is quite perfect, and its 

 branches are furnished evenly all round. There are 

 also good evergreen oaks, elms, chestnuts and Scotch 

 firs. There is a large collection of flowering shrubs, 

 which are in no way affected by the smoky air. Standard 

 magnolias, grandiflora, conspicua and stellata, many 

 varieties of the delightful autumn-flowering plant, the 

 Hibiscus syriacus, known to older gardeners as Althaa 

 frutex^ and recommended under that name by Fairchild 

 in 1722 as suited to London, Crat^gus pyracantha^ Choysia^ 

 Pyrus spectahilis^ and many other equally delightful shrubs 

 all appear most flourishing. These, together with her- 

 baceous plants and ornamental trees, well grouped in a 

 garden of good design, with the river flowing at the foot 

 of it, make the grounds of Broom House rank among 

 the most attractive about London. 



A few of the gardens, like this one, have succeeded 

 in keeping the real stamp of the country, in spite of the 

 encroachments of the town and the advance of trams and 

 motor omnibuses, but they are every day becoming more 

 scarce. Hampstead and Highgate have many such, and 

 here and there, to the north and on the south of the 

 river, such delightful spots are to be found, although the 

 temptation to cut them up and build small red villas on 

 the sites is very great. Towards the north of London 

 there are many small gardens which are bright and attrac- 

 tive, and without going so far as Hampstead, pleached 

 walks and small but tastefully arranged grounds are 



