BARTON MANOR, ISLE OF WIGHT 

 Edward III, and Richard II. The Duke of 

 Warwick was crowned " king " of the island, 

 but his son dying without issue, it reverted to 

 the Crown. 



It was at Sir Robert Peel's suggestion that 

 Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort bought 

 the Osborne estate (five thousand acres) for 

 200,000, in March of the year 1845. The 

 Court occupied the house for the first time 

 in the following September. The park is 

 magnificent, permitting a ten miles' drive 

 within its bounds. The old Manor House of 

 Eustace Mann was pulled down and Osborne 

 House built by the Prince on its site, from 

 which there is a splendid panoramic view of the 

 wooded slopes to the sea. Its vicinity to 

 Spithead and Portsmouth pleased the Queen, 

 able thus to watch the manoeuvres of her 

 Fleet. The Prince Consort, fond of landscape 

 gardening, designed the gardens. Here are 

 his words on the art of gardening : " In this 

 the artist who lays out the work and devises 

 a garment for a piece of ground, has the delight 

 of seeing his work live, and grow hour by hour, 

 and while it is growing he is able to polish, to 



K 73 



