A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



No doubt the beds were surrounded by the green 

 and white railings, and the posts painted in those 

 colours. In the centre is now one pond, with 

 a jet of water flowing over a mound of moss in 

 the middle of it. Originally there were appar- 

 ently several ponds." Opposite the entrance is an 

 arbour of clipped yew. 16 There was an oblong 

 building facing the river, called the ' Little Tower 

 in the Glass-Case Garden,' which probably stood 

 where the Banqueting House of William III now 

 is." The ' Mount ' was also characteristic of the 

 Tudor period. It was constructed in 1533, on a brick 

 foundation, and planted with ' quycksetts ' in the 

 ' Tryangell.' " At the top was no doubt an arbour 

 or pavilion. Judging from other 'Mount-gardens' 

 of the period it was probably laid out in terraces. 19 

 It wascertainly surrounded bya border of rosemary, 10 

 and embellished as usual with sundials and ' beestes' 

 and painted railings. Henry had also kitchen gar- 

 dens," and two orchards, 'The Great Orchard ' for 

 which among others 600 cherry trees at 6J. a hun- 

 dred were bought," and the ' New Orchard,' where 

 he built the banqueting houses and arbours, of 

 which the roofs just appear in Wynegaarde's picture 

 of the north of the palace." These orchards occu- 

 pied the space now known as ' The Wilderness,' 

 and part of the nursery garden, which at present 

 extends over all the ' Tilt Yard ' as well." They 

 were separated by the moat, but with a drawbridge 

 between them, decorated as usual with the ' Kinges 

 Beastes.' " The ' Great Orchard ' must always be 

 memorable because it was there that Cavendish 

 went to wait on Henry with the news of Wolsey's 

 death, and found him shooting at a mark with 

 Anne Boleyn. 16 One of the customs of Henry's 

 gardeners " seems to have been that when Princess 

 Mary came to the palace a basket of flowers or of 

 strawberries was generally brought to her, a compli- 

 ment she acknowledged by giving the sender a 

 present of money.* 8 



The next description of Hampton Court gar- 

 den in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, refers to 



the ' sundry towers, or rather bowers, for places 

 of recreation and solace, and for sundry other uses,' 

 which were to be seen in the gardens, and also of 

 the ' rosemary so nailed and planted to the walls 

 as to cover them entirely.' 88 It was much the 

 fashion at that time to trim and clip everything 

 possible into wonderful and extraordinary shapes, 

 ' that the like could not easily be found.' M Eliza- 

 beth was fond of walking in her gardens, ' to 

 catch her a heate in the cold mornings," 1 and 

 she had them carefully kept up and improved," 

 though she did not actually alter or enlarge 

 them. The Duke of Wurtemberg described the 

 fountain she had erected in the garden as a 

 ' splendid, high, and massy fountain, with a water- 

 work by which you can, if you like, make the 

 water play upon the ladies and others who are 

 standing by and give them a thorough wetting.' 3! 



Such flowers as ' lavender, spike, hissop, thyme, 

 rosemary, and sage ' are mentioned as among those 

 in the queen's gardens at Hampton Court, Green- 

 wich, and Richmond,* 4 and another account de- 

 scribes the ' floures and varieties of curious and 

 costly workmanship and also the rare and medi- 

 cinal hearbes sought (? set) up in the land within 

 these fortie yeares . . . ' at Nonesuche and 

 Hampton Court. 84 



The great alteration in the gardens, which started 

 them on an entirely new design, founded no doubt 

 on the plan of Versailles, took place in the reign of 

 Charles II. The park to the east of the palace is 

 described by Evelyn in 1662 as 'formerly a naked 

 piece of ground, 36 now planted with sweet rows of 

 lime trees, and the canal for water near perfected." " 

 There is no record that the celebrated French 

 gardener Le N6tre ever visited England, but it is 

 generally supposed that he designed the plan of 

 St. James's Park and the alterations at Hampton 

 Court. 18 



Le N6tre's pupils, Beaumont and La Quintenye, 

 assisted in the improvements at Hampton Court. 39 

 French gardeners were employed, and were under 



14 Chap. Ho. Accts. They are men- 

 tioned as * the ponddes in the pond yerd.' 



16 Ibid. There is now a stone figure 

 of Venus which Hands in the arbour, 

 and is quite out of keeping. 



'' Ibid. Add. Charters, B.M. 1262. 

 Petition of Robert Trunkey to Queen 

 Elizabeth for continuation of a pension 

 because he built the 'Banquetinge 

 House ' and the ' Tower of Babylon ' 

 at Hampton Court for Henry VIII. 



18 Chap. Ho. Accts. The whole of 

 this privy garden was more or less tri- 

 angular in shape ; see Kip' ' Bitdseye 

 View,' in the reign of Queen Anne ; 

 Law, op. cit. iii, 178. 



1 ' Nichols, Engl. Pleasure Gardens, 

 1 1 8. In the Parliamentary Survey for 

 1653 the size of the ' Privy Garden ' 

 and 'Mount Garden* is given as 3 acres 

 and i rood. *> Chap. Ho. Accts. 



L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvii, 1158. 

 In ParL Surv. the ' Kitchin Garden ' is 

 3 acres. 



Ibid. The Old Orchard ' 8 a. 1 r. 

 The Tilt Yard 9 acres and I rood. 



tt Wynegaarde'j drawing in Bodl. 

 Lib. reproduced ; Law, op. cit. i, 206. 



' 2l Ibid. 208. The nursTy garden 

 and the one remaining tower of the 

 Tilt Yard were leased to Mr. Naylor. 



25 Ibid. 



26 See p. 332. The other orchard was 

 sometimes called 'The King's Privy 

 Orchard.' 



V Thomas Chapman and Edmund 

 Gryffyn were among the gardeners ; /.. 

 and P. Hen. l-'III, v, 1729, p. 760. 



38 Madden, Privy Purse Expenses of 

 Princess Maty, 44, 45, 119, &c. 



> Hentzner, Travels in Engl. (ed. 

 1757 , 82. 



80 Rye, Engl. as seen by Foreigners, 

 1 8 ; 'Visit of Frederick, Duke of Wur- 

 temberg.' 



81 Digges, Cumfleat Ambassador, 300. 

 M S.P. Dom. Eliz. ixxix, 64 ; Audi- 



tor'i Acct. First Bk. of Privy Seals, 26 

 Eliz. 



M Rye, Engl. as ten by Foreigners, 1 8. 



M Cal. S.P. Dm. 1547-80, p. 171. 



" Harrison, Descr. of Engl. (New 

 Shakespeare Soc.), i, 332. 



88 This was the ' Course.' There 

 does not appear to have been any 

 garden on that side at an earlier date. 



8 ' Diary, 12 May 1662. A con- 

 temporary picture, by Danckers, shows 

 tht iast front, with the newly-planted 

 rows of lime trees, reproduced in Law, 

 op. cit. ii, 217. See catalogue of pic- 

 tures of James II in British Mu- 

 seum. The picture is now at Hampton 

 Court. 



89 The gardens at Chatsworth, Bram- 

 ham, and Holme Lacy have also been 

 attributed to Le N&tre. Nichols, Engl. 

 Pleasure Gardens, 207, &c. ; A. Am- 

 herst, Hist, of Gardening in Engl. 203. 

 Switzer mentioned that Perrault, Le 

 N&tre's pupil, came to England, but not 

 Le N&tre. 



89 Beaumont was the designer of 

 Levens in Westmorland, though his 

 work there is hardly in the style of 

 Le Notre. There is a portrait of him 

 at Levens with the inscription on it : 

 ' M. Beaumont, gardener to James II 

 and to Colonel James Grahme. He 

 laid out the gardens at Hampton Court 

 and at Levens.' Jean de la Quintenye 

 was a great French gardener and fruit- 

 grower. A. Amherst, Hitt t of Engl. 

 Gardening, 205. 



