286 KINGSCLERE 



overlooks Kingsclere as ' a beech-crested knoll,' 

 and another has placed Park House ' not half a 

 mile from the village, amid luxuriant gardens and 

 meadows of vetch and clover, nestling beneath a 

 lordly range of mountains,' we may, making every 

 allowance for these and other impressionist notions, 

 conclude, that he who would view Kingsclere 

 aright must not fail to approach ' the town ' from 

 the Overton quarter. The summit of the last 

 descent, to the immediate left of which is a rather 

 formidable declivity in the Down which leads to 

 ■ the rabbit hole,' affords the first complete glimpse 

 of Park House, with its lawns and gardens, and the 

 stables and other buildings, comprising John Porter's 

 extensive establishment. The house with its ad- 

 vanced guard of conifers is partially hidden by the 

 latter finely-grown trees. That portion of the 

 buildings, however, with the thatched summer- 

 house surmounted by a vane (an effigy of Blue 

 Gown showing the way of the wind), stands forth 

 most picturesquely, the beginning and principal 

 feature of the trainer's handsome home. The eye is 

 carried on to the point where the gardens terminate 

 in the country below Cottington Hill. The lawn- 

 tennis court, a considerable expanse of perfect turf 

 upon which championships might be decided, is 

 indicated by the pinkish wall of the thatched 

 pavilion ('hut' is too modest a word to describe 

 it) erected for the accommodation of spectators 

 when ' practice ' or a tournament is in progress. 

 The buildings, the highest of which is the water 



