MI FISH-PONDS, PLEACHING, ARBOURS 14.- 



fish-pond. You dig a series of ditches 16 feet 

 broad and 9 deep, 12 feet apart in parallel rows, 

 the banks between to be 7 feet high and 12 feet 

 wide, planted with osier at the sides and fruit- 

 trees on the banks — " Thus you will get a sort 

 of maze and pleasant fish-ponds." Perhaps 

 the gardens at Theobalds described by Hentzner 

 (see chap, ii.) were laid out in this manner. 

 Six feet of water and 2 feet for the banks are 

 given by Markham as maximum depths. The 

 size would be arbitrary. Lawson, who had a 

 keener eye for beauty than Markham, advises 

 that the pond should be large enough for swans 

 and other water birds. The fish-pond gradu- 

 ally lost its practical character and developed 

 into the ornamental water ; it becariie part of 

 the scheme of the garden design, grass banks 

 and all. There is a good instance of this in the 

 Brickwall gardens, where the fish-pond, which 

 measures 32 paces by 12 wide, occupies one of 

 the two main plots. There is another instance 

 at Pendell House, near Bletchingley, where the 

 fish-pond divides the lawn from the flower 

 gardens beyond. At Sydenham, in Devonshire, 

 there is an oblong piece of water in the middle 

 of the lawn with a circular basin for a fountain 

 in the centre. The grass banks required a 

 good deal of attention to keep them trim, and 

 this led to the substitution of brick or stone 

 sides instead of grass in more important work ; 

 and when the influence of Le Notre extended 



