42 GLEANINGS ON GARDENS. 



hospitality, and charity ; of which there are many 

 instances that would be too long for a letter, and, I 

 think, not to my purpose. You ascend the great 

 avenue to Cannons from the town of Edgware, by a fine 

 iron gate, with the duke's arms and supporters on the 

 stone pillars of the gate, with balustrades of iron on 

 each side, and two neat lodges in the inside ; this 

 avenue is near a mile long, and three coaches may go 

 abreast ; in the middle or half-way of this avenue is 

 a large round basin of water, not unlike that on the 

 great road through Bushey Park to Hampton Court ; 

 this avenue fronts an angle of the house, and 

 thereby showing two fronts at once, makes the house 

 seem at a distance the larger. You turn therefore a 

 little to the left to come to the great court, which 

 leads to the saloon and great staircase ; and a little 

 further to the left to another court, which leads to the 

 back stairs, now made use of till the great apartments 

 are finished. The house consists of four fronts, all 

 of free-stone, each about one hundred feet wide. The 

 front from the great stairs is to the east, and hath 

 an avenue directly from it down to the parish church, 

 at above half-a-mile distance: the north front is 

 towards the parterre and great canal ; the west 

 towards the gardens ; and the south looks through a 

 great area where the offices and stables are, down 

 another large avenue which ends in a mountain. The 



