64-6 Notes on Gardens and Country Seats: — 



therefore we shall say very little about it ; but we cannot let 

 pass the shed-like conservatory which forms one wing of the 

 house, as seen from the terraced front ; it is mean, and alto- 

 gether unarchitectural. Mr. Dodds is a great amateur of 

 calceolarias, and has raised some new and valuable varieties. 

 He also showed us a new species of nasturtium, raised from 

 seeds obtained from Italy, quite distinct from any which we 

 had before seen. 



Hedsor House, Lord Boston, stands by itself, unconnected 

 with offices or architectural appendages, on the top of a high 

 bank on the one side of an extensive park ; and, at a distance, 

 strikes a stranger as a most dreary object. We hardly know 

 any country seat that conveys so distinctly and impressively 

 the idea of pride and poverty. We believe this to be the very 

 reverse of the real state of the case ; but we think it right to 

 state what our first impressions were. Hedsor House is situ- 

 ated on the brow of the same bank as Cliefden, but it is most 

 unfortunate in its approaches, which are steep to a degree that 

 is scarcely tolerable. The evil might be remedied most readily 

 by lengthening the road, for which there is ample space. The 

 parish church is in the park, close to the approach road. We 

 noticed that all the tombstones were laid flat, and the surface 

 kept as level and smoothly mown as a lawn. This looks like 

 the exercise of undue influence over the poor ; for surely all 

 who bury in this churchyard would not wish to have the 

 gravestones flat, if they were allowed the free exercise of their 

 will. It was, however, surrounded by a hedge, which is 

 something better than the churchyard at Arley, the seat of 

 Lord Mountnorris, near Kidderminster, where all the tomb- 

 stones were buried in the night-time by his lordship, the 

 boundary fence thrown down, and the whole levelled, and 

 united with the lawn. This we mention on the authority of 

 the late Mr. Mowbray, curator of the Manchester Botanic 

 Garden, who was his lordship's head gardener at the time 

 alluded to, and carried the work into execution. Thus much 

 we must say of Hedsor, that it was in excellent order and 

 keeping, with the exception of the walks being sunk and the 

 edges harsh. There was little attempt at display in respect 

 to flowers, or rare or curious plants ; but, what we think a 

 great deal better, there was a general spirit of neatness and 

 order which pervaded the whole. We only saw the exterior 

 of the kitchen-garden, the head gardener being from home. 



Wooburn House, Sir Griffith Wilson. — A most agreeable and 

 varied road leads to the village of Wooburn, near which is 

 the seat of Sir Griffith Wilson. The surface is flat, on the 

 banks of a rapid stream ; and the only thing that we saw 



