THE 



GARDENER'S MAGAZINE, 



APRIL, 1840. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



Art. I. Notice of a Visit to Went'worth House. By J. B. W. 



Wentworth House, the magnificent seat of Earl Fitzwil- 

 liam, is about eight miles from Sheffield, and four from Rother- 

 ham. The Sheffield Directory, describing the house, states that 

 it " has a front of exquisite architecture, 600 ft. in length ; and 

 the portico is peculiarly elegant. The hall is 60 ft. square and 

 40 ft. high, with a gallery 10 ft. running round the whole, which 

 is supported by eighteen Ionic pillars, the intervening niches of 

 which are ornamented with fine marble statues." 



The house stands on one side of an immense park, which is 

 beautifully diversified with hill and dale, wood and water, and 

 ornamented besides with an elegant mausoleum, erected in me- 

 mory of Charles, Marquess of Rockingham. Fine views of the 

 park and adjacent scenery are obtained from a long and wide 

 grass terrace in the pleasure-ground, which is raised consider- 

 ably above the park, and supported by a stone wall. The 

 termination of this terrace, at one end, is a temple, covering a 

 statue of Hercules destroying the dragon. From this point 

 there is an extensive prospect, in which, on the summit of a 

 hill, a " graceful Ionic column, erected by the Marquess of 

 Rockingham to commemorate the acquittal of Admiral Keppel," 

 is a conspicuous object. 



Connected with the pleasure-ground, but enclosed by a wall, 

 is an aviary, where a number of rare and curious birds are kept: 

 this piece of ground likewise contains a large green-house, built 

 in the old style, showy in appearance, but, like all similar struc- 

 tures, quite unfit for the cultivation, or even the healthy pre- 

 servation, of most kinds of plants. 



Two head gardeners are employed at Wentworth ; one of 

 whom, Mr. Thompson, superintends the extensive forcing- 

 houses, kitchen-garden, and pleasure-grounds ; the other, Mr. 

 Cooper, manages the botanic department. Mr. Cooper is justly 

 celebrated for his eminently successful cultivation of Orchidaceae. 

 His plants, in November last, were in the highest state of health 

 and vigour, unapproached by any that I have seen, except, 



1840. April. o 



