382 Domestic Notices : — England. 



scenery. Instead of exhibiting a source of this kind, and disguising the termi- 

 nation of the lake by one or two islands, an attempt is made to keep up the 

 character of a river by building three arches as a termination, the common- 

 place resource, in cases of this kind, in the infancy of the natural style of laying 

 out grounds, but long since rejected by every modern artist of cultivated taste. 

 Altogether, the termination of this piece of water is so bad in itself, and so 

 ridiculous when contrasted with the real bridge within sight of it, that we 

 think it will be instructive to exhibit its absurdity by sketches, which we 

 intend sooner or later to do. The fountain at present only plays occasion- 

 ally^; but, if a rocky source were substituted, the supply of water might easily 

 be so regulated as to flow throughout the whole of that portion of every day 

 during which the gardens are open to the public. — Cond. 



Kensington Gardens. — "As it appears that the public have not closed with 

 the project of disposing of the site of the kitchen-garden at Kensington so 

 readily as was expected, I beg to offer the following remarks on this most 

 objectionable plan, in the hope that, before it be too late, the present govern- 

 ment may be disposed to reconsider the subject. 



" There are two points on which the planners of this scheme deserve some 

 credit ; and, as they are the only points deserving of commendation, candour 

 requires their being noticed : the one is, the making of a kitchen-garden at 

 Windsor worthy of the place; the other, the projecting of a road to connect 

 Bayswater and Kensington, which will be a considerable public benefit. All 

 the other bearings of the subject I hold to be worse than bad — to be dis-. 

 creditable to those who drew the plan, and even more so to those who adopted 

 instead of repudiating it, as they ought to have done. 



" To the north and west of Kensington Palace is the ground in question, a 

 strip to the north forming a paddock used by the inmates of the palace, and a 

 longer strip running quite from the Kensington Gate to the Bayswater Road, 

 forming, in the whole, between 30 and 40 acres. The plan is to let the whole 

 front along the Bayswater Road, including, I believe, part of the paddock, for 

 building sites, and running a wide road down the centre of the old gardens, to 

 divide the ground on each side into blocks of about an acre each, to be let to 

 individuals for 99 years ; that is, this invaluable piece of ground is to be 

 jobbed out in the ordinary manner practised by individuals who have a few 

 acres adjoining a watering place, to make the most they can of their land. Is 

 this consistent with the dignity of the crown of England ? Is the raising the 

 beggarly sum, necessary to make the garden at Windsor, to be attained by the 

 alienating for ever (for, disguise it as they may, this is the real truth) of such 

 a piece of ground ? Let any one see the manner in which the promenade in 

 Kensington Gardens is attended, and see the plans and extension of buildings 

 on ever}' side, and say whether government is not called on, as a sacred duty, 

 to do any thing rather than, in the manner here intended, to sacrifice even an 

 acre which can be devoted to the public health and amusement ? There is a 

 cardinal point which should be carefully attended to in the management of the 

 parks. No individual should be on any pretence allowed to establish an 

 interest in them. We have just seen a nuisance removed from Piccadilly, and 

 the private residences in the Regent's Park are perhaps the only blots in that 

 beautiful enclosure, whilst the conditions entered into with the possessors are 

 a serious bar to improvement, and the pecuniary return is wholly unworthy 

 notice. 



" Having now expressed my opinion on the plan, I beg to suggest a better 

 mode of laying out the ground. The road might be carried quite along the 

 west side, leaving all the open space possible. A necessary space of private 

 ground, but fenced with open pallisade, should surround the palace and leave 

 it isolated ; the remainder should be laid out in choice and ornamental shrub- 

 bery and flower-garden in a plain way, and properly secured from injury by 

 the public. The paddock I would leave as it is, if an equivalent cannot be 

 found elsewhere ; only, instead of the brick walls, open palisades should be 

 substituted, and a communication made from the n. w. corner of the Ken- 



