THE HISTORY OF GARDEN-MAKING 



through the sixteenth century were now destroyed or drastically 

 remodelled. 



However, the Inigo Jones fashion was not destined to be long-lived, 

 for the disturbances of the Civil War put a stop for a while to the 

 cultivation of the arts, and the dealings of the Puritans with the 

 pleasure grounds of the great houses were directed rather to the 

 effacement of existing beauties than to the development of new and 

 attractive features. What John Evelyn wrote about the condition 

 of the gardens of Nonsuch Palace in the reign of Charles II. — 

 " There stand in the garden two handsome stone pyramids, and the 

 avenue planted with rowes of faire elmes ; but the rest of these 

 goodly trees, both of this and Worcester Park adjoyning, were felled 

 by those destructive and avaricious rebels in the late war, which 

 defaced one of the stateliest seats his Majesty had" — could have been 

 written about many other places which had previously been worthy 

 to rank as notable illustrations of the gardener's craft. It is no 

 doubt true that the Puritans have been blamed unjustly for many 

 sins against good taste which were committed by other people, but 

 they certainly diminished rather than increased the number of 

 gardens which deserve to be included in the list of historical 

 examples. 



The accession of Charles II. gave the garden designers once more 

 opportunities of distinguishing themselves, but it did not quite put 

 things back to where they were before the Civil War. Instead, it 

 brought into this country another fashion derived not from Italy, 

 like that for which Inigo Jones was responsible, but from France, 

 where very remarkable advances had been made in the art of garden 

 planning. The chief of the French exponents of the art was Le 

 Notre, a man of brilliant ability and judicious originality, and a 

 designer who was able to build on what had gone before a style 

 definitely personal. His conceptions were on the largest possible 

 scale, and there was a sumptuous vastness in his work which no 

 one else had ever attempted. The gardens he planned did not cover 

 merely a few acres, they occupied enormous spaces of ground, and, 

 when possible, were combined with avenues which extended often 

 for miles beyond the boundaries of the garden proper. 

 Whether Le Notre actually executed any work in England is dis- 

 puted, but he is reputed to have laid out gardens at Hampton Court 

 and Greenwich, as well as that which at one time surrounded St. 

 James's Palace. If, however, there is some doubt whether or not he 

 visited this country, there can be no question about the extent of the 

 influence he exercised over some English gardeners who had to do 



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