of stately growth, and masses of evergreens judiciously planted for producing intricacy and effect, while 

 the natural undulation of the surface, and occasional views of distant scenery, bounded by the bold 

 escarpment of the Wiltshire clowns in the back-ground, and the richly- wooded' valley and lake below, 

 help most materially to form that variety which constitutes the great charm of the place. 



ft has frequently been a matter for discussion, whether the grounds of Bowoocl were laid out under 

 professional^ dictation, or were the work of its noble proprietor. The great natural taste for the fine 

 arts so eminently possessed by the first Marquis of Lansdowne, and which has so fully descended to his 

 son, the present Marquis, leads us to believe that he had much to do in designing' the improvements 

 then carried out. It is said, the assistance of his friend, the Hon. C. Hamilton, a great planter and 

 lover of trees, and that of the first Lord Chatham, at that time a frequent visitor at Bowood, was also 

 given. When relieved from political duties, the elder Pitt spent much of his time in garden improvements 

 and planting at his seat, the Hayes, in Kent. The proprietor of the adjoining property at Spye Park, 

 Sir A. Baynton, is also said to have been consulted on the arrangement and kind of trees to be planted. 

 Brown, the great landscape gardener, was then in the zenith of his celebrity, and some clumps of 

 trees in the park and grounds induce a suspicion of his presence and participation in the changes then 

 made. It is more than probable that the lake is one of his creations, as the damming up of a 

 natural^ valley, in a similar manner to the one at Bowood, had previously been effected by him at 

 Blenheim. 



What share, however, is due to the advice and co-operation of other minds, professional or amateur, 

 we have no means of deciding, but we incline to the opinion that the main features of the place owe 

 their character to the taste of the Marquis himself, who was much devoted to arboriculture, and furnished 

 a nursery in the grounds which supplied him for years with the various trees which now adorn the 

 park and grounds, and how much modern Bowood is indebted to the taste for planting, possessed by the 

 first Marquis, can be judged by the noble plantations which surround it on all sides. 



Judging from the many fine specimens of rare trees which yet remain in the grounds, we should 

 say that all or nearly all the exotic trees which were then introduced were planted, and that not in 

 single specimens only. Some scores of cedars of Lebanon, and other pines ; hemlock spruce, American 

 oaks, Virginian cedars, Arbor vitaes, Tulip trees, and many other rare species, must have been originally 

 planted. Many of these trees are now remarkable specimens, and add greatly to the beauty and 

 interest of the grounds. In 1850 a portion of these interior grounds, formerly used as a nursery garden, 

 was planted as a Pinetum, and contains nearly every specimen of coniferae introduced. 



Soon after Bowoocl came into possession of the present Marquis, the original of the upper terrace, 

 as shown in our view, was made. This was about 1810 or 1811. It was laid out as a parterre, on 

 grass, and continued much in the same state until 1851, when a second terrace was made by enclosing 

 an additional piece of ground in front of the older one, and the width of the main part of the mansion, 

 and which was also made to include an entrance court to the principal front. A retaining wall, 

 surmounted with balustrading and ornamented with vases, separates it from the park. The design for 

 the building was given by George Kennedy, Esq., who has very successfully adapted his style to that of 

 the mansion, and the two terraces form a great improvement to the west front of the house, being backed 

 by the long line of buildings comprising a part of the house, the orangery, and offices. At the time 

 of making the addition of a second terrace on a lower level, the upper garden was laid down in a fresh 

 design, as shown in our view, and otherwise remodelled. 



The surface of the park is diversified by a succession of low hills, separated by valleys or dells of 

 great beauty, and- richly furnished with wood, while on the bottom of the main valley, which separates 

 the park into two divisions, flows the lake for upwards of a mile, winding as it approaches the House, 

 and washing the foot of the lawn, on which the mansion stands, at some elevation above it. The lake 

 obtains its greatest width eastward from the House, where the head and termination are concealed 

 by masses of overhanging trees. The lake is indeed the great feature of the park, and, with its 

 irregular outline and rich accompaniments of wood and lawn, forms a rare combination of natural scenery 

 seldom if ever met with so perfect in artificial creation. The lake was formed by throwing a head 

 across the lower part of the valley, clamming back the rivulet which flowed on the bottom. The waste 

 waters of the lake are made to flow over this head in the form of a natural cascade. Having a fall 

 of from twenty to thirty feet, the water falls over grand masses of artificial rock, arranged and planted 

 with perfect taste, and constitutes a scene at once beautiful and true to nature. The accompanying- 

 grottos and rock-work, now that they are covered with ivy and overhung with trees, are all in perfect 

 keeping with the place. These rock-works and cascades were designed and executed by a person of 

 the name of Lane, who had great natural ingenuity in making these descriptions of works, and who is 

 celebrated for making the splendid grotto at Oatlands. 



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