38 ROYAL GARDENS 



this and has beds planted with dwarf rose-bushes and violas 

 on either side. From this point one of the best views of the 

 mansion can be obtained. It is built of red brick, with 

 ornamentation in stone, and is a handsome specimen of modern 

 domestic architecture, with well-balanced proportions and a 

 varied, finely composed sky-line. The west end of the house 

 contains the more important apartments, and is consequently 

 treated in an ornate and imposing manner. Behind, but 

 clear of the house, in this direction, a slight elevation of the 

 ground is covered with noble forest-trees, evergreens and 

 flowering shrubs of numberless kinds beyond an upward slop- 

 ing lawn. At the other end, the house is partly seen and 

 partly hidden by many splendid trees coming close to its 

 walls. By these means, and with the help of its grand terrace, 

 the mansion appears both in form and colour to blend most 

 agreeably with its surroundings. 



Continuing past an exceedingly graceful group of chest- 

 nut trees, the path from the Spiral Garden has a straight 

 length in front of the main terrace. This is a nobly pro- 

 portioned and extremely handsome feature of Bagshot Park. 

 It is built of red brick with a very finely moulded balustrade. 

 The wall below is clothed with alternate blue and white wis- 

 taria, and wide flower borders lie at its base. At intervals 

 along the parapet, vases planted (in spring) with Forget-me- 

 not are placed. These vases, instead of being perched up on 

 pedestals above the top, stand on footings only a few inches 

 above the base of the balustrade, which is cut away and suitably 

 finished and ornamented to receive them. This arrangement 

 brings the top of the vases only slightly above the level of the 

 parapet, thus breaking the line without creating a feeling of 

 restlessness, and is extremely effective. The terrace, too, is 

 interesting for another reason. It is a double terrace. That 

 is, there are two levels. First, the house level, which finishes 

 in a sloping turf bank, with flights of stone steps leading 

 down to the terrace proper. The upper level is treated 

 formally with sunk gardens, yew hedges, vases on pedestals, 

 and geometrical flower-beds. The lower terrace has also 



