KENSINGTON PALACE 83 



gardens. In these the taste of the King was no doubt pre- 

 eminent. His ideas being in the main military, and Le 

 Notre's own preference being in favour of formal methods, 

 the result was that closely trimmed yew and prim holly 

 hedges were planted in " imitation of the lines, angles, 

 bastions, scarps and counterscarps of regular fortifications. 

 Near the palace most of this has long been swept away, 

 but it is curious to notice that on the Hyde Park boundary/ of 

 the gardens there are still ' bastions ' ; and the three radiat- 

 ing avenues, the Broad Walk, and the Round Pond, though 

 for the most part constructed by Bridgeman, still show traces 

 of Le Notre's style in design. John Evelyn paid a visit here 

 in 1690. He says, "I went to Kensington, which King 

 William had bought of Lord Nottingham, and alter'd, but 

 'twas yet a patch'd building, but with the garden however it 

 is a very sweete villa, having to it the Park, and a straight 

 new way through this Park." Evidently the King was losing 

 no time in making his improvements. Next year another 

 writer describes the gardens as being " not great nor abound- 

 ing in fine plants but the walks and grass were very fine, and 

 they were digging up a plot of four or five acres to enlarge 

 their gardens." And soon afterwards the result is spoken of 

 as having been " the admiration of every lover of that kind 

 of horticultural embellishment." As in his work going on 

 at Hampton Court, so also at Kensington, William engaged 

 the partners, London and Wise, to supervise the planting, 

 path-making, levelling and turfing of lawns, and all other 

 details of garden construction. The success of their work 

 here soon led to their being employed in other parts of 

 England ; and about this time they laid out gardens at 

 Blenheim, which were afterwards re-made by Brown ; and 

 shortly before, they had done the same at Chatsworth. It 

 is to be inferred from all this that they now worked inde- 

 pendently of Le Notre, from whom they had learnt so much 

 — and Addison, in 171 1 or 17 12, when drawing an analogy 

 between gardening and poetry (in No. 477 of The Spectator), 

 gives all the credit to " Wise and London (who) are our 



