88 



ROYAL GARDENS 



and handsome iron railings put up in their place. Ten or 

 eleven years later, at the time of the first Great Exhibition, 

 a new walk — running north and south, and crossing the main 

 central avenue — was made in that part of the gardens which 

 lies on the eastern bank of the Serpentine, or ' New River.' 

 And at the same time a large number of rare imported shrubs 

 were planted also in this part of the grounds. Weale, in his 

 London^ published in 1851, says, "It is in the introduction 

 of these rarer plants that the idea of a ' garden ' is, perhaps, 

 better sustained than in most of the other features of the 

 place, which are those of a park." He goes on to urge the 

 planting of many more shrubs and a greater variety of trees 

 to form a sort of undergrowth, to still further soften the effect 

 of the too park-like gardens. This has, in part, been carried 

 out, and but for several good reasons against the encourage- 

 ment of over-much underwood, doubtless more might have 

 been done towards improving the gardens in this respect. 



The poet Crabbe, writing in his diary early in the nine- 

 teenth century, says, " Drove to Kensington Gardens, they 

 have a very peculiar effect ; not exhilarating, I think, yet 

 alive and pleasant." The description " not exhilarating " would 

 have passed as a true criticism a very few years ago. But 

 H.M. OfHce of Works — under whose control and supervision 

 the gardens now are — has, among several considerable im- 

 provements, recently made one of the first importance. A 

 few yards from the north-east corner of the palace, a sunk or 

 pond garden has been constructed. It is on the lines of the 

 famous one at Hampton Court, but is not by any means 

 a slavish copy, and is many times larger than its prototype. 

 The work has been splendidly carried out, and the inevit- 

 able look of newness is now fast disappearing. The garden 

 covers an oblong plot about 30 yards wide and three times 

 as many long. A low brick wall surrounds it, with pillars 

 and iron gates in the middle of each side. To the north, 

 about 60 yards away, stands Wren's beautiful old building ; 

 the ground in front of which has recently been re-laid in lawns 

 and flower borders. The main avenue running east and west 



