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ROYAL GARDENS 



Claremont Park is about three and a half miles in circum- 

 ference and is, roughly speaking, pear-shaped. Its narrow, 

 or north, end abuts on Esher village. Near this corner of 

 the estate, a bold eminence called Belvidere Hill rises. Its 

 summit is crowned with a remarkably fine group of old Scotch 

 firs. From here the park can be seen extending for over a 

 mile in a south-westerly direction. At the foot of the hill a 

 lodge-guarded entrance gate admits from the Portsmouth 

 road. The drive at once enters an avenue of chestnuts planted 

 in 1883 by the late Duke of Albany. But the entrance most 

 frequently used is away to the left on Claremont Lane, between 

 Esher and Oxshott. From Belvidere Hill the mansion appears 

 to great advantage. Placed on rising ground near the centre 

 and widest part of the park, it has the highest hill (called the 

 Mount, on the summit of which is an old observatory tower), 

 close to its west side. The house faces south-east, and is 

 nearly square in plan. It has a very dignified and imposing 

 portico in stone with four outstanding classic columns sur- 

 mounted by a handsome pediment, the entablature of which is 

 sculptured with Lord Clive's coat of arms. On the north-west 

 front there is a terrace balcony with double curving flights 

 of steps leading down to a lawn. Formerly, at each corner of 

 the mansion there stood a huge cedar, but only two are left 

 now, superb old specimens of this stately and solemn tree. 



The pleasure grounds begin at the south-west front of the 

 mansion. Across an expanse of beautiful turf the ground rises 

 to the Mount, whose sides are entirely covered with innumer- 

 able trees of splendid growth and many varieties. Winding 

 away to the south of the hill a pathway leads through trees 

 and shrubs to a lovely glade. Here there are on all sides extra- 

 ordinarily fine specimen trees, seen through whose flickering 

 foliage glimpses of the bright and placid waters of the lake 

 may be caught. Facing the head of this glade there is a 

 charming conservatory summer-house. And a little further 

 west, high up on the steep slope of the hill, is a Gothic build- 

 ing, sometimes called the Mausoleum, designed by Princess 

 Charlotte. The little garden in which it stands offers a 



