128 



HISTORY AND (xEOGRAPHY OF TREES. PART I. 



Gleditschz«, Cercis, Cratag^gus, and Photinia 15 ft. high; some 

 of the finest trees of Pyrus nivalis and bollwjUeriana in the 

 country ! of Halesm, Z)iospyros, NyssfZ, Gymnocladus, Planera, 

 Juglans, Stuartza, Z/aurus, Q.uercus, Jumperus, Thuja, a remark- 

 ably fine Canninghamm, and many pines, among which are 

 the greatest number of Pinus PaWasidna to be found together 

 in any grounds in England. Phius Cembra has here attained the 

 height of 30 ft. in S5 years; and iarix pendula that of 50 ft. in 

 the same time. At Blenheim the duke has introduced the finest 

 trees he could procure, in numbers and in masses, as far as he 

 was enabled to do so ; and Magnol/a conspicua, of which seldom 

 more than one or two plants are to be found in any one demesne, 

 may be there reckoned by dozens. An account of White Knights, 

 as far as its picturesque beauty extends, will be found in HolF- 

 lands^s Description of White Knights, Lond. 1819, fol. ; and of 

 its gardens, in a botanical and horticultural point of view, in the 

 Garde7ier's Magazine, vol. ix. p. 664. ; in which work will also 

 be found an account of Blenheim, vol. x. p. 99. The Duke of 

 Marlborough's gardener, from the commencement of the duke's 

 gardening operations at White Knights to the present time, has 

 been Mr. Jones. White Knights, which is now the property of 

 Francis Cholraeley, Esq., has its gardens under the direction of 

 Mr. Ward. The house is at present (1835) unoccupied. 



William Beckford, Esq., of Fonthill Abbey, began to plant at 

 that place all the rare trees and shrubs which he could procure, 

 about the same time as the Duke of Marlborough planted 

 White Knights. He paid no attention to house or to herbaceous 

 plants, but, like the duke, he planted the choicest trees and 

 shrubs, in quantities, without any regard to their cost; paying 

 for them, we believe, in ready money. We had the satisfaction 

 of inspecting the grounds at Fonthill twice in 1806, when they 

 were in their highest beauty and keeping; and we spent two days 

 in looking at them again in IS 33, when they were in a state of 

 neglect, and when the greater number of the rare trees and 

 shrubs, and in particular the pinetum, thornery, and rosary, 

 were almost obliterated by the growth of common trees and 

 shrubs. There are still some fine magnolias, rhododendrons, 

 and azaleas in the American ground, which have been hardy 

 enough to cope with the native trees which have been planted, 

 or have sprung up fortuitously around them. The scenery of 

 Fonthill has somewhat of a Swiss character, from the hilly ridge 

 on which the Abbey is built, and the prevalence of the pine and. 

 fir tribe in the woods ; and in it there is an air of melancholy 

 grandeur, unlike that of any other place that we are acquainted 

 with in Britain. A description of Fonthill Abbey, when in its 

 most perfect state, has been given by Britton, in his Wiltshire, 

 and a notice of it, as it appeared to us in 1833, will be found in 

 the Gard. Mag., vol. xi. p. 425. 



