32 
The old building stood close to the road, and was approached by a forecourt with gateways leading 
to the house and stable courts. On the south side of the house was the bowling-green and parterre, 
beyond which a pleached alley divided the kitchen garden, which was surrounded by a formal 
arrangement of fruit trees, all now gone. Beyond, and occupying the greater part of the ground, is the 
Dutch garden, bounded on the east and south by a brook. A very good idea of this part of the gardens is 
conveyed by the views on Plates 54 and 55. These show the two large water-pieces, one in the form of 
the letter T; the other a straight piece, 450 feet long by about 22 feet broad, at the end of which is the 
quaint two storey garden-house supported on columns, now incorporated in the new building. At the 
other end of the two water-pieces, “ clair-voyCes,” flanked by stone piers with handsome leaden vases, are 
placed in the wall, and in the angle north-east of the garden is the “gazeebo,” or corner garden-house, 
overlooking the road on one side, and a small walled-in garden on the other. 
GROOMBRIDGE PLACE, KENT. 
PLATES 56, 57. 
HE old moated,Manor-house at Groombridge is situated on the banks of a stream 
separating the counties of Kent and Sussex, about three miles to the west of 
Tunbridge Wells, in the midst of a beautiful park, and sheltered from the north by 
well-wooded hills. 
In the reign of Edward I., Groombridge was in the possession of a younger 
branch of the ancient Kentish family of Cobham; it afterwards passed to Sir John 
de Clinton, and during the last years of Henry IV.’s reign became the property 
of John Waller, whose son Richard, fighting at the battle of Agincourt, took prisoner Charles, 
Duke of Orleans, who for many years was confined within the old moated castle of Groombridge. The 
estate was again sold, to Thomas Sackville, Earl of Dorset, during the reign of James I., but the 
Sackvilles never resided here, and the castle, deserted for many years, was eventually sold to John 
Packer, clerk of the Privy Seal to Charles I., whose son, Philip Packer, the friend of John Evelyn, 
decided to pull down the old castle, which had fallen into a sad state of disrepair. No doubt in carrying 
out his ideas he was much influenced by the taste of Evelyn, who, but recently returned from Italy, 
induced him to build his new home in the prevailing style; and it is possible that Sir Christopher 
Wren himself may have given his advice and direction concerning the new building. 
But Packer did not follow the advice of his friend in choosing the site, and preferred rather to 
build within the old moat than to act on Evelyn’s advice and build on the edge of the wood, on rising 
ground commanding a magnificent view of the surrounding country, which would have been in many 
respects a more desirable site. The house was therefore built within the moat, in the form of the letter 
H, the principal approach being on the western side over a beautiful old stone bridge, with a gateway 
marked by large stone piers having semicircular niches. On the south side of the house the various 
outbuildings are grouped around the stable yard, adjoining which is a small kitchen garden. The 
quaint dovecote shown on Plate 56 is perched over the entrance gate to this small enclosure. 
The gardens still bear their ancient character ; they are enclosed on all sides with brick and 
buttressed stone walls, now mellowed by time and the soft gray lichen into a variety of beautiful tints. 
The stately walks, the broad grass terraces and hedges of yew, carry the mind back to the days when 
