ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 3 
in the very middle a fair Mount, with three Ascents and Alleys, enough for four to walk abreast, which I would 
have to be perfect circles, without any Bulwarks or Imbossments, and the whole Mount to be thirty foot high, 
and some fine Banquetting House with some chimneys neatly cast and without too much glass.” 
The mount was, no doubt, originally contrived to enable persons in the garden to look over the enclosing 
wall, and would serve both as a place from which to enjoy the view and as a point of outlook in case of attack. 
In early days the mounts were constructed of wood or stone, and were curiously adorned within and without, 
whilst later on they resumed the old Barrow shape, and were made of earth and utilized for the culture of fruit 
trees. John Leland, in his “ Itinerary ” (1540), describing Wressel Castle, Yorkshire, says : “ Yn the Orchardes 
were mounts writhen about with degrees, like the turnings in cokil shelles to come to the top without payne.” 
At Rockingham, in Northamptonshire, there still remains a great terraced mound of earth, covered with turf. It 
is raised against apart of the high wall which surrounds the garden, and behind which the keep formerly stood. 
From the top of this the eye ranges across the garden with its quaintly cut yew trees, over a magnificent view of 
the open country beyond. 1 The top of a mount was often surmounted by an arbour or summer-house. The 
mount at Hampton Court, constructed in 1533 011 a brick foundation, was the finest specimen of its day, and 
the arbour, constructed of wooden pales and trellis-work, was a very elaborate feature. Similar arbours were 
frequently constructed around three or all sides of the garden, and formed a delightful means of access from 
one part to another. The arbour or garden-house was often a substantial erection of brick or stone, and 
frequently built at the corner of a boundary or dividing wall, thus affording a view of more than one part of 
the gardens. 
Another innovation made about the time of Henry VIII. was the “knot” or knotted bed ; a bed laid out 
in a complicated geometrical pattern, the design being formed by borders of brick, tile or box, and sometimes 
later these knots were filled in with coloured earth ; an objectionable practice which was treated with much 
well-deserved contumely. In the destruction of the many monasteries at the Reformation, great havoc was 
made of the best of old English gardens, and often nothing now remains beyond an occasional fish-pond or 
the walls of a vineyard or orchard to show us their former extent and beauty. 
The Privy Purse expenses of Henry VIII., of which there are many extracts in Mr. Ernest Law’s 
“ History of Hampton Court Palace,” give us a good deal of information with regard to his gardening 
operations there. The land which Wolsey covered with the buildings, gardens and park, amounted to about 
two thousand acres. The old Manor House stood at the south-west corner of this area, and around it the 
Cardinal laid out his gardens and orchards. In 1529 occurred the Cardinal’s disgrace, and Henry entered 
into the possession of the Palace. The gardens were soon after enlarged and divided by brick walls, a new 
orchard was laid out, and a flower-garden provided for the Queen’s pleasure. What a truly delightful picture 
must these gardens have formed with their little walks and parterres, sheltered alleys, arbours and banqueting 
houses ! The largest plot was called the King’s New Garden, and occupied the space now known as the Privy 
Garden. Here there were gay parterres with gravel paths and little raised mounds with sun-dials on them. 
There was also the Pond Garden, which is still to be seen, and which, though much altered, yet retains something 
of its Tudor aspect, and another, known as “the little garden,” which may perhaps be identified with the 
enclosed space at the side of the Pond Garden. Studded about in various parts of the gardens and orchards 
were heraldic beasts on pedestals, holding vanes or shields bearing the King’s arms and badges, also many 
brass sun-dials. 
Another famous garden was at Nonsuch, near Ewell in Surrey, which was laid out by Henry VIII. towards 
the end of his reign. Hentzner, who made a journey into England in 1598, says of Nonsuch : “In the pleasure 
and artificial gardens are many columns and pyramids of marble, two fountains that spout water one round the 
other like a pyramid, upon which are perched small birds that stream water out of their bills. In the grove 
1 “ History of Gardening in England,” by the Hon. Alicia Amherst. 
