10 LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 
inner gardens, that were specially reserved for the Bishop, 
the great garden and the “ grassyard,” were separated by 
railings and locked doors from the vineyard. The 
“ grassyard ” was mown, and a tithe of the proceeds 
from the sale of the grass paid to the Rector of St. 
Andrew’s, Holborn. The wine produced was more 
of the character of vinegar, and was also sold ; as much 
as thirty gallons of this “ verjuice” was produced in 
one year. Extra hands were hired to weed and dress 
the vineyard, and apparently the vineyard entailed a 
good deal of trouble, and for many years it was let. 
Think of a warm day in early autumn, clusters of grapes 
hanging from the twisted vines, men and women in gay 
colours carrying baskets of ripe fruit to the vats where 
they were trodden, and the crimson juice squeezed out; 
the mellow rays of the sinking sun light up the high 
walls and many towers of the City, and the distant pile 
of Westminster is half hidden by the mists rising from 
the river, while there, too, the vintage is in full swing, 
and the song 1 of the grape-gatherers breaks the stillness 
of the October evening. Away to the north the land¬ 
scape is bounded by the wooded heights of Hampstead 
and Highgate. Most of the country round London 
then was forest land, and in spite of the changes of 
centuries a few acres of the original forest remain in 
Highgate Woods to this day, now owned by the Corpo¬ 
ration of London. Between the hills and the city on the 
north-east lay the marshy ground known as Moorfields, 
for some 800 years the favourite resort of Londoners 
wishing to take the air. Gradually this open space 
has been built over, although a few green patches, such 
as Finsbury Square, the Artillery Ground, or the more 
1 See Alexander Necham, De Naturis Rerum , twelfth century. 
