September 25 . 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
461 
KNYPERSLEY HALL, NEAR CONGLETON. 
The Seat oe — Bateman, Esq. 
Little doubting that the readers of The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener like to hear, occasionally, accounts of new gar¬ 
dens, or of such, old ones as possess striking features, I 
venture to offer the substance of a few notes, taken by 
myself, a week or two since, on visiting this interesting 
old place. Such remarks from persons of long experi¬ 
ence in gardening affairs, are, I conceive, of much use; 
and those whose duty it is to advise and to cater for 
the gardening public, should, certainly, make the best 
use of their eyes when visiting remarkable gardens. 
Knypersley Hall, the subject of the present remarks, 
is situated about five miles from Congleton, and lies in 
a district called Biddulph, noted for its collieries; most 
of them the property of Mr. Bateman. 
This seat is bounded on the west by the range of 
hills known as the Mowcop, the highest point being 
familiarly termed, by the country people, in their verna¬ 
cular, “ The Old Mon of Mow.” 
The gardens here are by no means extensive, so that 
I would not have our readers misled, in that respect, by 
the account I intend to give of the features, as they 
appeared to me. It will be remembered, doubtless, that 
it was the son of this worthy gentleman who first gave 
the grand impulse to Orchids, by not only pushing their 
culture with all his energies, but by producing the 
splendid work on Orchids, so well known to all the gar¬ 
dening world, both at borne and abroad. 
James Bateman, Esq., the author, after having cul¬ 
tivated this tribe with very great success for a number of 
years, at last relinquished their culture, sold them all off, 
and, as I have been informed, built a church with the 
proceeds. Such, if correct, is not a very common occur¬ 
rence. Strange to say, he is resuming their culture 
once more, with that uncommon degree of ardour which 
it is his bent to throw into everything he takes in hand; 
and I may here observe, that he has built himself a 
house, not many miles off, and is engaged in laying out 
grounds to his own taste ; and I venture to prophecy, 
they will make no small stir when completed. To say 
anything further, at present, would be premature. 
Mr. Bateman, jun. had loug amused himself with 
landscape gardening, for the highest order of which he 
has a keen appreciation. The mantle of Price seems to 
have fallen on his shoulders. No tame shrubberies, in¬ 
sipid outlines, or any kind of mannerism may be found 
in his works. When he copies, it is from the highest 
school of all—Nature. 
I much fear that those who appreciate the beauties of 
landscape gardening are in a fearful minority, taking 
the gardening world in the aggregate ; I mean those who 
can admire fine outlines and forms, irrespective of the 
colouring of flowers. It has been lately observed, that 
the African savages are great admirers of gaudy colours; 
and that our Manchester men, who are as wise in their 
generation as most men, colour their cottons accordingly. 
I take it, therefore, for granted, that there is a higher 
order of taste in gardening than the mere decoration 
of beds with gay Verbenas, Geraniums, Calceolarias, 
Dahlias, &c.; although I, for one, must confess to as 
great an admiration of a well-planned parterre as other 
folks; but, according to the old saying,—“ A place 
for everything, and everything in its place”—a man may 
be a keen admirer of flowers, without sacrificing one 
feeling as regards genuine landscape gardening. 
But to return to the Knypersley Gardens. What I 
should call the very best features of the place, bear, in 
the most unmistakeable way, the impress of Mr. Bate¬ 
man, junior’s, hand. It appears that his respected 
parent had not been quite so keen a gardener as the 
son; and, moreover, had other matters to attend to; 
amongst the rest, territorial improvements, and, doubt¬ 
less, matters connected with his extensive property. 
There is a piece of water running through the orna¬ 
mental grounds, the outlines of which must strike the 
landscape gardener at once. The first impression re¬ 
ceived was, with me, a kind of surprise, as to how such 
a variety of combination of water and groundwork 
could produce such varied and pleasing effects, seeing 
that the extent is so limited. 
But every available principle in landscape gardening, 
as applicable to this kind of water-scenery, has been 
called into requisition. In the first place, the outlines 
of this miniature lake are so powerfully indented, as 
that any one section or point might be taken for the 
boundary of a stream in the wilds. Jutting points, or 
promontories, if I may use the term, like the sudden 
bends in walks, planned by a good artist, are most of 
them occupied by some object; and the result is, that 
your interest is not only kept at every turn alive, but 
expectations are constantly excited as to what is to 
come. I think it was Sir Uvedale Price who made the 
following remark as bearing on insipid outlines — 
“ Who cares to go through a piece of scenery, the com¬ 
ponent parts of which lie can detect the moment he 
enters!” I speak here merely from memory. And Pope, 
too: — 
“ Let not each beauty everywhere be spied, 
Where half the skill is decently to hide.” 
Indeed, this kind of half-concealment of objects is one of 
the favourite maxims of the genuine landscape gardener, 
who also knows how to deal with the straight terrace, 
or promenade, in its turn, as a direct avowal of art. 
On the margin of this little lake, then, Mr. Bateman 
has created a vast amount of interest; rocks juttiug out 
here, with their tree or bush accompaniments; then 
bays or recesses, with their heavy shadows, and even 
cavernous retreats; now and then, a vista opened, 
through which unexpected matters are seen; and droop¬ 
ing trees, or those adapted to form a cove, or produce 
fine shadows in the water : such is the general impress 
of this miiltum in pctrvo picture. 
But, in the exterior walks, a capital lesson is offered 
to those who like to dive into the minutiae of such 
matters. As before observed, these gardens are bounded 
on one side by certain hills, some in Cheshire, somo in 
Staffordshire, and, I believe, even a glimpse of the Der¬ 
byshire hills may be obtained—probably the high 
country betwen Buxton and Macclesfield. Be that as 
it may, Mr. Bateman has, in the true spirit of what 
landscape gardeners term “appropriation,” called in the 
distant hills, occasionally, to increase the interest of this 
little picturesque affair. 
As you pass along the principal walks, you are all of 
a sudden surprised, here and there, with a distant view 
of, perhaps, a score miles or so of some highland, or 
peak, standing forth in bold relief in the distant sky 
outline. But this is not all; the landscape gardener 
has so contrived these vistas, as that you can hardly 
persuade yourself that any intervening boundary exists 
between yourself and the highland in question. By in¬ 
genious planting as to heights, and by causing the 
sides of such vistas to creep out, on either side, in a 
style identical with the distant object, you have a picture 
so perfectly homogeneous in style and character, that 
you never for a moment dream of the numerous walls, 
hedges, and homesteads, which exist between yourself 
and the distant hills. Such little matters, however 
light or trilling they may appear in the eyes of ob- * 
servers who have never entered into the spirit of such 
things, constitute, after all, that charm in gardens, 
which survives after the floral world is thrown pros¬ 
trate by the ravages of the stern ice king; and the 
most ordinary observer feels there is a#harm in them, 
which, although, perhaps, he cannot explain, he can 
enjoy ; albeit, he may sigh in secret for beds of Tulips, 
