May 13, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
581 
“ Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”— Bacon. 
Edited by J. ERASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , MAY 1 3 th , i8gg. 
NEXT WEEK'S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Tuesday, May 16th.—R.H.S. Show and Committee Meetings, 
12 o’clock (noon), at Drill Hall, with a Floral Demonstra¬ 
tion by the Rev. Professor Henslow, at 3 o’clock p.m. 
Wednesday, May 17th.— R.B.S. Exhibition of Plants and 
Flowers at Regent’s Park. Opening of the ten days’ 
International Exhibition at St. Petersburg. 
Friday, May 19th. —Opening of the seven days' exhibition at 
Manchester Royal Botanical Gardens. 
Saturday, May 20th.—Cheltenham Show. 
J^anesfield, Great Marlow, Bucks.— 
Since the fine old Buckingham estate 
of Danesfield came into the hands of R. 
YV. Hudson, Esq., everything has under¬ 
gone a complete revolution, or is in the pro¬ 
cess of being restored, improved, or en¬ 
tirely renovated. The mansion and gar¬ 
dens themselves are situated on the top of 
a chalk hill or down, about two miles from 
Great Marlow, and on the road from that 
place to Henley-on-Thames. The high¬ 
way, indeed, separates the gardens from 
the lawns and pleasure grounds surrounding 
the mansion, but the road has been lowered 
by a deep cutting in the chalk on the brow 
of a steep hill, thus making the ascent of 
the latter easier. The two portions of the 
grounds are, however, connected by an iron 
bridge high overhead, similar to what may 
be seen at Pain’s Hill in Surrey. 
Considering the elevated character of the 
pleasure grounds, and the chalk subsoil, we 
were surprised to find such beautiful turf 
covering not merely the level top but the 
brow of the hill and steep slopes, at the end 
of the third week in April. The green 
sward of the well-made polo grounds is 
level, and consists of a close and fine sole of 
grass of a rich and verdant hue. From 
various points along the brow of the hill 
beautiful views of woodland, hill, and green 
pastures are seen. A deep and green 
valley extends along one side, and must in 
historic or prehistoric times have been 
watered by a running stream, but is now 
dry on the surface, the water from the 
valley-head finding its way underground to 
a stream, and ultimately to the River 
Thames at a lower level. The heights on 
the opposite side of the valley are crowned 
by noble timber trees, consisting largely of 
Beech, but containing many ornamental 
subjects. A large area on the slope has just 
been planted with Larch by Mr. Hudson, 
as the tree thrives on the uplands here. 
For some time past the wild Cherries or 
Gean (Prunus Avium) have been con¬ 
spicuous objects on the edge of the woods, 
owing to a profusion of white blossom. We 
may here state that this part of Bucks is 
notable for its orchards and plantations of 
Cherries, grown for the sake of fruit as well 
as timber for the making of furniture. 
1 he Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga Douglasii) 
thrives magnificently on the brow of the hill 
on the far side of this valley. Some trees of 
70 ft. in height, and having a great spread of 
•branches are feathered to the ground with 
a wealth of healthy foliage that would make 
tree lovers in the neighbourhood of London 
green with envy. The primary branches 
are of great length as a rule, and bending 
with their own weight, while the smaller 
spray is practically pendulous in great 
clouds from the underside of the branches. 
A more pyramidal and narrowly tapering 
tree runs up to a height of go ft., but it is 
difficult to say which form of tree is the 
more beautiful. The dark green and per¬ 
fectly clean foliage is quite unlike the soot¬ 
laden trees often seen near London. The 
Deodar Cedar (Cedrus Deodara) forms trees 
70 ft. in height or more, while the Norway 
Spruce (Picea excelsa) runs up to 70 ft. or 
80 ft. 1 he soil here is gravelly, and resting 
upon the chalk, so that one is surprised it 
can support such fine timber. Younger 
plantations of ornamental trees also exist 
">n one slope, and many of them have been 
transplanted to the grounds in the imme¬ 
diate neighbourhood of the mansion, and 
many others will follow when the planting 
season again comes round. 
Returning to the pleasure grounds, we 
may say that vast and important alterations 
are being made to improve the natural 
beauty of the place. Nature herself is 
responsible for the principal and leading 
features of the landscape. Some of the 
finest views on the estate are obtainable 
from various points near the southern end 
of the chalk hill which ends abruptly as the 
work of the Thames in ancient times. From 
the mouth of the valley level meadows 
extend for some distance till the eye of the 
entranced beholder is arrested by the 
willowy banks of old Father Thames,and the 
interesting old pile of Medmenham Abbey, 
recently restored by Mr. Hudson, and 
apparently now capable of enduring for 
some centuries longer. The main portion 
of the Abbey has been re-roofed, but con¬ 
sistently covered with old tiles so that the 
ancient aspect is maintained. Some of the 
wings or lesser appendages have been left 
externally in a ruinous state, with Ivy upon 
them, but the roofs have been rendered 
waterproof so that the mouldings, and 
otherwise fine ceilings of the rooms beneath 
are perfectly dry and safe from decay. 
Over one entrance and over the mantel¬ 
piece in a room we noted the motto of a 
certain notorious club, which once held 
sway here. It is in old French, and reads 
“ Fay ce que voudras,” which being trans¬ 
lated means “ Do as you like.” 
Below the Abbey there is a great bend in 
the river, which then runs close to the foot 
of the hill on which Danesfield is situated. 
Here the chalk forms a steep precipice 
of great height, and one of the finest 
river escarpments we have seen. All the 
heights are wooded except where the chalk 
is perpendicular, and even there some trees 
have sown themselves and obtained a foot¬ 
hold. Towards the estate of Harleyford 
and the vicinity of Hurley Lock, the ground 
again slopes down to the river, but is 
beautifully wooded. 
Taking to the high ground above the 
steep chalk escarpment the visitor meets 
with a feature of antiquarian interest in the 
shape of a deep dyke or ditch, having a high 
bank or rampart on either side, surround¬ 
ing an ancient encampment of the Danes, 
and made by those pirates and invaders at 
the time they infested this country. The 
dyke is in the form of a horseshoe, enclos¬ 
ing a large field traversed in the middle by 
a valley, and having the open heel of the 
shoe terminating on the steep escarpment 
of the river. No doubt it was an encamp¬ 
ment of great strength in those times, and 
history says that a great battle was fought 
here between the English and the Danes. 
The title of Danesfield is, therefore, very 
aptly and correctly applied to the estate. 
A new mansion is in the course of erection, 
being built across the dyke on one side of 
the field. The artificial character of the 
dyke is well shown where it has been cut 
through. All the rest of these interesting 
remains will be carefully preserved by Mr. 
Hudson, even in the vicinity of the new 
mansion, which is to be built of chalk as 
white as marble, and quarried on the 
estate. This house will command beautiful 
views, both up and down the river, as well 
as in the side valley above mentioned. The 
site is a charming one, and we felt surprised 
that the builder of the present mansion did 
not recognise the fact. Many trees planted 
on all sides give an air of great antiquity 
to the place, independently of the Danish 
encampment. On the brow of the hill 
overlooking the side valley, many of the 
scrubby old trees have been removed, 
leaving only the finest of them. Various 
banks and other inequalities of the ground 
have been levelled down, and the grass 
made to slope regularly almost to the fence 
bounding the public highway. Mr. James 
Gibson, the gardener, has already accom¬ 
plished much in carrying out the designs of 
beautifying the grounds by levelling, or 
rather graduating, the slopes and turfing 
them down, so that they can be mown by 
the pony machine. This will be a great 
improvement upon the old and overcrowded 
thickets besides opening out many beautiful 
views otherwise lost. 
In the immediate vicinity of the old 
mansion are some grand specimens of orna¬ 
mental Conifers, including Abies nordman- 
niana 65 ft. high, beside another old speci¬ 
men, flat and sprawling upon the grass. A 
handsome specimen of A. Pinsapo also 
stands 65 ft. high. A magnificent tree of 
Abies cephalonica, about 80 ft. high, was 
crimson all over with young male cones. 
Picea orientalis is also a shapely tree, of 
35 ft. in height ; and Thujopsis dolobrata 
is 18 ft. On the opposite side of the public 
highway and nearer the garden are many 
other fine Coniferous trees, including a 
giant specimen of Picea Menziesii, 80 ft. 
high, and in perfect health. The species 
was not introduced to this country till 1831. 
The Himalayan weeping Spruce (P. 
smithiana) is also represented by a fine 
tree. Other fine things are Cupressus 
sempervirens fastigiata, C. nutkaensis, 
Cedrus Deodara (60 ft.), C. Libani, Tsuga 
canadensis (50 ft. and feathered to the 
ground^, Jumperus virginiana, J. chinensis, 
J. c. aurea variegata, and many more. 
Passing through the herb garden we in¬ 
spected the new bothy, built of chalk, and 
a veritable casa Candida , as Caesar would 
have said. The interior is elaborately 
fitted up with bath room for hot and cold 
water, a separate bedroom for every gar¬ 
dener, and every other requirement young 
gardeners could desire, and certainly more 
than they could expect. Near this garden 
palace, as well as the gardener’s cottage, 
the Primroses, Cowslips, Sweet, Wood, 
Dog, and Hairy Violets, Forget-me-Nots, 
and other wild flowers creep up the hill 
almost to the very doors ; while the sweet 
smell of verdant woods is always at hand. 
In the building of bothies, cottages, and 
other houses for the comfort of his servants, 
Mr. Hudson has allowed the work to take 
precedence of the building of his own 
mansion. The farm servants attached to 
the farms all over the estate have been 
equally well provided for. The cottages 
near Medmenham Abbey are more like de¬ 
tached villas than cottages, and for that 
we took them when we first espied them 
from the pleasure grounds. There are 
between thirty and forty of these new 
cottages on the estate, so that in a wide 
sense Mr. Hudson is making his presence 
felt for good in the Thames-side parish of 
Medmenham. Mrs. Hudson has also 
built a new school and schoolhouse for the 
parish, and fitted up everything in the most 
