House & Garden 
churchyard be- 
yond — its 
branches shade 
well the houses 
on either side 
of it — both 
some two hun¬ 
dred years old. 
It could hardly 
have been 
planted pur¬ 
posely in such a 
position,and no 
doubt it greatly 
antedates the 
cottages. What 
a village record it could unfold; each Sunday 
for centuries the countryfolk have passed 
by it on the way to service; about its 
trunk has gone the wedding procession, and 
often has it witnessed the final rites of a 
worthy swain as the bier paused in its shade 
at the curious lych-gate, the carving in whose 
overhead wooden beam : “My flesh also 
shall rest in Hope,” reminds us that we are 
entering consecrated ground. 
At the small stone porch we descend a 
step, pass wooden benches on either side 
and enter the church. Three distinct gables 
form the roof, 
the aisles being 
separated from 
the nave by col¬ 
umns support¬ 
ing arches. 
Through the 
open gate in 
the churchyard 
wall we see the 
rectory, ap¬ 
proached by a 
broad flight of 
steps. It is a 
fine old brick 
house of the 
eighteenth century. 
The path leading to the garden passes 
beneath a pergola walk, where square brick 
piers support the vine-covered beams. Be¬ 
low us lies the sunken grassy garden, 
surrounded by an arbor, its low stone-coped 
central pool set in the midst of flower-beds, 
whose rose bushes suggest a perfect wealth 
of blooms. Were it but the month of June ! 
Through the trees we catch sight of the 
village hostelry, whose name, “The Leicester 
Arms,” recalls the original lords of the 
estate. 
THE ORANGE COURT 
THE GARDEN FROM THE SOUTH 
PENSHURST 
