454 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  31.  1900. 
London  Gardens  over  Fifty  Years. — No.  22. 
Deptford. 
The  name  of  Deptford  does  not  suggest  to  us  anything  agreeable ; 
we  may  link  it  with  Rotherhithe,  Wapping,  and  other  low-lying  places 
along  the  Thames,  as  offering  no  attractions  to  the  gardener  or  the  Nature 
student.  Yet  this  unpromising  suburb  of  London  has  improved  of 
late,  and  even  if  there  is  less  open  ground  than  was  to  be  seen  fifty 
years  ago,  it  is  assuming  a  more  cheerful  aspect.  One  notab'e  fact  is, 
that  alter  escaping  various  perils,  a  portion  of  the  ground  which 
Evelyn  owned  in  the  seventeenth  century  has  been  preserved  for  the 
public  benefit.  At  Deptford  it  was  that  he  had  his  little  villa,  an 
extensive  garden,  partly  woodtd,  and  “a  pretty  little  greenhouse  with 
an  indifferent  stock,”  so  Gibson  says.  The  nineteen  acres  of  Sayes 
Court  are  the  property  of  W.  J.  Evelyn,  Esq.,  a  direct  descendant  of 
the  worthy  author  of  “  Sylva  ”  and  the  “  Gardeners’  Almanac.” 
Truly  a  pioneer  of  progress  was  Evelyn,  for  be  also  published  “  Fumi- 
fugium,”  in  which  he  advised  the  removal  of  all  smoky  factories  at 
least  five  miles  from  London,  and  suggest d  the  planting  of  “fragrant 
nurseries  and  gardens  ”  along  the  river  near  the  City. 
John  Evelyn. 
This  good  old  gardener  would,  I  am  sure,  be  glad  to  see  his  Sayes 
Court  benefiting  the  Deptfordians,  and  wish  they  bad  now  all  the  100 
acres  which  was  its  original  extent.  When  he  took  the  place  most  of 
the  land  was  open  fields,  a  small  part  of  it  orchard.  Evelyn  must  have 
soon  planted  extensively,  for  Lord  Keeper  Guildford  called  Sayes  Court 
an  example  of  his  friend’s  book  on  forest  trees.  There  are  possibly  trees 
still  growing  thereabout  which  aie  the  descendants  of  Evelyn’s 
plantations,  but  we  cannot  expect  to  find  any  trace  of  the  glorious 
Holly  hedge  he  was  so  proud  of.  Some  time  must  have  been  required 
to  produce  this  hedge,  9  feet  high,  5  in  diameter,  and  400  feet  long, 
proof  against  beasts  and  trespassers.  It  was  not  through  this  hedge 
the  Tzar  of  Muscovy  had  himself  wheeled,  but  one  less  thick  ;  even 
then  he  must  have  been  well  scralchfd.  Perhaps  he  suffered  from 
some  sort  of  skin  iiritation  which  the  Holly  prickles  relieved  Tzar 
Peter  also  greatly  damaged  the  wall  fruit  trees  and  killed  several 
choice  Phyllyreas,  which  it  was  then  the  fashion  to  develop  into  tall 
standards.  Probably  what  is  known  as  Deptford  Park,  Lower  Road, 
was  a  part  of  Evelyn’s  grounds  ;  this  is  a  space  of  17  acres,  much  of  it 
laid  out  with  grass.  It  was  opened  on  Wbit-Monday,  1897,  by 
Dr.  Collins,  Chairman  of  London  County  Council. 
Vanished  Rivers. 
Truly,  in  the  good  old  times  it  was  such  fertile  land  at  Deptford  as 
rejoices  the  gardener,  crossed  by  the  Ravensbourne  and  sundry  smaller 
streams  that  ended  in  the  Thames.  That  river,  Londc  n’s  “ancient 
highway,”  by  its  proximity  was  convenient  for  the  conveyance  of 
vegetables  to  market,  and  nearer  than  the  metropolis  were  the  numerous 
vessels  of  its  port,  where  the  produce  of  the  fields  found  ready  pur¬ 
chasers.  Hence  Deptford  Rhubarb,  Asparagus,  Cucumbers,  Onions,  and 
various  Cabbages  had  their  repute  fifty  years  ago,  but  the  market 
gardeners  have  departed.  Even  at  New  Cross  adjacent,  about  which 
I  remember  a  largo  extent  of  open  ground,  the  Ifiiectory  now  records 
only  a  single  firm,  that  of  Neve  Brothers.  Besides  gardens  New 
Cross  had  its  fields  of  Clover  and  Lucerne,  where  butterflies  sported  or 
bees  gathered  honey.  Newman,  the  i-reat  emfomologist,  tells  us  how 
he  entered  upon  the  chase  of  a  clouded  yellow  butterfiy  amongst  the 
Clover,  and  it  went  over  into  a  market  garden,  so  he  pursued  it  there. 
But  he  was  trespassing,  and  he  himself  w'as  followed  by  a  party  of 
“female  Hibernians,”  whose  voices  and  gestures  made  him  beat  a 
rapid  retreat. 
Deptford’s  Nurserymen. 
South  of  the  Thames,  the  name  of  Myatt  was  at  one  time  as 
familiar  as  that  of  Bagley  or  Gunter  in  the  west  of  London,  and  a 
representative  of  this  well-known  family  of  gardeners  may  yet  be 
found  near  Swanley,  in  Kent.  Others,  formerly  well  known  about 
Deptford,  were  the  Shephards,  the  Masons,  with  Messrs.  Bryar, 
Reading,  and  Simpson.  Mr.  W.  Brown  owned  a  place  expressively 
named  Cold  Blow  Farm,  and  also  laud  along  Woodpecker  Lane.  The 
inhabitants  of  Deptford,  half  a  century  ago,  had  little  taste  for  flowers, 
nor  the  means  of  purchasing  them  ;  theretore  nurseries  did  not  spring 
up  about  that  locality.  But  New  Cro.'^s  had  one,  or  possibly  two, 
nurseries  early  in  this  century,  perhaps  from  its  being  adjacent  to  one 
of  the  important  roads  into  Kent  and  Surrey.  It  is  said  that  the  first 
nurseryman  there  was  Cormack,  the  business  being  continued  later  by 
his  sons.  The  place  had  some  repute  in  Loudon’s  time ;  its  position  is 
now  unknown,  for  it  has  been  closed  many  years,  and  left  no  trace. 
Recently  there  has  disappeared  the  nursery  of  Mr.  J.  Orsman,  of 
Florence  Road;  this  must  have  been  nearly  as  old  as  that  of  the 
Cormacks.  Manor  Farm,  Lewisham  Road,  was  for  a  good  while  occupied 
by  one  of  the  Myatt  family,  vegetables  and  flowers  were  undercultivation 
here.  In  1875  a  sale  took  place,  many  thousands  of  Lilies,  and  various 
plants  besides,  were  cleared,  the  land  being  required  for  building. 
Hatcham  Park,  not  far  distant,  is  said  to  have  had  a  good  garden, 
while  it  was  the  residence  of  Mr.  Hardcastle,  about  the  middle  of 
the  century.  What  one  might  call  rural  signs  are  not  unfrequent 
about  New  Cross,  such  as  the  “Dewdrop,”  the  “  Grasshopper,”  and. 
the  “Rosemary  Branch.”  The  last  of  these  would  indicate  that  herbs 
were  cultivated  hereabout.  One  of  the  facts  we  note  in  strolling  at 
New  Cross  is  the  prevalence  of  Birches,  a  tree  which  evidently  thrives 
on  Surrey  Hills.  The  Telegraph  Hill,  Hatcham,  was  secured  as  an  open 
space  in  1895,  nearly  £4000  being  spent  upon  the  laying  out. 
Churchyard  Gardens. 
Various  steps  have  been  taken  to  preserve  intact  such  smaller  open 
spaces  as  exist  about  Deptford.  The  “  God’s  acre,”  for  such  it  was 
literally,  of  St.  Nicholas’  Churchyard  has  been  converted  into  a  public 
garden  ;  so,  too,  have  the  three  acres  of  St.  Paul’s,  but  in  it  the 
gravestones  are  not  removed.  Amongst  other  churchyards  adjacent 
to  the  river  which  have  been  greatly  improved  of  late  is  that  of  St. 
Alphege,  Greenwich,  which  was  formally  opened  by  H.R.H.  the  Duke 
of  Cambridge  in  June,  1889,  and  is  much  frequented  by  the  inhabi¬ 
tants.  Then  Mr.  Passmore  Edwards  provided  the  funds  for  the 
laying  out  of  the  four  acres  of  St.  Mary,  Woolwich.  This  ground 
is  somewhat  elevated,  having  fine  views  of  the  Thames.  It  was 
opened  by  H.R.H.  the  Duchess  of  Fife,  in  May,  1895.  Nearly 
opposite  Deptford,  in  the  Isle  of  Dogs,  the  London  County  Council 
formed  a  small  riverside  garden  that  year,  which  proved  a  boon  to  the 
poor  dwellers  on  that  unattractive  island,  said  to  have  been  named 
from  the  dogs  kept  there  by  the  kings  who  went  hunting  in  the  woods- 
about  Greenwich. 
Greenwich  Park. 
Greenwich  Park  has  for  a  long  time  had  many  visitors  from  far 
and  near,  a  roll  down  the  hill  on  Whit-Monday  being  esteemed  the 
climax  of  enjoyment  formerly — less  so  now  perhaps.  As  a  park,  it  is  in 
some  respects  unlike  all  the  other  London  parks.  It  used  to  be  nearly 
destitute  of  flowers,  except  wild  ones  and  a  few  herbaceous  species  j 
but  by  planting  and  bedding  out,  part  has  been  made  to  appear  more 
like  a  garden.  The  gales  of  recent  years  have  been  hard  upon  some  of 
the  older  trees,  for  Greenwich  Park  surpassed  even  Kensington 
Gardens  in  its  display  of  these.  Especially  are  its  fine  Elms  and  its 
Spanish  Chestnut  avenues  worthy  of  remark.  Near  the  Observatory 
are  some  notable  Scotch  Firs  ;  evidently  at  the  first  planting  most  of  the 
trees  were  put  in  too  thickly.  By  the  Queen’s  permission  15  acres  were 
added  to  this  park  in  1898,  which  had  previously  been  reserved  as  the 
ranger’s  private  grounds.  Within  a  short  walk  again  of  Deptford  and 
New  Cross  are  the  “  Hilly  Fields,”  Brockley,  a  lovely  and  elevated 
tract  of  45  acres,  upon  which  £5000  was  spent  in  1896.  A  useful 
little  garden  on  the  Ravensbourne,  at  St.  John’s,  was  opened  about 
fourteen  years  ago  by  the  late  Duchess  of  Teck.  Farther  up  the 
stream,  a  long  strip  of  about  47  acres  forms  the  Ladywell  Recreation 
Ground. 
New  Southern  Suburbs. 
Amongst  the  suburbs  that  have  grown  rapidly  this  century  a  high 
place  must  be  given  to  Lewisham.  Since  1851  its  population  has 
increased  from  16,000  to  104,000,  the  majority  of  them  people  fairly 
well  off.  As  a  consequence  nurserymen  and  florists  have  incieased  in 
the  district,  we  can  reckon  up  ten,  and  over  a  dozen  more  about  Lee- 
and  Black  heath  adjacent.  But  we  should  seek  vainly  for  the  name  of 
Willmott  &  Co.,  a  firm  that  was  the  oldest  existing  at  Lewisham, 
where  they  held  a  large  extent  of  land,  much  of  it  being  devoted  ta 
fruit  culture.  This  nursery  was  founded  by  John  Russell  15C  years 
ago;  he  was  highly  successful,  making  a  handsome  fortune;  he  diel 
in  1794.  Le^'isham  formerly  had  many  orchards  of  Cherry,  Ai'ple,. 
and  Pear,  which  were  interspersed  with  fields  of  Strawberries.  These 
have  been  cleared,  mostly  to  make  room  for  houses  and  streets,  but,  as 
is  very  apparent  to  traveller.s,  much  fruit  is  raised  almg  the  district 
farther  east  towards  Dartford,  in  proximity  to  the  S.E.R.  loop  line. 
When  mentioning  some  places  in  the  Surrey  suburbs  of  London,  I 
omitted  to  speak  of  Dulwich,  but  a  few  miles  from  Charing  Cross,  yet 
a  part  of  our  century  could  extol  its  sylvan  wilds,  and  rejoice  that  it 
was  unspoiled  by  “  barbarous  art,”  whatever  this  may  mean.  But 
the  builder  has  been  busy ;  yet  I  found,  not  long  since,  a  remnant  of 
the  old  wood,  and,  by  the  generosity  of  the  College  governors,  its  park 
of  72  acres  is  secured  for  the  public  use  permanently.  The  nursery  of 
Messrs.  F.  T.  Smith  &  Co.  of  West  Dulwich  has  been  carried  on  for  half 
the  century,  and  is  an  important  establishment;  some  7  or  8  acres,, 
mostly  under  glass,  are  occupied  by  a  great  variety  of  exotics.  Many 
of  these  are  largely  grown  for  producing  seed  only. 
At  Forest  Hill,  where  if  not  a  forest  actually,  a  large  wood  existed 
in  the  memory  of  old  Surrey  folks,  we  find  the  nurseries  of  Messrs. 
Laing  &  Sons,  who  have  carried  on  for  some  time  an  extensive  trade 
in  flowers,  vegetables,  and  implements.  Also  the  well  known  firm  of 
Carter  &  Co.  has  land  here,  and  two  or  three  other  nurserymen. 
Roupell  Park  Nursery,  Norwood  Road,  is  one  of  the  few  remaining  near 
Norwood,  the  firm  of  Peed  &  Sons  was  formerly  at  Streatham. — 
J.  R.  S.  C. 
