102 
August  3,  lfc39. 
JOURNAL 
OF  HORTICULTURE  AND 
COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
The  terrace  on.  the  extreme  left  hand 
of  the  photographic  reproduction  (fig.  23) 
looks  upon  a  scene  unique  in  historical 
interest.  Speaking  of  this  the  “Guide” 
says:  — “The  whole  of  the  field  of  the 
battle  of  Hastings  lies  mapped  out  at  our 
feet,  for  we  stand  on  the  very  crest  of  the 
position  held  by  King  Harold.  It  was 
over  those  heights  to  the  east,  still  followed 
by  the  road  from  Hastings,  that  the 
Conqueror  came.  It  was  on  that  highest 
hill  called  Telham — of  which  the  brow, 
crowned  with  a  small  wood,  appears  above 
the  Fir  trees  close  at  hand — that  he  first 
caught  sight  of  the  Saxon  camp,  and 
raising  his  hand  to  heaven,  vowed  that  if 
God  should  give  him  the  victory  he  would 
there  build  a  great  abbey  and  chantry  for 
the  souls  of  the  siain,  that  should  be  the 
token  and  pledge  of  the  English  crown 
.  .  .  .  and  to  the  west  is  the  point  from 
whence  the  Duke  succeeded  in  turning 
the  position  and  entering  the  enemy’s 
lines,  of  which  the  centre,  once  denoted 
by  the  great  Dragon  Standard  of  Kngland, 
lies  behind  to  the  left,  on  the  spot  now 
known  as  Harold’s  Chapel.  It  was  along 
this  hillside — then  a  bare  waste,  called 
hy  Ordcricus  ‘  the  Thyme-clad  field  of 
Senlac,’  that  stretched  the  rude  palisade 
of  ash-staves,  backed  by  its  shield-wall, 
that  formed  the  Saxon  lines.” 
Photo  by 
Fig.  23. — THE  FLOWER  GARDEN,  BATTLE 
rounding  estate,  while  the  latter  would  fill  an  ordinary  notebook  in 
recording  the  plants  that  customarily  occupy,  more  or  less,  warm  green¬ 
houses  which  here  thrive  out  of  doors  as  “  if  to  tho  manner  born.” 
No  light  task  would  anyone  have  who  laid  himself  out  to  furnish  a  list  of 
all  the  plant  life  at  Battle,  but  were  such  forthcoming.it  would  certainly 
astonish  many  excellent  gardeners  whose  travels  have  not  given  then, 
experience  of  this  splendid  climate. 
The  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  noble  structure,  which  William 
the  Conqueror  erected  after  the  battle  of  Senlac,  is  overflowing  with 
horticultural  interest,  and  days  could  be  profitably  spent  in  investiga¬ 
tions.  The  buttresses  of  the  wall  beneath  the  pointed  end  of  the  ancient 
Refectory  and  the  intervening  spaces  are  occupied  with  plants  possessed 
of  some  striking  characteristic,  and  it  is  only  a  few  yards  in  front  of  the 
wall  where  Acacia  lophantha,  planted  out  three  years  ago,  is  apparently 
hardy,  and  at  home.  Salvia  patens,  in  a  bed  bo  eath  the  wall,  grows  and 
flowers  year  by  year,  and  suffers  no  ill  from  winter’s  changes  of  frost  and 
The  principal  entrance  to  the  Abbey 
grounds  is  by  a  gateway  from  the  main 
street  of  the  town  of  Battle,  and  it  “  is 
considered  one  of  the  finest  in  the  kingdom. 
It  was  built  by  Abbot  Retlynge  in  1338, 
somewhat  in  the  style  of  St.  Augustine’s 
at  Canterbury,  and  having  had  the  rare 
good  fortune  to  escape  all  tampering  from 
restorers  and  improvers,  there  is  not  a 
more  perfect  spocimen  of  its  kind  remain¬ 
ing  to  us.  It  can  never  be  said  to  have 
suffered  any  injuries  that  called  for 
Algernon  llrooker,  Hastings  reparation,  as  its  history  has  been  the 
ABBEY.  peaceful  and  unmolested  one  that  becomes 
a  monastic  building.  No  hostile  shaft  was 
ever  dischorged  from  its  battlements,  and 
no  enemy,  except  Henry  the  VlII.’s  Commissioners,  has  ever  stood 
before  its  gates.  Even  they  left  it  unharmed,  to  be  handled  by  no 
rougher  touch  than  Time’s,  and  he  huH  dealt  with  it  so  tenderly  and 
reverently,  that  its  500  years  of  existence  have  passed  over  without 
leaving  a  hostile  trace  behind  them.  All  his  work  has  been  friendly. 
True,  ho  has  rounded  the  sharp  edges  of  the  mouldings,  and  here 
and  there  chipped  off  a  flake  of  the  sandstono,  or  broken  a  link  in 
the  tracery  ;  but  he  has  opened  chinks  and  crevices  where  wild 
flowers  and  Stonocrop  have  seeded  ;  he  has  planted  a  feathery  crown 
of  Gra'-s  on  the  porch  of  the  south-eastern  turret,  and  spread  over 
all  a  fantastic  mantle  of  Lichens,  which  add  a  thousand  tints  of 
Colouring  to  the  weather  stains  on  the  stonework.”  Without  the 
gates  is  “  the  old  bull  ring,  through  which  passed  the  rope  fastened  to 
the  poor  animal— a  heavy  iron  ring,  bolted  to  a  great  block  of  wood, 
further  secured  by  two  cross-beams  buried  in  the  ground.”  Wo  might 
continue  quoting  the  graceful  lines  from  such  a  fluent  pen,  but  must  now 
turn  to  the  gardens  and  the  grounds. 
BATTLE  ABBEY. 
The  scribe  who  essays  to  write  of  Battle  Abbey  for  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture  will  find  himself  exposed  to  one  very  serious  temptation,  and 
that  is  to  neglect  the  garden  in  favour  of  the  historical  associations  with 
which  the  Abbey  is  so  crowded.  The  records  teem  with  interest,  and 
almost  embody  a  history  of  England  itself  in  the  days  of  Harold,  the 
last  of  the  Saxoii  kings.  Though  now  the  home  of  the  gilted  Duchess  ot 
Cleveland,  the  abbey  has  seen  many  owners  and  jpasscd  times  that  have 
been  alternately  troublous  and  fair.  It  has  been  deemed  necessary  by 
some  occupiers  Co  abolish  portions  of  the  ancient  buildings,  but  enough 
remain  to  enchant  the  antiquarian  and  interest  even  the  most  superficial 
observer.  For  the  botanist  and  the  horticulturist  there  are  a  richness  of 
variety  and  a  striking  difference  from  orthodox  manners  and  customs, 
which  will  enforce  attention  and  provide  an  infinitude  of  food  for  reflection 
for  scholars  in  both  the  schools  named.  The  former  must  have  weeks 
allowed  him  to  study  the  flora  of  the  gardens,  the  grounds  and  the  sur¬ 
snow,  rain  and  wind.  And  so  one  might  go  on  in  a  general  sort  of  wav, 
and  without  a  word  of  particularisation  cover  sheet  after  sheet;  this, 
however,  must  not  be  just  now,  as  there  are  so  many  aspects  of  individual 
merit  as  to  necessitate  the  writer  steering  closely  to  the  wind,  and  not 
huving  recourse  to  the  journ  .list’s  salvation — padding. 
No  semblance  of  an  excuse  will  he  made  for  giving  a  few  historical 
facts  of  the  Abbey,  which  may  not  be  known  to  all  Journal  readers,  and 
will  certainly  not  coine  amiss  to  a  single  one  of  them.  It  is  not  proposed  to 
enter  into  a  review  of  the  successive  dwellers,  but  to  confine  the  references 
to  the  causes  which  brought  about  the  erection  of  the  extensive  buildings, 
and  to  do  this  we  must  go  back  to  the  year  106G,  just  eight  and  one-third 
centuries  ago,  when  Saxon  and  Norman  met  in  deadly  strife,  and  “the 
dales  sent  lorth  a  gory  stream  .  .  .  and  the  little  dell. of  the  Asten 
was  choked  and  bridged  over  with  the  dead  bodies.”  This  extract  is  from 
her  Gi ace  the  Duchess  of  Cleveland’s  “Guide  to  Rattle  Abbey”  (Tice- 
hurst  &  Co.,  Battle),  who  further  proceeds,  “  well  might  men  believe,  as 
they  did  in  former  days,  that  the  ruddy 
pools  of  rain  water  seen  hereabouts 
(tinged  by  the  ironstone  in  the  soil) 
betokened  a  very  bloody  sweat  of  the 
earth,  crying  out  to  the  Lord  for  ven¬ 
geance  of  so  great  a  slaughter.” 
