September  3,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  229 
GARDENS  ABOUT  LONDON. 
Aldenham  House. 
Hitherto  the  gardens  mentioned  in  this  series  of  notes  haye  been 
situated  rather  in  the  southern  districts  than  otherwise  (with  the 
exception  of  South  Villa,  itegent’s  Park),  but  from  this  the  inference 
must  not  be  drawn  that  gardens  of  note  are  rare  in  othei;  quarters.  On 
the  contrary,  there  are  doubtless  many  equally  worthy  of  attention,  but 
obviously  the  whole  of  them  cannot  be  done  at  once.  This  week,  how¬ 
ever,  we  travel  as  far  as  Hertfordshire  ;  in  fact,  to  the  home  of  Lord 
Aldenham,  at  Aldenham  House,  Elstree.  It  may  perhaps  be  fifteen 
miles  from  London,  certainly  it  is  not  more,  but  nevertheless  it  is  a 
country  residence  in  its  situation  and  its  associations.  Elstree,  as  is  well 
known  to  the  members  of  the  National  Chrysanthemuni  Society  besides 
others,  is  on  the  Midland  main  line,  which  insures  the  traveller  comfort 
so  far  as  the  railway  journey  is  concerned.  But  from  Elstree  to  Alden¬ 
ham  gardens  is  three  miles,  easy  miles  too  for  the  writer,  as  Mr.  E. 
Beckett,  the  gardener,  was  kind  enough  to  send  to  the  station  a  trap  for 
his  conveyance.  _ 
To  the  London  dwel'er  a  drive  of  three  miles  on  a  brilliantly  hne 
I  of  which  is  obscured  in  years  long  since  past.  Words  cannot  picture  the 
beauty  of  the  vistas  between  these  noble  trees,  and  we  therefore  call  io 
!  our  aid  the  photographer,  whose  work  is  shown  in  the  illustration  {!ig.  45). 
1  This  view  gives  an  idea  of  the  timber,  but  does  not  convey  the  length  of 
the  avenue,  which  is  very  considerable,  and  is  constantly  being  extended. 
From  the  door  of  the  mansion  one  may  look  down  this  avenue  fr)r 
hundreds  of  yards  with  scarce  a  break  until  the  eye  is  lost  amongst  the 
I  hills  in  the  distance.  What  wonder,  then.  Lord  Aldenham  and  his 
talented  son,  the  Member  for  St.  Albans,  love  the  estate  with  its  trees 
and  its  gardens.  _ 
Majestic  as  are  the  trees  on  this  princely  domain  the  effect  they 
produce  does  not  equal  that  in  another  portion  of  the  pleasure  gardens, 
where  have  been  formed  water  scenes  of  surpaesing  beauty,  scenes,  more¬ 
over,  that  must  improve  with  age.  There  has  the  hand  and  skill  of  man 
1  aided  beneficent  Nature  with  most  gratifying  results.  Mr.  Beckett  may 
be,  and  is,  a  vegetable  and  Chrysanthemum  grower,  but  be  is  none  the 
!  less  a  landscape  gardener  with  bold  conceptions,  and  the  courage  to  carry 
I  them  out.  Few  men  would  have  undertaken  such  tasks,  and  fewer  still 
I  would  have  carried  them  out  with  such  signal  success,  keeping,  at  the 
!  same  time,  the  multifarious  duties  of  the  gardens  well  in  hand.  But  he 
Fig.  45.— aldenham  HOUSE. 
•day  in  August  must  ever  be  appreciable,  and  this  one  was  extremely 
so.  Our  route  lay  partially  through  country  lanes,  then  to  the  village 
of  Elstree,  and  beyond  again  past  the  sheet  of  water  known  as  the 
Elstree  reservoir,  when  Aldenham  comes  in  sight.  We  are  soon  in  the 
•environs  greeting  our  host,  and  shortly  afterwards  we  make  for  the 
gardens  and  the  pleasure  grounds.  These  latter  are  rich  in  charming 
features,  while  the  former  are  replete  with  the  many  excellent  speci¬ 
mens  of  culture  that  one  always  finds  in  an  establishment  under  the 
•control  of  a  first  class  gardener.  Mr.  Beckett’s  reputation  as  a  grower 
of  vegetables  and  of  Chrysanthemums  is  not  one  that  has  been  made  in 
a  day,  but  the  building  has  been  placed  on  a  firm  foundation,  and  is  of 
a  most  enduring  character.  Not  alone,  however,  does  he  grow  the  crops 
mentioned  well,  but  the  fruits  and  other  flowers  all  speak  emphatically 
•of  his  skill  and  pertinacity,  _ 
During  the  round  dozen  of  years  that  Mr.  Beckett  has  been  at 
Aldenham  the  alterations  have  been  of  such  an  elaborate  and  extended 
nature  as  to  considerably  alter  the  general  aspect  of  the  place,  though  a 
noticeable  feature  is  the  way  in  which  natural  advantages  of  trees  or  of 
mounds  and  della  have  been  seized  and  utilised  by  the  operator  in  his 
scheme  of  improvement.  Abundant  are  the  magnificent  specimens  of 
Oak,  Elms,  and  others,  as  they  should  be  on  an  estate  the  establishment 
could  not  have  done  this  without  a  generous  employer — one,  indeed, 
whose  heart  is  wrapped  up,  as  indeed  it  should  be,  in  his  gardens  and  his 
grounds.  In  his  endeavours  to  beautify  and  improve  the  place  the 
gardener  has  not  only  the  cordiaT support  of  His  Lordship,  but  also  that 
of  the  Hon.  Vicary  Gibbs,  the  M  P.  mentioned  in  the  preceding  para¬ 
graph,  whose  interests,  however,  are  more  largely  associated  with 
arboriculture,  of  which  we  are  informed  he  has  a  peculiarly  deep 
knowledge.  _ 
Returning  now  to  the  water  scenes  we  find  a  running  stream  of 
varying  breadths  that  follows  its  course  here  between  Rushes  and 
shrubs,  there  between  splendid  specimens  of  Pulham  rockwork,  and 
yonder  beneath  rustic  bridges,  while  goldfish  of  immense  size  disport 
themselves  in  its  clear  and  limpid  water.  Only  now  are  the  rock  plants, 
the  shrubs,  the  trees,  the  Rushes,  the  Water  Lilies,  and  the  fishes 
becoming  thoroughly  acclimatised  ;  but  airead;  the  ideas  of  the  talented 
designer  are  becoming  apparent,  and  they  will  in  the  course  o*  *  few 
years,  in  becoming  fully  developed,  be  a  charming  monument  of  ^ns 
skill  and  taste.  The  grass  that  slopes  lown  the  water’s  edge,  the  plants, 
and  even  the  trees,  with  which  its  irregular  sides  are  clothed,  showed  m 
the  brown  turf  and  the  flagging  leaves  distressing  signs  of  the  drought ; 
and  this,  despite  the  fact  that  water  is  poured  on  and  amongst  them  as 
