JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
393 
'  October  21,  1897. 
I 
COMBE  ABBEY. 
Warwickshire  is  rich  in  memories  of  bygone  days  ;  its  people  are 
proud  to  have  produced  that  splendid  genius  the  “  Bard  of  Avon,”  whose 
memory  the  whole  world  delights  to  honour  ;  they  are  proud,  too,  of  the 
grand  old  castles,  abbeys  and  monasteries  with  which  their  verdant  county 
is  richly  endowed.  ( 'ombe  Abbey — the  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Craven  —is  one 
of  the  most  extensive  among  them;  it  covers  an  enormous  area,  and  the 
following  particulars  concerning  it  T  glean  from  “Kelly’s  Directory:” — 
“  Coml)e  Abbey  is  situated  two  miles  north  from  Brandon  Station  on  the 
London  and  North-Western  Railway,  was  erected  on  the  foundation  of  the 
first  monastery  of  the  Cistercian  order  settled  in  this  county,  in  the  reign 
of  King  Stephen,  by  a  grant  to  the  Abbot  of  Waverley,  i^  Surrey,  by 
whose  monks,  therefore,  this  religious  house  was  established  A.D,  1150. 
In  1616  it  came  into  the  possession  of  Sir  W.  Craven,  who  was  Lord 
Mayor  of  London  in  1611,  from  whom  it  is  descended  to  its  present 
noble  owner.  In  1864  the  work  of  complete  restoration,  or  more  correctly, 
a  rebuilding  of  the  Abbey,  was  begun,  the  Norman  style  of  architecture 
being  maintained  at  the  base,  changing  in  the  ui)|)er  stories  to  that  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  The  gardens  projected  by  William,  second  Earl  of 
Craven,  were  very  ex¬ 
tensive,  occupying  an 
area  of  upwards  of 
40  acres,  and  were  laid 
out  by  Mr.  W.  Miller, 
the  well-known  head 
gardener  and  sub¬ 
After  passing  through  several  compartments,  from  which  the  crops  had 
been  removed,  we  came  upon  a  fine  house  of  late  Grapes,  in  it  Lady 
Downe  s,  Alicante,  and  Gros  Colman  were  in  strong  force— in  fact,  it  is 
not  often  that  the  first-named  variety  is  seen  in  such  good  form,  as  the 
bunches  were  large,  shapely,  and  beautifully  coloured.  Passing  onward 
we  entered  another  house  in  which  the  Grapes  were  ripe.  Our  guide  walked 
([uietly  forwai  d,  but  said  not  a  word.  I  looked  at  the  grand  bunches 
hanging  on  the  Vines,  noted  their  perfect  colour,  and  for  a  moment 
hesitated  as  to  what  variety  it  w'ys.  (doser  inspection  soon  revealed  that 
they  were  Black  Ilamburghs,  yet  so  large  in  bunch  and  berry  as  to 
resemble  Gros  Colman  ;  indeed,  on  this  point  hangs  a  tale,  told  in  true 
Scotch  fashion  by  Mr.  Miller.  Here  it  is.  A  visiting  gardener  on  entering 
the  house  some  time  previous  to  our  visit,  e  claimed.  “Ah  1  a  fine  lot  of 
‘  Colmans.’  ’  No  reply  from  his  guide.  He  looked  again  and  again,  till 
gradually  it  dawned  upon  him  that  the  foliage  was  not  that  of  tiros 
Colm.m,  but  of  Black  Hamburgh.  A  general  laugh  followed,  then  the 
tasting  of  a  few  berries,  and  the  visitor’s  appetite  for  dinner  was  com¬ 
pletely  spoiled.  T  have  seen  many  houses  of  fine  Grapes,  but  have  not 
met  with  so  grand  a  lot  of  this  variety  for  a  long  time,  and  1  quesfiou  if  a 
better  one  could  be  found  in  Britain  just  at  the  present  moment. 
agent. 
To  these  gar¬ 
dens  I  lately  paid  a 
visit  in  the  company 
of  a  horticultural 
friend,  and  the  follow¬ 
ing  brief  notes  are 
intended  to  convey  a 
few  of  the  impres¬ 
sions  formed  during 
a  pleasant  —  but  far 
too  short  — September 
afternoon. 
After  leaving  the 
main  road  from  Bran¬ 
don  Station  we  began 
to  traverse  a  drive 
which  led  straight  as 
an  arrow  up  to  the 
quaint  old  Abbey. 
This  drive  must  be 
well  nigh  two  miles  in 
length.  At  its  begin¬ 
ning  a  shady  bower 
is  formed  for  some 
distance  by  a  stretch 
of  woodland  on  each 
side ;  further  on  the 
view  widens  into  an 
open  expanse  of  park, 
which  extends  to  a 
great  distance  in  some 
directions  and  narrows 
down  considerably  in 
others.  The  drive  through  this  park  is  bordered  by  lines  of  trees  ;  some 
of  them  are  gnarled  old  giants  which  have  withstood  the  storms  of  ages, 
others  are  young,  having  been  planted  to  fill  up  gaps.  When  some  distance 
from  the  Abbey  we  diverge  to  the  right,  pass  lawns,  shrubberies,  and  well- 
trimmed  Yew  hedges,  till  the  kitchen  gardens  are  reached,  where  we  find 
Mr.  Miller  ready  to  welcome  us  beside  his  pleasant  home. 
No  time  is  lost  before  we  begin  the  work  of  inspection,  for  it  is 
apparent  at  a  glance  that  the  gardens,  like  the  Abbey,  are  very 
extensive.  In  front  of  Mr.  Miller’s  house  the  kitchen  garden  and  glass 
structures  are  situated.  The  former  is  a  model  of  what  a  good  kitchen 
garden  should  be,  for  the  situation  is  open,  the  walls  substantially  built, 
and  the  walks  well  arranged,  one  wide  one  running  through  the  entire 
length  and  a  water  tank  forming  the  centre.  Four  acres  are  thus 
enclosed,  but  many  vegetables  are  also  grown  in  other  quarters.  The 
ground  is  in  all  directions  closely  cropped  and  in  a  clean  condition. 
We  noticed  splendid  crops  of  Celery,  Spinach,  Turnips,  Lettuce,  and 
Cauliflower  advancing.  There  should  certainly  be  no  lack  of  these  to 
satisfy  all  parties  in  due  season.  The  princijtal  range  ot  fruit  houses, 
about  380  feet  in  length,  is  built  against  a  wall,  which,  instead  of  being 
due  south,  is  slightly  inclined  to  the  east,  a  situation  which  Mr.  Miller 
favours,  as  he  believes  in  the  early  morning  sunshine  and  a  long  after¬ 
noon  for  syringing  and  watering,  after  the  full  force  of  the  sun  has 
left  the  houses.  After  entering  these  houses  it  does  not  take  long  to 
discover  that  Mr.  Miller  is  a  fruit  grower  par  excellence,  for  where  the 
crops  have  already  been  gathered  we  find  healthy  Vines,  with  hard  nut- 
brown  wood,  or  Peach  trees  with  clean  foliage,  thinly  disposed  shoots, 
and  shapely  form.  The  back  wall  of  (he  whole  of  this  range  is  covered 
with  such  useful  plants  as  Oranges,  Lemons,  Passiflora  edulis,  Monstera 
deliciosa.  Camellias,  and  several  uncommon  plants,  which  supply  either 
fruit  or  flowers. 
Fig.  59.— Raising  Vines  at  Combe  Abbey. 
IMr.  Miller  pursues  one  practice  which  is  very  uncommon,  although  he 
has  written  about  it  years  ago.  It  is  this — the  greater  part  of  his  Vine 
and  Peach  borders  are  covered  with  bricks  or  tiles.  The  advantages  he 
claims  for  the  practice  are,  that  surface  root-action  is  greatly  increased, 
and  that  they  are  kept  cool  and  healthy  under  the  bricks.  If  these  are 
removed  in  summer  time  white  healthy  roots  may  always  be  found  in 
abundance.  Another  advantage  which  I  can  see  in  the  plan  is,  that  when 
plants  ai*e  placed  upon  the  borders  there  is  always  a  good  bottom  to 
stand  them  on,  and  there  is,  therefore,  no  necessity  to  trample  on  wet  soil 
after  the  borders  have  been  watered.  These  bricks  are  removed  in 
winter  to  give  the  border  a  dressing,  the  soil  is  then  raked  level,  and 
the  bricks  simply  placed  closely  together  upon  the  surfa-e.  In  some 
cases  they  are  also  again  removed  in  April  or  May  to  give  the  borders  a 
dressing  of  bonemeal  or  Thomson’s  Vine  manure.  Abundance  of  water 
right  up  to  the  time  when  the  lea\  es  fall  is  another  cultural  practice  in 
which  Mr.  Miller  has  great  faith. 
Before  leaving  this  part  of  my  subject  let  me  give  a  few  remarks  upon 
an  “  express  system  ”  of  raising  and  fruiting  Vines  which  has  been 
successfully  practised  by  the  intelligent  gardener-manager  at  Gomoe. 
1  noticed  several  young  Vines  in  7  or  8-inch  pots,  each  carrying  a  bunch 
of  well-coloured  Grapes.  An  in(|uiry  elicited  the  fact  that  they  were  only 
about  seven  or  eight  months  old,  having  been  growm  in  the  following 
way.  A  strong  young  rod  ahmg  the  front  of  one  of  the  houses  was 
selected  for  operating  u])on.  Fnder  this  a  strong  plauk  was  placed, 
supporting  pots  filled  with  good  loam.  The  Vines  were  then  notched 
under  the  buds,  covered  with  moss,  and  pegged  firmly  into  the  soil  (fig.  59). 
Roots  were  formed  so  quickly  that  each  young  Vine  was  severed  from  the 
parent  cane  six  weeks  from  the  dale  of  pegging  down.  From  that  time 
they  grew  on  unchecked,  pushing,  as  I  have  previously  pointed  out, 
strong  canes  and  ripe  Grapes. 
