May  25,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
425 
LONDON  GARDENS  OYER  FIFTY  YEARS. 
No.  8. 
When  our  good  Queen  takes  one  of  her  drives  about  West  London, 
and  such  are  now  very  occasional,  slie  cannot  but  be  impressed  by  the 
changes  which  have  passed  over  Brompton  and  Sauth  Kensington, 
should  she  happen  to  take  that  direction.  What  a  different  suburb  it 
■is  to  what  her  Majesty  knew  it  fifty  or  sixty  years  aga.  *  1  do  not 
think  we  can  point  to  any  other  locality  near  London  which  has  been 
so  revolutionised  in  a  half  century.  South  Kensington  !  You  will 
not  find  the  name  on  maps  of  1849  or  50,  but  there  is  Old  and  New 
Brompton,  and  “Little  Ohelsea,”  which  seems  singular,  a  sort  of  link 
between  Chelsea  and  Brompton.  Now,  the  name  of  Brompton  is 
going  out  of  use ;  it  is  of  some  antiquity,  traceable  to  the  fifteenth 
century,  at  least  here  was  possibly  the  town  or  manor  of  someone 
called  Brom  or  Broom,  nobody  cau  tell. 
The  air  of  Brompton  was  reputed  to  be  so  pleasant  and  he.althful 
that  people  said  the  j^lace  was  an  English  Montpelier  ;  s'reets  were 
multiplying  thereabout  when  I  first  knew  it,  yet  still  there  remained 
some  of  the  charming  villas,  with  their  shrubberies  and  old  style 
gardens.  Brompton  at  that  time  was  the  favourite  .abode  of  actors, 
artists,  and  singers,  amongst  other  celebrities.  But,  above  all  things, 
we  remember  Old  Brompton  by  its  nurseries  and  market  gardens, 
extending  up  to  and  around  Earl’s  Court  or  West  Brompton,  a  few 
orchards  thereabout,  too,  more  towards  Fulham  and  Hammersmith. 
The  locality  was  eminently  siritable  for  gardening  purposes,  soil  good, 
sheltered  from  the  colder  winds,  and  at  a  convenient  distance  from 
the  chief  London  markets.  Large  profits  were  made  by  growers 
■during  years  of  .average  success. 
To  the  present-day  Londoner,  or  the  country  visitor.  South 
Kensington  and  its  neighbourhood  is  chiefly  known  as  the  temporary 
abiding  place  of  big  sensation.al  exhibitions,  and  the  permanent  home 
■of  national  museums,  art,  science,  or  other  institutes  ;  it  w.as  just  the 
locality  likely  to  be  taken  advantage  of  when  a  start  had  been  made 
by  the  South  Kensington  Museum.  Environing  these  are  many 
han-fsome  residences,  some  of  them  occupied  by  zealous  patrons  of 
horticulture,  and  it  is  satisfactory  to  find  that  Brompton,  once 
renowned  for  its  flowers  and  fruit,  has  still  its  open  spaces  secured 
against  the  builder’s  invasion,  some  of  which  indic.ate  improvement, 
tor  where  not  so  long  ago  Cabb.ages  or  Potatoes  grew  are  now  to  be 
seen  the  choice  flowers  of  the  season. 
The  influence  of  the  temporary  occupancy  of  g.ardens  by  the  Loyal 
Horticultural  Society  is  still  observ.able  in  this  subaib.  But  it  will 
take  3  ears  to  replace  the  flue  old  trees  which  had  to  be  cut  down, 
especially  Acacias,  Limes,  Planes,  and  Chestnuts.  Magnolias  of  two 
or  three  species  flourished  about  Old  Brompton,  and  the  ])lace  was 
famous  for  its  Poplars  ;  there  were  good  examples  of  the  grey  vaiiety, 
the  Lombardy,  and  the  Tacamahac,  the  last  feev  years  more  Poplars 
have  been  planted  along  sever.al  roads.  The  Birch,  again,  does  well  in 
London,  and  is  a  graceful  and  jrleasing  tree,  if  not  very  shady,  but 
the  trouble  is  to  protect  it  while  young. 
The  early  fame  of  Brompton  in  horticulture  rested  mainly  on 
Brompton  Park — first  of  all  a  deer  park,  no  doubt  attached  to  an 
ancient  mansion,  which  became  a  nursery  towards  the  end  of  the 
■seventeenth  century.  Commenced  by  four  gardeners,  it  owed  to 
London  and  Wise  its  world-wide  repute,  who  formed  the  fi-m  in  the 
reign  of  Anne,  and  had  an  extent  of  100  acres  to  work  upon.  On  the 
Kensington  side  they  formed  an  open-air  winter  garden,  then  quite  a 
novelty,  and  did  a  large  business,  chiefly  in  shrubs  or  trees,  the  stock 
being  so  extensive  that  Bowack  estimated  it  to  be  woith  many 
thousands  of  pounds  in  1707.  Various  changes  ensued,  but  we  note 
the  fact  that  the  last  occupiers  were  Gr.ay,  Adams,  and  Hogg. 
During  1850  the  remnant  of  the  nursery  was  offered  for  building 
purposes;  it  was  then  reduced  to  about  a  fourth  of  the  oiiginal 
dimensions — part  had  been  built  upon,  and  smaller  nurseries  had  been 
formed  out  of  another  part.  A  portion  of  the  old  wall,  half  a  mile 
long,  w'hich  used  to  be  covered  with  Vines,  remained  till  the  above 
date.  Between  Brompton  Road  and  Kensington  Gore  a  green  narrow 
lane  skirted  the  east  sMe  of  Brompton  Park  Nursery  ;  a  remnant  of 
this,  near  the  church,'  was  open  in  ray  boyhood,  where  I  went  seeking 
wild  flowers  1  Dr.  Hogg  once  remarked  to  me  how  he  had  found 
from  the  accounts  of  Brompton  Park  nursery  that  before  railw'ay 
times,  though  the  locality  was  not  close  to  the  Thames,  it  was 
employed  for  the  conveyance  of  goods  to  market,  also  for  the  importa¬ 
tion  of  manure  from  a  distance.  The  front  of  this  nursery  was  in  the 
Kensington  Road. 
Another  historic  nursery  that  disappeared  ab  jut  the  same  date  was 
the  Kensington  Nursery,  started  by  Furber,  and  subsequently  taken 
over  by  the  firm  of  Malcolm  Co.,  for  many  years  connected  with 
Stockwell,  Surrey.  Hale  House,  Cromwell  Lane,  on  the  south  of  the 
par's-,  was  the  nursery  of  the  Poup.arts  (quantities  of  the  Muscadine 
Grapo  were  produced  here),  and  adjacent  to  it  was  Mr.  Kirk’s,  also  on 
the  ground  of  the  old  park.  He  was.  in  repute  as  a  producer  of  new 
varieties  of  fruit  trees.  Faulkner  tells  us  that  he  could  show  at  one 
ra^-^e  than  a  hundred  sorts  of  App’es — some  not  worth  anything, 
i  Uaiesay. 
Adjacent  to,  if  not  within  the  borders  of  the  park,  Gibbs  of  Old 
Brompton  had  an  establishment  for  flowers  and  shrubs,  but  he  did 
most  business  in  supplying  seeds  of  grasses  and  cereals  raised  in  his 
experimental  garden.  All  these  passed  away,  but  the  formation  of 
the  South  Kensington  Gardens,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society,  seemed  to  recall  the  old  traditions  of  Brompton 
Park  at  its  best,  while  exhibiting  the  latest  improvements  and  novelties 
in  horticulture.  Before  that  enterprise  was  entered  upon,  however, 
the  Society  had  a  much  smaller  garden  at  Kensington,  near  Holland 
Fig.  93.— Lixaria  macedonica. 
Park,  the  exact  position  of  which  has  been  disputed ;  I  believe  it  must 
have  been  abnit  the  spot  whore  is  now  a  railway  line.  This 
carries  us  back  to  1818 ;  a  few  years  after  that  it  was  relinquished, 
also  the  temporary  garden  at  Ealing,  and  the  Chiswfick  ground  was 
taken.  Encouraged  by  success,  the  Society  looked  again  towards  the 
Court  suburb,  and,  with  the  hearty  apnroval  of  the  Prince  Consort, 
took  possession  of  22  acres  at  South  Kensington  in  1860,  I  think. 
The  plans,  drawn  up  by  Captain  Fowke,  Messrs.  Nesfield  and  Smirke, 
embodied  his  ideas  or  suggestions,  and  they  had  his  corrections  finally 
before  they  were  executed. 
There  were  already  many  trees  and  shrubs  on  the  ground,  giving 
a  considerable  advantage  as  a  basis  to  start  upon,  though  they  limited 
the  prospect  in  some  directions,  but  did  not  interfere  with  the  working 
out  of  the  design,  which  was  to  present  a  garden  in  the  Italian  style, 
combining  the  effects  of  Nature  and  Art.  Ol  course  a  certain  class  of 
critics  said  the  garden  was  too  artificifil  or  elaborate,  a  profusion  of 
“  fountains,  canals,  cascades,  terraces,  balustrades,  alcoves,  and 
parapets,  with  vases,  statues,  and  numerous  other  embellishments,” 
still  the  variety  was  agreeable.  One  of  the  features  of  this  garden 
