October  18,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
357 
Redwell. 
Redwell,  Wellingborough,  the  resi¬ 
dence  of  Thomas  Rendered,  Esq.,  may 
be  said  to  afford  an  excellent  illus¬ 
tration  of  a  gentleman’s  bijou  country 
residence ;  the  dwelling  of  a  man  who 
desires  and  enjoys  his  life  amid  con¬ 
genial  surroundings — his  gardens,  his 
trees,  and  the  land  about  him.  Redwell 
occupies  a  somewhat  commanding 
position  on  the  highest  ground  to  the 
north  side  of  the  busy  town  of  Welling¬ 
borough.  It  is  an  historical  name,  for 
in  a  field  a  little  below  the  house  is 
a  well — the  red  well — said  to  have  been 
at  one  time  visited  by  Henrietta,  Queen 
of  Charles  I.  Some  forty  years  ago 
Mr.  Thomas  Rendered,  one  of  the  leading 
townsmen  of  Wellingborough,  purchased 
several  acres  of  land,  including  the 
spot  which  he  selected  as  a  site  for  a 
residence;  he  planted  it  in  1870,  and 
in  1878  erected  a  substantial  and  com¬ 
modious  mansion.  A  modern  novelist 
has  said  in  one  of  her  books  that  the 
greatest  happiness  is  derived  from  that 
garden  which  is  one’s  own  creation. 
The  grounds  and  garden  at  Redwell  are 
Mr.  Rendered’s  own  creation,  and  he 
probably  gets  as  much  enjoyment  there¬ 
from  as  any  man  in  Northamptonshire. 
The  mansion  faces  the  south,  and  fronts  on  to  the  Redwell  Road  ; 
it  is  kept  private  by  means  of  a  belt  of  trees  and  shrubbery ;  on 
the  east  side  are  the  stables,  and  offices,  with  a  fruit  and  vegetable 
garden  beyond ;  along  that  part  which  forms  the  south  boundary  of 
the  garden  is  a  shady  walk  under  trees ;  various  forms  of  Ivy 
clothe  the  walls,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  wall  and  trees,  and  on  the 
east,  a  line  of  Cedrus  deodara,  and  on  either  side  of  the  walk  on 
the  south  and  east  can  be  seen  an 
abundance  of  Rrimroses  and  other  early 
spring  flowers  and  Foxgloves.  Spring 
flowers  are  greatly  esteemed  at  Red- 
well,  and  they  exist  in  considerable 
variety.  On  the  walls  of  the  fruit 
garden  can  be  seen  various  stone  fruit 
trees ;  the  soil  is  of  a  deep  fertile 
loam,  and  produces  excellent  vegetables. 
A  portion  of  the  ground  is  given  up 
to  Dahlias,  of  which  Mr.  Rendered  is 
a  warm  admirer ;  the  Show  and  Cactus 
types  are  his  favourites. 
Behind  the  mansion  is  a  spacious 
and  well-kept  bowling  green,  divided 
by  means  of  a  broad  walk  from  the 
lawn,  about  which  Mr.  Rendered  has 
planted  from  time  to  time  some  of  the 
choicer  coniferous  trees,  which  he 
regards  as  one  of  the  features  of  the 
place.  There  is  a  walk  running  from 
south  to  north  on  the  east  side  as 
well  as  on  the  west,  in  the  former  case 
divided  from  the  bowling  green  by  a 
belt  of  fruit  trees,  and  there  are  borders 
on  either  side  for  flowers.  On  the 
north  side  of  the  bowling  green  is  a 
belt  of  fruit  trees  and  shrubs,  with 
members  of  the  Fir  tribe ;  beyond  these 
a  walk  along  the  northern  boundary 
through  an  avenue  of  Filberts.  On 
the  east  of  the  western  side  walks  a 
■  belt  of  fruit  trees  divides  it  from  the 
lawn,  and  on  the  west  there  is  a  wall  .Redwell _ a 
Redwell — a  Fruit  Border. 
of  choice  Fear  and  Flum  trees  and  a 
broad  border  in  which  Dahlias  and 
other  flowers  are  grown ;  an  opening 
in  the  west  wall  leads  to  the  tennis 
ground  and  paddocks. 
There  is  only  one  small  greenhouse, 
used  mainly  for  raising  from  seeds  in 
early  spring  the  various  half-hardy  and 
tender  annuals  Mr.  Rendered  grows 
with  so  much  success.  He  prides 
himself  on  growing  the  choicest  of 
hardy  flowers ;  Stocks,  Asters,  and 
Zinnias  are  a  great  feature,  and  they 
are  cultivated  to  perfection,  as  also  are 
the  choicer  hardy  annuals. 
In  the  way  of  coniferous  plants 
there  can  be  seen  flourishing  examples 
of  Ficea,  or  Silver  Fir,  and  they  mostly 
of  the  glaucous  type,  pinsapo,  nobilis, 
lasiocarpa  grandis,  concolor,  and  mag- 
nifica  ;  of  Cupressus,  lutea,  erecta 
viridis,  Fraseri,  and  several  choice 
varieties  of  Lawsoniana,  virginiana, 
Youngi,  and  Allumi ;  of  Thuiopsis, 
elegantissima,  borealis,  aurea,  gigantea, 
Lobbi,  and  japonica ;  several  forms  of 
Retinospora  plamosa  aurea  are  colour¬ 
ing  well ;  Cedrus  Libani,  and  its  silvery 
form  atlantica  glauca,  deodara,  with 
others ;  of  Abies,  Findonensis,  orientalis, 
Douglassi,  Englemanni,  and  polita ; 
Finns  Smithiana,  excelsa,  austriaca, 
parviflora,  and  others;  with  Juniperus 
in  large  variety. 
Mr.  Rendered  is  also  a  cultivator  of  fruit,  and  has  a  collection 
of  some  seventy  varieties  of  Apples,  including  Allington  Pippin, 
which  is  highly  esteemed;  Cox’s  Orange  Fippin,  Worcester  Fear- 
main,  Early  Margaret,  King  of  Fippins ;  and  the  leading  culinary 
varieties,  such  as  Feasgood’s  Nonesuch,  Bismarck,  Lane’s  Frince 
Albert,  and  Ecklinville.  Of  Rears,  there  can  be  seen  in  the  Redwell 
collection  Fitmaston  Duchess,  Doyenne  du  Comice,  Beurre  Diel, 
Louise  Bonne  de  Jersey,  Beurre  Superfin, 
Fondante  d’Automne,  and  Bon  Chretien 
as  the  most  esteemed  ;  while  of  Flums 
(here  is  a  large  variety — standards, 
dwarfs,  and  on  walls,  such  as  Kirke’s, 
Cox’s  Emperor,  Washington,  JefEer- 
son’s.  Czar,  Victoria,  Rivers’  Early 
Prolific,  and  Goliath ;  and  of  Damsons 
The  Prune,  Pershore,  and  Farleigb 
Prolific. 
The  Dahlia  is  a  leading  favourite 
with  Mr.  Rendered.  It  is  his  enthu¬ 
siasm  and  generous  support  which  has 
established  the  Wellingborough  Dahlia 
Society  on  such  a  satisfactory  basis. 
He  is  also  a  vice-president  of  the 
National  Dahlia  Society,  and  a  warm 
supporter  of  the  Dahlia  Exhibition  at 
the  Royal  Aquarium.  In  times  past, 
,  when  the  Northamptonshire  Agricul¬ 
tural  Society  has  held  a  horticultural 
exhibition  in  combination  with  it, 
Mr.  Rendered  was  superintendent  and 
treasurer. 
Though  at  the  head  of  an  important 
firm  of  land  agents,  Mr.  Rendered 
gives  valuable  time  to  local  affairs, 
and  as  the  chairman  of  the  Local 
Board  he  has  had  much  to  do  with 
the  rapid  extension  of  the  important 
industrial  centre  of  Wellingborough. 
Miss  Rendered,  the  novelist,  is  a  daughter 
of  Mr.  Rendered,  and  resides  with  her 
W ALE  father  at  Redwell.  R..  D- 
