rt  'tr.  'H.  'KV 
Supplement  to 
March  10,  1904. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
205 
Mestonbii't  IDouee, 
tCetbuv^,  (3loucc6tcr6btre. 
ANY  of  the  great  private  residential  domains  of 
Aliddle  England  lie  to  the  west,  and  the  counties 
of  Wilts,  Gloucester,  and  Worcester  have  the 
larger  share  of  famous  gardens.  Westonbirt,  with 
which  'we  are  alone  concerned  in  this  article,  has  been  a 
home  of  horticulture  for  f)ver  half  a  century,  tor  the  father 
(rf  the  present  respected  owner  was  one  of  the  keenest 
gardeners  and  arboricidturists  of  his  day.  It  has  been  told 
of  him  that  he  spent  hours  and  days  watching  and  studying 
Iris  plants  and  trees,  and  knew  the  natural  habitats  and 
the  histories  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  nrany  handsome 
subjects  he  gathered  to  his  demesne.  Nor  was  he  alone 
in  this  specialised  love  and  knowledge,  for  his  wife,  the 
late  Airs.  Holford,  was  quite  as  keen  as  her  husVrand,  her' 
tastes  being  those  in  which  refined  womanliood  can  most 
excel— naiirely,  in  the  blending  of  forms  and  colours  in  the 
garden  and  in  the  home.  Thus  the  acquirements  of  these 
two  gentlefolk  were  united  in  their  endeavour  to  make  a 
beautiful  garden  ;  and  they  succeeded. 
But  ere  we  begin  a  brief  description  of  the  gardens  as 
they  appear  to-day  (being  still  developed  by  Captain  G.  1.. 
Holford,  who  has  inherited  the  parental  characteristics  in 
this  direction  in  iro  small  measure),  it  will  doubtless  be  of 
interest  to  localise  Tetbury,  and  to  delineate  some  of  the 
features  of  Gloucestershire. 
To  begin  with,  the  county  is  generally  undulating,  and 
much  of  it  is  hilly.  A  hill  country  is  more  stimulating  to 
the  mind,  because  it  is  fuller  of  varied  scenes  than  a  level 
country  ;  but  such  country  is  by  no  means  easy  to  traverse, 
and  the  local  tourist  between  Bath  and  Westonbirt  loses 
no  time  in  discovering  this. 
The  general  features  are  pleasing— a  succession  of  hill 
and  valley  relieving  the  landscape  ;  whilst  villages,  farms, 
and  mansion  houses  afford  an  agreeable  variety  in  the 
loute,  though  “the  high,  wild  lulls  and  rough,  uneven 
ways”  which  in  the  days  of  good  Queen  Bess,  as  Shake¬ 
speare  informs  us,  did  “  draw  out  the  miles  and  make  them 
wearisome,”  prevent,  even  now,  rapid  travelling  in  parts 
of  this  high-land  district. 
In  appearance  the  “  Wolds  ”  have  a  billowy  aspect. 
South  view  of  garden  and  house,  Westonbirt. 
