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.553. During the reign o f Henry V I I . (1485 to 1509), Ilolinshed informs us that
large parks, or circumscribed forests, of several miles in circumference were common.
Their number in Kent and Essex alone amounted to upwards of a hundred, (p. 204.)
The Ea rl of Northumberland had, in Northumberland, Cumberland, and Yorkshire,
twenty-one parks, and 5771 head of red and fallow deer. He had also pm-ks in Sussex,
and other southern counties. These pai-ks were formed more from necessity than
lu x u ry ; tenants for land being then not so readily obtained as in later times.
554. During the reign o f Henry V I I I . (1509 to 1547), the royal gai'dens of Nonesuch
were laid out and planted. “ Nonesuch,” says Hentzner, “ was built by Henry V III.
Avitli an excess of magnificence and elegance even to ostentation; as one would imagine
every thing that architcctm*e can perform to have been employed in tliis one work.
There are every wlierc so many statues that seem to breathe, so many miracles of
consummate ai-t, so many casts that rival even the perfection of Roman antiquity, that
it may well claim and justify its name of Nonesuch, being without an eq u a l; or, as the
poet sung,
‘ This, which no equal has in a rt o r fame,
Britons deservedly do Nonesuch name.’
The palace itself is so encompassed with parks full of deer, delicious gardens, groves
ornamented with trellis-work, cabinets of verdure, and walks so embowered by trees,
that i t seems to be a place pitched upon by Pleasure herself to dwell in along with
Health. In the pleasure and artificial gardens are many columns and pyramids of
marble, two fountains that spout water one round the other like a pyramid, upon which
are perched small birds that stream water out of thcir bills. In the grove of D iana is a
very agreeable fountain, Avith Actieon turned into a stag, as he was sprinkled by the goddess
and her nymphs, Avith inscriptions. There is, besides, another pyramid of marble
full of concealed pipes, which spirt upon all Avho come within their reach.” Lysons, in
liis Environs o f London, informs us that “ in Sebastian Braun’s work, entitled Civitatis
Orbis Terrarum, there is an engraving of Nonesuch Palace,” fi'ora which he gives a
plate (fg . 172.). There is also a sm ^ engraving of the same palace, with part of its
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gardens, in the corner of Speed’s Map of Sm-rey. Braun, speaking of Nonesuch,
says, that by a contrivance of the architect, an echo was made at the entrance of
the palace, Avhich repeated the sound distinctly five or six times. (Lysons.) These
gai'dens are stated, in a survey taken in the year 1650, above a century after Henry’s
death, to have been cut and divided into several alleys, compai'tments, and rounds, set
about with thom-hedges. On the north side was a kitchcn-garden, very commodious,
and sun-ounded with a wall fourteen feet high. On the west was a wilderness severed
from the little park by a hedge, the whole containing ten acres. In the privy-gardens
were pyramids, fountains, and basins of marble, one of which is “ set round with six lilac
trees, which trees bear no fruit, but only a very pleasant smell.” In the privy-gai-dens
were, besides the lilacs, 144 fmit-trces, two yews, and one juniper. In the kitchcn-
garden Avere seventy-two fruit-trees and one lime tree. Lastly, belorc the palace, Avas
a neat handsome bowling-green, surrounded Avith a balustrade of freestone. “ In this
garden,” observes Daines Ban-ington, “ avc find many such ornaments of old English
gardening, as prevailed till the modern taste was introduced by Kent.” It is singular
that Nonesuch, so celebrated as an example of the ancient style of gardening, in the
the sixteenth centui-y, should have been changed to the modem style in the
eighteenth century by the first and the best of all the Avriters on this style, Thomas
T ^ a te ly , Esq., author of Observations on Modern Gardening, to whoso brother Nonesuch
belonged in 1786. (Sec Gard. Mag., vol. vii. p. 430.)
555. In a garden adjoining Whitehall Palace, Hentzner found “ a je t d ’eau with a
sundial, Avliich while strangers are looking at, a quantity of water, forced by a wheel,
which the gardener turns at a distance, through a number of small pipes, plentifully
sprinkles those that arc standing round.” (Travels, ^c. Strawbcri-y Hill edition, p. 24.)
556. Hampton Court was laid out, about the middle of this reign, by Cardinal Wolsey.
When visited by Mandelso, in the reign of James I., these gardens were “ très*beaux, ct
très-bien entretenus.” The labyrinth, one of the best which remains in England, occupies
only a quarter of an acre, and contains nearly half a mile of winding walks.
There is an adjacent stand, on wliich the gardener places himself, to extricate the
adA'enturing stranger by his directions. SAvitzer condemns this labyrmth for having
only four stops, and gives a plan for one with twenty. Daines Ban-ington says
(Archoeolog.) that he got out by keeping close to the hedge.
557. During Elizabeth’s reign (1558 to 1603), Hatfield, Lord Treasm-cr Bui-leigh’s,
Holland House, and some other old seats, were laid out. Of Hatfield, Hentzner says,
the “ gardens are surrounded hy a piece of water, with boats rowing through alleys of
well-cut trees, and labyrinths made with great labour ; there are jets d’eau, and a
summer-house, with many pleasant and fair fishponds.” Statues were very abundant.
Prince Pucklcr Muskau, speaking of Hatfield, as ho found it in 1830, says, “ Hatfield
House is poor in Avorks of art, and the park is rich only in large avenues of oaks, and
in rooks ; otherwise dreary, and without water, except a nasty green standing pool near
tlie house.” ( Tour, &c., vol. iv.) Ilyll, or Hill, a London citizen, who published the
P r o f table A r t o f Gardening in 1563, gives a cut “ for a knot, proper by gardens and
the Gardener’s Labyrinth, published by Didymus Mountain (1571), contains plates of
“ knotts and mazes cunningly handled for the beautifying of gardens.” Lawson’s New
Orchard was published in 1597 ; he gives directions also for parten-es and labyi-inths.
A curious idea is given of the taste of these times in what he says of the latter. “ Mazes
well framed a man’s height may, perhaps, make your friend wander in gathering heiries,
till he cannot recover himself without your help.”
558. During the reign o f James I. (1603 to 1625), the gardens of Theobalds and
GreenAvich were formed or improved. The garden at Theobalds, Mandelso, a traveller
who visited England about 1640, describes as “ a lai'ge square, having all its walls
covered with phillyrea, and a beautifulyei d’eau in the centre. The partcii'e hath many
pleasant walks, part of which are planted on the sides with espaliers, and others ai-chcd
over. Some of the trees are limes and elms, and at the end is a small mount, called the
Mount of Venus, which is placed in the midst of a labyrinth, and is upon the Avhole one
of the most beautiful spots in the world.” (Voyages de Mandelso, tom. i. p. 598.) The
same author, speaking of the garden of St. James’s Palace, says “ il n ’est pas fort grand,
ct n’a rien de remarquable, si ce n’est qu’au milieu on voit dans une grande pierre carré
et creusé au milieu cent dix-sept quadrans. Il est accompagné d’un verger d’arhrcs
fruitiers plantés cn échiquier, ayant au milieu un gros piller de bois qui jette de l’cau, et
d’un petit bois qui forme quelques allées assez agréables, ct qui noun-it quelques cerfs
daims et chevreuils.” The gardon of the queen’s palace in St. James’s Park, he describes
as having, “ une grotte, faite de tous sortes des esquillages (what in modern
times would he called a rockAvork of sheUs), représentant lo Parnasse, en sorte
néanmoins que l’été elle ne laisse pas de pousser toutes sortes de fleurs et d’herbes, qui
font un très-bel effet. L a véritable gi'Otte est du côté du palais, d’où on voit Apollon et
les Muses, et sur la haut de la montagne un Pégase de bronze doré. Au pied on trouve
quatre petites voûtes, qui couvrent autant des statues de marbre, tenant chacune une
coi-nc d’abondance, et sous le bras une cruche dont elles versent de l’eau dans un basin
qui baigne le pied de la montagne. L’une de ces statues qui est dc marbre noir
représenté la Tamise, et se fait connoître par un distique Latin.” (Mandelso’s Voyages
and Travels, &c., folio edit. 1719, tom. ii. p. 751.) Lord Bacon attempted to reform
the national taste during tliis reign, but apparently Avith little immediate success. He
Avished still to retain shorn trees and hedges ; but proposed Avinter or evergreen gardens,
and rude or neglected spots, as specimens of wild nature. “ As for the making of
knots or figures,” says he, “ Avith divers-coloured earths : they be but toys. I do not
like images cut out in juniper or otlier gai'den-stuff : they are for children.” (Essay on
Gardens.) Sir Henry Wotton says, “ the garden at Lord Verulam’s was one of the
best he had seen, either at home or abroad.” Oxneed Hall ( fg . 173.) is a fine specimen
of a nobleman’s scat in this age.
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