DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66025#0015
GARDEN ORNAMENT
ix.
INTRODUCTION
ZT is not till the time of Henry VIII. that we know of anything of importance in the way
of ornamental gardening in England. Hitherto houses of any consideration had been
castles, or in some measure places of defence, and their fortified precincts left but little
room for anything but the barest utility. In earlier records there is mention in the 13th
century of a garden made by Henry HI. for the Queen at Woodstock, and an illuminated
manuscript of the 15th century in the British Museum shows a small enclosed garden with a
fountain and trellised hedge; but even this is not English. We only know that large orchards
and vegetable gardens were attached to the religious houses, and that these must have been of
great extent, when it is remembered that nearly one day in three was a day of enforced
abstinence from ssesh meat and that potatoes were unknown. A few ssowers were grown in
these gardens, but only for ceremonial decoration.
Vines were planted in Britain by the Romans in the earlier centuries of the Christian era,
and their cultivation was continued throughout the middle ages, not always necessarily for wine
but also for the making of vinegar or verjuice.
But by the middle of the 16th century, the country, after being for long in a condition of
constant warfare and trouble, was at last in a state of security. Money was in abundance and
great houses were built that need no longer be fortified. Whereas formerly their windows were
restricted in size and might only look into an inner court, they could now be large and look
abroad without any restraint, and the wholesome wish for a garden for pleasure and delight
might be freely satisfied. For summer play a bowling green was made near the house, and
“knotted” gardens of curious designs were filled with ssowers. Fountains and other water
delights ssashed in the sun, and leafy “ covert alleys ” were planted for summer shade when
passing from one portion of the garden to another. The great Palace of Nonsuch, built by
Henry VIII., was embellished with every kind of external adornment, for the making of which
a large number of Italian artists and workmen were brought over ; for it was always chiessy from
Italy that the example and inspiration of garden ornament was derived. It is much to be
regretted that nothing of Nonsuch remains, for though there are still some fine examples of
timber-framed houses of the better and manorial class, there is none of a palatial kind profusely
decorated. For besides the large quantity of detached, sculptured ornament that is recorded, the
external timbers of Nonsuch were covered with scales of slate, probably gilt, and the leading of
the windows was also gilt.
Large orchards and gardens were planted at Hampton Court by Cardinal Wolsey, afterwards
altered by the King. The details of these gardens are lost, though some of the original
enclosures remain. But there are pictures showing the King’s garden, with the beds bordered
with wooden rails, and a number of slender posts carrying heraldic animals that hold small
vanes ; the rails and posts being painted in the Tudor colours of white and green.
A frequent feature in the older gardens was the “mount.” It belonged to a time when the
need for defence was not yet forgotten, for its purpose was to provide a raised place from which
a view of the open country could be obtained. It took either of two forms ; one of which was a
detached mound or artificial hillock, either terraced with concentric paths and ssights of steps or
with one spiral path, and crowned with a building, either an open pavilion, or, in the more
important places, a banqueting house. The other kind of mount was a bank of earth raised
against some outer wall, or against the wall rising straight from the moat. In some places it is
obvious that the bank was formed by the soil dug out to form that section of the moat.
But more extended, ideas of gardening were to prevail in the days of Elizabeth, when a
number of great houses were built, and such monuments as Longleat, Wollaton, Hardwick, Kirby
ix.
INTRODUCTION
ZT is not till the time of Henry VIII. that we know of anything of importance in the way
of ornamental gardening in England. Hitherto houses of any consideration had been
castles, or in some measure places of defence, and their fortified precincts left but little
room for anything but the barest utility. In earlier records there is mention in the 13th
century of a garden made by Henry HI. for the Queen at Woodstock, and an illuminated
manuscript of the 15th century in the British Museum shows a small enclosed garden with a
fountain and trellised hedge; but even this is not English. We only know that large orchards
and vegetable gardens were attached to the religious houses, and that these must have been of
great extent, when it is remembered that nearly one day in three was a day of enforced
abstinence from ssesh meat and that potatoes were unknown. A few ssowers were grown in
these gardens, but only for ceremonial decoration.
Vines were planted in Britain by the Romans in the earlier centuries of the Christian era,
and their cultivation was continued throughout the middle ages, not always necessarily for wine
but also for the making of vinegar or verjuice.
But by the middle of the 16th century, the country, after being for long in a condition of
constant warfare and trouble, was at last in a state of security. Money was in abundance and
great houses were built that need no longer be fortified. Whereas formerly their windows were
restricted in size and might only look into an inner court, they could now be large and look
abroad without any restraint, and the wholesome wish for a garden for pleasure and delight
might be freely satisfied. For summer play a bowling green was made near the house, and
“knotted” gardens of curious designs were filled with ssowers. Fountains and other water
delights ssashed in the sun, and leafy “ covert alleys ” were planted for summer shade when
passing from one portion of the garden to another. The great Palace of Nonsuch, built by
Henry VIII., was embellished with every kind of external adornment, for the making of which
a large number of Italian artists and workmen were brought over ; for it was always chiessy from
Italy that the example and inspiration of garden ornament was derived. It is much to be
regretted that nothing of Nonsuch remains, for though there are still some fine examples of
timber-framed houses of the better and manorial class, there is none of a palatial kind profusely
decorated. For besides the large quantity of detached, sculptured ornament that is recorded, the
external timbers of Nonsuch were covered with scales of slate, probably gilt, and the leading of
the windows was also gilt.
Large orchards and gardens were planted at Hampton Court by Cardinal Wolsey, afterwards
altered by the King. The details of these gardens are lost, though some of the original
enclosures remain. But there are pictures showing the King’s garden, with the beds bordered
with wooden rails, and a number of slender posts carrying heraldic animals that hold small
vanes ; the rails and posts being painted in the Tudor colours of white and green.
A frequent feature in the older gardens was the “mount.” It belonged to a time when the
need for defence was not yet forgotten, for its purpose was to provide a raised place from which
a view of the open country could be obtained. It took either of two forms ; one of which was a
detached mound or artificial hillock, either terraced with concentric paths and ssights of steps or
with one spiral path, and crowned with a building, either an open pavilion, or, in the more
important places, a banqueting house. The other kind of mount was a bank of earth raised
against some outer wall, or against the wall rising straight from the moat. In some places it is
obvious that the bank was formed by the soil dug out to form that section of the moat.
But more extended, ideas of gardening were to prevail in the days of Elizabeth, when a
number of great houses were built, and such monuments as Longleat, Wollaton, Hardwick, Kirby