DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20000#0042
has a stone balustrade on which vases are placed at intervals. The other sides have grass slopes. In
the centre is the fountain pond, surrounded by a well proportioned stone balustrade having obelisks at
the angles, as shown on Plate 4. The balusters are widely spaced, an arrangement always to be
commended in garden architecture.
Surrounding the gardens on the south, east, and north sides is a well timbered park, abounding
in oaks and elms, through which the house is approached by four drives, the one on the south-west being
the more generally used; that on the north-west is bordered by magnificent avenues with a fine broad
grass space on either side of the road.
CANONS ASH BY, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
PLATES 6, 7.
ONG before the present house was built a priory of Black Canons had been established
here, and from this the name is no doubt derived. In the sixteenth century the
property passed into the hands of the Cope family, and from them by marriage
into the family of the Drydens, in whose possession it has since remained. The
building is of several dates, but the greater part of the present structure was built
between 1551 and 1584, and also between 1708 and 1710.
The garden, originally made in 1550, was altered about the year 1708, but has
since defied the changes of fashion, remaining practically the same for nearly two hundred years. The
original entrance forecourt, known as the green court, still remains. It was approached from the road
through the park, and the remains of an avenue about half a mile long still lead to the old entrance
gates. There is a similar pair of piers at another entrance close to the forecourt, and opposite to them
is the quaint lead figure of a shepherd playing on his flute, shown on Plate 107. The green court is
now, and probably always was, laid down entirely in grass, and has eight simply cut yews leading to
the old front door, now no longer used. From the garden entrance we have a delightful view through
four large cedar trees over the principal part of the gardens, and down a double avenue of stately elms
for a distance of half a mile. The section on Plate 6 shows the gradual fall of the ground, about 21 feet,
to the south-west. The garden is arranged on four different levels, divided from each other by easy grass
slopes. The extreme simplicity of the design is very pleasing, and the parterres being quite simple in char-
acter are such as might have been seen in any garden of this date. Another very pleasing feature is the
absence of gravel walks, except immediately round the house. The value of grass work as an artistic
element is well shown here, all the paths and terrace slopes being thus laid out. The wooden gates shown
on Plate 6, which by reason of their dilapidated state are now stored away, are interesting both for the
excellence of their form and on account of the rarity of existing specimens of this type, iron having been
so much more generally used for gates of this size. On the upper parterre quite close to the house is a
wooden arbour, probably dating from the seventeenth century. It is quite small, and was designed only
as a shelter for a wooden seat. On Plate 7 are shown the principal gate piers. Those surmounted by a
lion form the entrance to the flower garden from the avenue, and are about 11 feet high to the cap. The
gate and angle piers in the green court are about the same height, and terminate in obelisks supported
on groups of scrolls, forming an original and suggestive design ; they are respectively 2 feet 2 inches and
1 foot 6 inches square.
the centre is the fountain pond, surrounded by a well proportioned stone balustrade having obelisks at
the angles, as shown on Plate 4. The balusters are widely spaced, an arrangement always to be
commended in garden architecture.
Surrounding the gardens on the south, east, and north sides is a well timbered park, abounding
in oaks and elms, through which the house is approached by four drives, the one on the south-west being
the more generally used; that on the north-west is bordered by magnificent avenues with a fine broad
grass space on either side of the road.
CANONS ASH BY, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
PLATES 6, 7.
ONG before the present house was built a priory of Black Canons had been established
here, and from this the name is no doubt derived. In the sixteenth century the
property passed into the hands of the Cope family, and from them by marriage
into the family of the Drydens, in whose possession it has since remained. The
building is of several dates, but the greater part of the present structure was built
between 1551 and 1584, and also between 1708 and 1710.
The garden, originally made in 1550, was altered about the year 1708, but has
since defied the changes of fashion, remaining practically the same for nearly two hundred years. The
original entrance forecourt, known as the green court, still remains. It was approached from the road
through the park, and the remains of an avenue about half a mile long still lead to the old entrance
gates. There is a similar pair of piers at another entrance close to the forecourt, and opposite to them
is the quaint lead figure of a shepherd playing on his flute, shown on Plate 107. The green court is
now, and probably always was, laid down entirely in grass, and has eight simply cut yews leading to
the old front door, now no longer used. From the garden entrance we have a delightful view through
four large cedar trees over the principal part of the gardens, and down a double avenue of stately elms
for a distance of half a mile. The section on Plate 6 shows the gradual fall of the ground, about 21 feet,
to the south-west. The garden is arranged on four different levels, divided from each other by easy grass
slopes. The extreme simplicity of the design is very pleasing, and the parterres being quite simple in char-
acter are such as might have been seen in any garden of this date. Another very pleasing feature is the
absence of gravel walks, except immediately round the house. The value of grass work as an artistic
element is well shown here, all the paths and terrace slopes being thus laid out. The wooden gates shown
on Plate 6, which by reason of their dilapidated state are now stored away, are interesting both for the
excellence of their form and on account of the rarity of existing specimens of this type, iron having been
so much more generally used for gates of this size. On the upper parterre quite close to the house is a
wooden arbour, probably dating from the seventeenth century. It is quite small, and was designed only
as a shelter for a wooden seat. On Plate 7 are shown the principal gate piers. Those surmounted by a
lion form the entrance to the flower garden from the avenue, and are about 11 feet high to the cap. The
gate and angle piers in the green court are about the same height, and terminate in obelisks supported
on groups of scrolls, forming an original and suggestive design ; they are respectively 2 feet 2 inches and
1 foot 6 inches square.