Abstract
A NUMBER of interesting manuscripts belonging to Lieut.-Colonel H. E. Disbrowe-Wise have lately been abstracted by Mr. F. J. Chittenden (J. Boy. Hort. Soc, 64, Pt. 10; October 1939). They relate to the part played by Henry Wise in the upkeep and rearrangement of the Royal Gardens in the reign of Queen Anne. Wise and his partner, George London, were the proprietors of the great Brompton Nursery, and directed the establishment of most of the large gardens of England at the beginning of the eighteenth century. They were responsible for the introduction of French influence in garden design, but they evidently eliminated some of the frivolities, of Versailles horticulture, and used only the stateliest elements in the spacious parks, terraces and avenues of Hampton Court and other Royal demesnes. Details and costs of the upkeep are revealed by the manuscripts. Henry Wise received £1,600 a year from 1702, for the upkeep of Hampton Court, the gardens at Windsor and the plantations at Kensington. A catalogue of the varieties of wall fruit reveals some affinity with modern names, and an important side of garden activity is shown by a description of five new pears which bore fruit in the year 1715. Each of the new varieties appears to have been “very rich and melting”, and doubtless played its part in the general improvement the results of which we enjoy to-day.
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Royal Gardens of Queen Anne. Nature 144, 974 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144974a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144974a0