Encouragement of Wild Flowers: The Garden of Euphues

The medieval wilderness was not of this sort, but was rather a labyrinthine shrubbery; the encouragement of wild flowers amongst the grass of the monastic orchard is the nearest thing of this kind. But Bacon does not put forward his `heath' as anything remarkable, and though we know of no example in the gardens of the time it may have been common practice. At least it underlines what later became the peculiarly English approach that a garden ought to some extent to be idealized English countryside. Bacon's famous Essay marks the beginning of the sophisticated garden in England. The first actually to be made in point of time was that designed at Hatfield in 1611 for Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, by the itinerant Frenchman, Solomon de Caux; and the second was made by his son, Isaac de Caux, for the Earl of Pembroke at Wilton House. The original plans at Hatfield appear to have been entrusted to native gardeners, but within a year or two of the commencement of the project these plans were scrapped and those of Solomon de Caux were substituted. So began the long French influence on English gardening. Important features at both Hatfield and Wilton were the water works. At Hatfield there was an artificially constructed stream of which the bottom was ornamented with coloured pebbles and sea-shells sent from Paris; there were also leaves, fishes, and snakes, cast in lead, which show the relationship with Bernard Palissy's reliefs in the grottoes at the Tuileries and elsewhere throughout France. At Wilton there were many features of a classical garden, the terrace, the balustrading, the fountains, the statuary, the parterres, the groves, the oval path reflecting Pliny's hippodrome, the long covered alleys, and most significant of all, generosity of scale and unity of design. In 1615 it was the most advanced garden in England, and a clear demonstration of how the French interpretation of the Renaissance theme had superseded the direct influence of Italy. It marked the end of the medieval garden in England. The Tudor garden had been a `Garden of Pleasant Delytes', reflecting something of the adolescence of the time. Now all was changed. From this time on the garden could be many things, but it could never be unselfconscious again. The ingredients of gardens were within a little the same all over late medieval Europe.