Gardens of celebrities and celebrated gardens in and around London . or though it never held the place in his afiectionsoccupied by that of Kelmiscott Manor, or even by that of The RedHouse (his first residence after his marriage), still Morris, beingwhat he was, an ardent lover of nature, of the earth andthe seasons and the weather, and ail that grows out of it, thegarden on the Upper Mall and the growth of it could not failto bring moments of joy into his existence. Circumstances prevented him from residing altogether at thebeloved home on the Upper Thames, but he liked to think thatthe rive
Gardens of celebrities and celebrated gardens in and around London . or though it never held the place in his afiectionsoccupied by that of Kelmiscott Manor, or even by that of The RedHouse (his first residence after his marriage), still Morris, beingwhat he was, an ardent lover of nature, of the earth andthe seasons and the weather, and ail that grows out of it, thegarden on the Upper Mall and the growth of it could not failto bring moments of joy into his existence. Circumstances prevented him from residing altogether at thebeloved home on the Upper Thames, but he liked to think thatthe river that ran under his windows at Hammersmith, had passedthe meadows, and grey gables of Kelmscott: and more than oncea party of summer voyagers went from one house to another bywater, embarking at their own door in London, and disembarkingin their own meadow at Kelmscott. Writing in 1875 to his wife, then in Italy with his daughters,about the time when he took the house, he describes the situationas being certainly the prettiest in London (you may scoff at this 292. KELMSGOTT HOUSE among the olives beside the midland sea). . The house couldeasily be done up at a cost of money . . the garden is reallymost beautiful. If you come to think of it, you will find thatyou wont get a garden or a house with much character unlessyou go out as far as the Upper Mall, and I dont think that eitheryou or I could stand a modern house in a street. ... This praise of his London garden is not exaggerated. There isonly a small plot of ground in front; with two scrubby bushes ofbox, so far as I remember—on either side of the front door. Itneither clothes nor gives grace to the house, but at theback stretches away, almost to King Street, Hammersmith, theloveliest and most extensive town-garden that it has fallen tomy lot to describe and to depict. I do not, of course, compareit with the princely gardens, to repeat once more Baconsfamous phrase—but with those usually attached to the middle-class Lo
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishe, booksubjectgardens
