You may also like<\/strong><\/p> The book is structured chronologically, starting with the earliest recorded London gardens, such as those at royal Sheen (later Richmond) Palace, completed in 1501, and the lavish courtyard gardens in the \u2018palaces\u2019 situated along the Strand, recently chronicled in a fine book by Manolo Guerci (whom the author rightly acknowledges). Modern references are occasionally dropped in, to disarming effect \u2013 including mention of the Marble Arch \u2018mount\u2019, which was erected by Westminster Council in 2021, for no discernible reason; it was widely mocked and closed within six months.<\/p> There is much that is unfamiliar or original to be enjoyed here, with amusing stories, all of them well told and reliable in their detail<\/p> <\/blockquote> If there is a theme to the book \u2013 and the author himself attempts no overview \u2013 it is perhaps the notion of \u2018spectacle\u2019, since so many London gardens (such as the aforementioned mount) were made to impress, often involving entrance fees. Doomed enterprises such as the menageries of exotic animals and birds to be found at Oxford Street and Earl\u2019s Court in the mid 19th century, or the Notting Hill racecourse, which flourished for a few years west of the Portobello Road, are fun to read about and have not been described in such detail anywhere else.<\/p> \u00a0There is much else that is unfamiliar or original to be enjoyed here. The chapter on pleasure gardens, for example, covers Vauxhall, as it must, but equally the lesser known (and cheaper) White Conduit House in Pentonville, which boasted a cricket pitch and a model church with a delightful ring of bells. Its horticultural display was said to be superior than Vauxhall\u2019s, with the shrubberies \u2018brilliantly illuminated\u2019 at night. We also learn of the 18th-century Peerless Pool, an open-air swimming spot, with an adjacent fishing pond, situated on the north side of Old Street. Here, customers could enjoy \u2018warm sea-water baths\u2019 even in this most urban of settings. The book is packed with such glimpses of London\u2019s horticultural past, where garden spaces have often been transient affairs. It is beautifully illustrated and filled with amusing stories, all of them well told and reliable in their detail.<\/p> Sandra Lawrence\u2019s Lost Gardens of the World<\/em> is altogether more lightweight but certainly has its charms. The selection criteria are a little mysterious, since many of the places described are today by no means \u2018lost\u2019, and are in fact extremely well known \u2013 gardens such as Heligan, Het Loo and the Villa d\u2019Este. More welcome is the way entries are complemented not by photographs but by colourful, attractive and distinctive illustrations.<\/p> Ultimately, this is an enjoyable, light-touch romp through gardens which in most cases have suffered from neglect at some point. Scattered among the \u2018greatest hits\u2019 are a number of unfamiliar gardens. There are revealing entries on Thomas Jefferson\u2019s Poplar Forest estate, which is now being conserved to focus on the lives of his enslaved workforce, and I had never even heard of Fontana Rosa, at Menton on the French Riviera, a derelict \u2018theatrical\u2019 extravaganza created by a Spanish novelist in the 1920s. I also knew nothing of the part-restored Garden of Dreams in Kathmandu, or the garden at the Madinat al-Zahra, or \u2018shining city\u2019, near Cordoba \u2013 the oldest of Spain\u2019s Islamic gardens<\/a>, destroyed in 1013 and now gradually being unearthed. This is an idiosyncratic but engagingly readable book \u2013 a suitable gift for general readers and garden enthusiasts alike.<\/p>
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