APPENDIX TO PRIVATE GARDENS CHARLTON OWING to unavoidable circumstances it was not possible to include Charlton in the foregoing chapter on private gardens, but some account of this place of historic interest is necessary to complete this book. Further from the centres of fashion, on the eastern limits of London, it has not been the scene of such brilliant assemblies as Holland House on the west; yet its early days share that speculative fascination which gathers round the personality of Henry, Prince of Wales, who figures for such a short time on the pages of English history. Only two miles from Greenwich, in the hundred of Blackheath, lies the manor of Charlton, which was bestowed by William the Conqueror on his half-brother, Odo of Bayeux. Later on it passed by gift to the Priory of Bermondsey, and so remained until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when it became crown land until James I. gave it to Sir Adam Newton, "who built a goodly brave house" thereon. Born in Scotland, Sir Adam had spent much of his life in France, and passing himself off as a priest, had taught Greek at St. Maixant in Poitou. On his return to Scotland in 1600, he was appointed tutor to Prince Henry, and was in attendance on him as secretary when the Prince grew up. In 1607 he commenced to build Charlton for him, Inigo Jones being the architect, and after the Prince's death in 1612, the King granted Sir Adam the manor, in lieu of payment for the expenses he had incurred in building the house. The owner of Charlton continued to enjoy royal favour, became Treasurer of the Household to Prince Charles, was created a baronet in 1620, and married a daughter of Sir John Puckering, who had been Keeper of the Great Seal to Queen Elizabeth. His second son, Sir Henry Newton, who succeeded him at Charlton, and took the name of Puckering from estates inherited from his uncle, was an ardent supporter of Charles I. He sold the property to Sir William Ducie, Viscount Downe, at whose death it was again sold. The purchaser, Sir William Langhorne, was a wealthy East India merchant, who was, from 1670 to 1677, Governor of Madras. On his death it passed by entail to his cousin Mrs. Maryon, and eventually to her great-granddaughter, the wife of Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson, in whose family Charlton still remains.
The gardens show traces of all the many owners, and in spite of the growth of London and its attendant drawbacks, they are still charming. The house stands in about 150 acres of undulating deer park, with some fine old trees, an avenue of English elms on the east, and one of horse-chestnuts, forming the approach on the west. Perhaps the planting of the tulip tree near the present lodge was due to John Evelyn, the friend of Sir Henry Puckering. Evelyn's liking for tulip trees is well known, and this specimen looks old enough to claim his acquaintance. The two shattered but grand old mulberry trees probably date from the year 1609, when James I. encouraged all his subjects to plant them, and tradition points to one as the first brought to England. There is an immense horse-chestnut on the lawn, with a wide spread of branches which are rooted in the ground all round, and among the evergreen oaks and other attractive trees in the "Wilderness," a Judas of great age is remarkable. The small house standing near the road which passes the parish church, known as the "Guard House," recalls the time when Prince Henry was living there, and his guard of honour kept watch near the entrance. The stables are just as they were built by Inigo Jones, and the little "Dutch" walled garden which adjoins them on one side is also a pretty relic of those days, and the "Gooseberry Garden" near it is a survival of the same period. A walk overshadowed by tall yew trees stretches across and along the main part of the grounds, and hidden away near its southern end is a delightful rose garden. The beautiful lead fountain in the centre must have been put there by Sir William Langhorne. His initials appear on the leaden tank, and the spray rises from a basin held up by a charming little cupid standing on a pedestal surrounded by swans. The same group appears without the tank in another part of the garden, and there are lead vases and figures, and a cistern dated 1777, which add greatly to the old-world charm which still lingers. Chemical works and sulphurous fumes now work deadly havoc among the old trees, but everything that modern science can recommend is done to preserve them, and young ones planted to keep up the traditions, and bridge over the centuries dividing the present from the days of Prince Henry and his learned and courtly tutor.
