It must not be omitted in the history of this place, that the Dukes of York, and Gloucester, and the Princess Elizabeth were sent hither by an order of the parliament agreed upon August 27, 1646, and according to Lord Clarendon were treated by the Earl and Countess of Northumberland in all respects as was most suitable to their birth. The unhappy King frequently visited them at Sion in 1647, and thought it a very great alleviation of his misfortunes to find his children so happy in their confinement. The Duke of Gloucester and the Princess Elizabeth continued at Sion till 1649, at which time the Earl resigned them to the care of his sister the Countess of Leicester.
May 30th 1682, Charles Duke of Somerset married the Lady Elizabeth Percy, the only daughter and heiress of Josceline Earl of Northumberland, by which means Sion and the immense estate of the Percies became his Grace’s property. The Duke and Duchess lent this house at Sion to the Princess of Denmark, who honoured it with her residence during the time of a misunderstanding which arose between her royal highness and her sister Queen Mary.
Upon the death of Charles Duke of Somerset, December 2, 1748. Algernon Earl of Hertford, his only surviving son succeeded to the title and a vast estate, and soon after gave Sion to his daughter and son-in-law, the present Countess and Earl of Northumberland, to whose fine taste and liberality are owing the many and great improvements which have made the gardens at Sion so universally admired.
The old Gardens, as we have already observed, were indeed very grand and magnificent according to the fashion of the age in which they were made, but, in consequence of the taste that then prevailed, they deprived the lower apartments of almost every advantage of prospect, which the fine situation of Sion house naturally affords. To make the necessary alterations required nothing less than his Lordship’s generosity. Accordingly the high triangular terrace, which the Protector had raised at a great expence, was removed, the walls of the old gardens were taken down, and the ground before the house levelled, and it now forms a fine lawn extending from Isleworth to Brentford. By these means also a beautiful prospect is opened into the King’s gardens at Richmond, as well as up and down the Thames. Towards the Thames the lawn is bounded by an ha-ha, and a meadow; which his lordship ordered to be cut down into a gentle slope, so that the surface of the water may now be seen even from the lowest apartments and the gardens. In consequence of these improvements, the most beautiful piece of scenery imaginable is formed before two of the principal fronts, for even the Thames itself seems to belong to the gardens, and the different sorts of vessels, which successively sail as it were through them, appear to be the property of their noble proprietor.
The house stands nearly in the middle point of that side of the lawn, which is the farthest from the Thames, and communicates with Isleworth and Brentford, either by means of the lawn or a fine gravel walk, which in some places runs along the side, and in others through the middle of a beautiful shrubbery; so that even in the most retired parts of this charming maze, where the prospect is most confined, almost the whole vegetable world rises up as it were in miniature around you, and presents you with every foreign shrub, plant, and flower, which can be adopted by the soil of this climate. His Lordship has not only thus improved the ground where the old gardens stood, but has also made a very large addition to it, and separated the two parts by making a new serpentine river. It communicates with the Thames, is well stored with all sorts of river fish, and can be emptied and filled by means of a sluice, which is so contrived as to admit the fish into the new river, but to prevent their returning back again into the Thames. His Lordship has also built two bridges, which form a communication between the two gardens, and has erected in that, which lies near Brentford, a stately doric column; upon the top of which is a fine proportioned statue of Flora, so judiciously placed as to command as it were a distinct view of the situation over which she is supposed to preside.
S. Wale delin. E. Rooker sculp.
Sion House, view’d from opposite Isleworth Church.
The kitchen gardens are very large, lie at a very proper distance from the house, and contain every thing, as an hot-house, fire-walls, &c. The greenhouse is a very neat building with a gothic front, designed by his Lordship in so light a style as to be greatly admired. The back and end walls of it are the only remains of the old monastery. This building stands near a circular bason of water, well stored with gold and silver fish; and in the middle of the bason is a spouting fountain, which is well supplied and plays without intermission.
What has hitherto been said is only an imperfect account of the several steps pursued in the planning and finishing of the gardens; to which we must add, that his lordship has also made many considerable alterations in the apartments of the east-front over the long gallery, and, as we are informed, intends to make many more in the other parts of the house, as he has lately done in the approach to it.
To conduct (as it were) the reader through the rooms would be a task too difficult to be executed in an intelligible manner; however we cannot help taking notice of the great gallery, which extends the whole length of the east-front over the arcades, and of that immense quantity of old china vases, of different forms and sizes, which are crowded together in almost every apartment.