Cliefden, now one of the seats of his Grace the Duke of Westminster, is situated in Buckinghamshire, and overlooks the river Thames in its most attractive part. It is to Cliefden that the river here owes its chief loveliness, but it is also to the river that Cliefden is indebted for one of its principal attractions. From the Berkshire side of the Thames the woods and the mansion form a magnificent scene, but it is from the bosom of the stream that its beauties are best understood and most enjoyed. “Cliefden runs along the summit of a lofty ridge which overhangs the river. The outline of this ridge is broken in the most agreeable way; the steep bank is covered with luxuriant foliage, forming a hanging wood of great beauty, or in parts bare, so as to increase the gracefulness of the foliage by the contrast; and the whole bank has run into easy-flowing curves at the bidding of the noble stream which washes its base. A few islands deck this part of the river, and occasionally little tongues of land run out into it, or a tree overhangs it, helping to give vigour to the foreground of the rich landscape. From the summit the views are really magnificent; both up and down the river they are of surpassing beauty. Looking over Windsor, the eye ranges far away till it loses itself in the hazy distance, to which the royal pile gives an aërial grace, while it adds majesty to the whole view. Looking up the river towards Hedsor the charming seat of Lord Boston, we have a prospect little less splendid, though of a different character. A vast extent of country lies at one’s feet, covered with dense wooded tracts, from which ever and anon peeps up an old grey tower; and the blue smoke marks a secluded village, while the glorious river winds away like a broad stream of molten silver.” The immediate grounds, whether Thamesward or landward, are well laid out, and present at every turn spots of beauty and loveliness not excelled elsewhere.
Cliefden.
Speaking of the river scenery about Cliefden, Mr. Hall, in his “Book of the Thames,” says, “Those who accuse our great island river of insipidity, who, if they concede its claims to beauty, deny its pretensions to grandeur, will do well to row beneath the thick woods of Taplow and Cliefden, and, looking up, they will have no difficulty in imagining themselves in one of the grandest and richest, in picturesque attractions, of our English lakes; indeed, they will require only the near and distant mountains to fancy themselves under the heights of Glena, in all-beautiful Killarney. Well may we rejoice to scan the charms of our glorious river, and ask the aid of Poetry and Art to give them fame and power. But the painter will fail here. He may select graceful nooks, and a thousand objects will, singly or in groups, present themselves as fitting subjects for his pencil; but he cannot convey to the eye and mind a just idea of the mingled grandeur and beauty of this delicious locality; while the poet will find only themes which have been, ever and everywhere, the chosen and the favoured of his order. Those who row past these charming woods, and note what has been done by taste, in association with wealth, to render every part delightful, ascend any of the heights and examine the ‘prospect,’ near or distant, their enjoyment will be largely enhanced. It is impossible, indeed, to exaggerate the beauty and harmony of the foliage which everywhere surrounds us:—
‘Beautiful in various dyes,
The gloomy pine, the poplar blue,
The yellow beech, the sable yew,
The slender fir that taper grows.
The sturdy oak with broad-spread boughs;
And, beyond., the purple grove.
Haunt of Phyllis—Queen of Love!’
But there are here hundreds of other trees which the poet could not commemorate, for they were unknown in England in his time. All climes and countries have contributed to the wealth of foliage at Cliefden—woods, lawns, and gardens are enriched by tributes from every land to which enterprise has conducted British science to gather treasures converted from exotics into subjects naturalised and ‘at home.’”
Cliefden formerly belonged to the ancient family of Manfeld, of Buckinghamshire, from whom it was purchased by the infamously profligate George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham, who built the mansion, and expended large sums of money in laying out the grounds and planting them with all the rarities of arboriculture he could procure. He employed Archer, the architect, to design and erect the mansion, and to adorn the grounds with alcoves and other buildings of a like nature.
The Thames at Cliefden.