THE GLOBE. FRIDAY. JANUARY 13, 1852. HAGLEY PARK.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2425, 13 January 1882, Page 2

THE GLOBE. FRIDAY. JANUARY 13, 1852. HAGLEY PARK.

As each, summer comes round with its attendant beauties, the dweller in Christchurch becomes more and more disgusted with Hagley Park. For Christchnrch generally man has done much and naturelittle. It was originally not much more than a flax swamp, and by dint of planting, draining and judicious laying out, the town and suburbs are considered by all strangers to be really pretty. Christchurch has beautiful gardens, avenues that will in time be most striking, stretches of river scenery which in a small way rival many a famous stream in tho old country. Its park alone is confirmedly and hopelessly hideous. We drew attention to this matter about a year ago, but ihero seems iid chauce whatsoever of any move in the right direction by the powers that be, unless the public take the matter in hand and agitate seriously on the subject. Time flies, and in such affairs the great thing is to take time by the forelock. Trees grow while men sleep, and if a change is to be made at all in regard to the Park the sooner it is made the better. It is not as if any large expenditure need bo made. All that is wanted is tho breaking up of tho formal lines now existing, the planting of trees in clumps and singly, an occasional glimp?e of the river arcl mountains, and tho Park would soon find.

itself transformed from a monstrosity into a place in which lovers of the picturesque would take delight. For, as we pointed out before, in a perfect sylvan scene three things are wanted, namely, trees, hills, and water. The Park has all three, hut the mountains have been carefully hidden from view, so has the water, and the trees are planted with such a want of taste that they are almost useless for purposes of ornament. All those who have strolled through the grand old parks which are England's glory will recollect the fine effect made by the boles of single trees standing out boldly, or by the shadows of the small clumps of trees that are seen at intervals. Nothing of this kind is seen in Hagley Park however; formal fences run round plantations, and the body of the park itself is left a howling wilderness. There seems to have all along been an impression in the minds of the Board that people on pleasure bent will stick to the shady paths that rnn along the river bank, and that those who wander more at largo, being probably on business, will not care very much whether they have or have not to plough through a barren waste. The Board has never taken into consideration the tout ensemble of the Park. For the sake of a few shady walks along the water side, they have ruined the general effect. The main body of the Park has been utterly neglected. All this is the more provoking, because a comparatively small expenditure would make a wonderful difference in the look of the whole place. The necessary trees could be obtained for nothing from the Government Domain, the fencing in of a few clumps would not be expensive, and much of the present formality could be destroyed at a singularly small cost. All that is in reality wanted is energy and taste. If the Board is so hard up that there are no funds whatever to expend, we feel confident that many of the citizens would, if they had a chance, willingly subscribe towards such a good work. Competitive designs might be invited, showing what would be the general effect of the Park when the planting suggested by each competitor was carried out and the trees were fairly grown. The science of landscape gardening has had no scope as yet in which to develop itself. In New Zealand there are no monuments of this fine art as yet existing. No masters such as Sir Joseph Paxton have shown what may be done in gardening on a large scale by a full development of man's finer sympathies with the beautiful, but it is usually the case that where there is a demand there is also a supply, and we feel confident that, if competitive designs were invited, it would be found that there is much latent talent in this direction exisiting in our midst. Hagley Park has indeed had rather a hard time of it since first it was laid out by Messrs. Cass, Boys, Torlesse, and Jollie. It has been attacked by insidious foes who, under the guise of friends, have wished to sell portions of it with the view of giving the city an income by means of the rents made. These attempts have luckily been defeated, for the public showed at once that they were dead against any portion of the land given them for health and recreation being taken from them. But a portion of the blame for these attacks should be laid at the door of the Park and Domain Board itself. That Board has failed to make the most of the property under its charge. We may fairly declare that if the Park had been laid out to the best advantage—that is to say, if the plans of beautifying it had been founded on some harmonious and comprehensive system—it would have been impossible for any body of men to have had the audacity to propose that a row of villas should be constructed on one of the most imposing positions of the park. It was simply because the place was so hideous that they thought the public would not regret private residences being built on a spot in which at present it takes but little pleasure. In so far the Park may well blame its natural protectors for the jeopardy in which it has at times been placed. The temper of the public will apparently not allow the Park to be tampered with, but it wonld be doubly secure if the superior beauty of the spot were to render all such attempts not only audacious but ridiculous.