Immediately after leaving Walham Green, on the south, or left-hand side, of the main Fulham road, behind a pair of carriage gates, connected by a brick wall, stands the mansion of Lord Ravensworth; in outward appearance small and unostentatious, without the slightest attempt at architectural decoration, but sufficiently spacious and attractive to have received the highest honour that can be conferred on the residence of a subject, by her Majesty and Prince Albert having visited the late lord here on the 26th of June, 1840. The grounds at the back of the house, though not extensive, were planted with peculiar skill, care, and taste, by the late Mr. Ord; and on that occasion recalled to memory the words of our old poet, the author of ‘Britannia’s Pastorals,’ William Browne:— “There stood the elme, whose shade so mildely dym Doth nourish all that groweth under him: Cipresse that like piramides runne topping, And hurt the least of any by the dropping; The alder, whose fat shadow nourisheth Each plant set neere to him long flourisheth; The heavie-headed plane-tree, by whose shade The grasse grows thickest, men are fresher made; The oak that best endures the thunder-shocks, The everlasting, ebene, cedar, boxe. The olive, that in wainscot never cleaves, The amourous vine which in the elme still weaves; The lotus, juniper, where wormes ne’er enter; The pyne, with whom men through the ocean venture; The warlike yewgh, by which (more than the lance) The strong-arm’d English spirits conquer’d France; Amongst the rest, the tamarisks there stood, For housewives’ besomes only knowne most good; The cold-place-loving birch, and servis-tree; The Walnut-loving vales and mulberry; The maple, ashe, that doe delight in fountains, Which have their currents by the side of mountains; The laurell, mirtle, ivy, date, which hold Their leaves all winter, be it ne’er so cold; The firre, that oftentimes doth rosin drop; The beech, that scales the welkin with his top: _All these and thousand more within this grove_, _By all the industry of nature strove_ _To frame an arbour that might keepe within it_ _The best of beauties that the world hath in it_.”