28 JUNE 1919, Page 22

The Chestnut Avenue, Bushey Park. By Ernest Law. (Bell. 2s.)—Mr.

Law, the historian of Hampton Court, describes in this interesting and well-illustrated pamphlet how Wren planned and planted the famous Chestnut Avenue in 1699 as an approach to the palace. Wren intended it to lead to a new entrance court, of a most imposing character, but William's death put an end to this costly scheme, which would have involved the partial

destruction of Wolsey's palace. The statue perched on the fountain in the centre of the lake, half-way down the avenue, is, It seems, not a Diana but a Venus. The fountain was placed by Charles I. in the Privy Garden at Hampton Court, and was transferred to its dizzy eminence in Anne's reign, possibly at the instance of Halifax, who was Keeper of Bushey Park.