Few exact records of English monastic gardens have been preserved. A twelfth-century plan of Canterbury, showing the cloisters containing a herbarium, garden fountain, and a conduit; with a garden pond, orchard, and vineyard outside the walls, gives only a rough idea of the planting and arrangement. But there is no other document even this complete belonging to this early period.
Pleasure Gardens in the Age of Queen Elizabeth
The fruitful age of Queen Elizabeth brought both the planning and the planting of the loveliest English gardens very nearly to perfection. When the other arts of the Renaissance had reached their maturity and were on the verge of decline, garden making began to develop rapidly.
The Dutch Garden in England
The Dutch garden is said to have been brought to England by William III, though some of its characteristics might have been discovered there before his day. It was an adaptation of the French and Barocco styles, hardly to be called original, but comprising certain features at least individual.
English Gardens of the 17th Century
English gardens had degenerated into meaningless repetitions of French and Dutch fashions by the end of the seventeenth century.