The Tudor garden was a homely enclosure, like the living room in a simple house containing few, but good-sized, apartments. Sometimes one large enclosure answered many purposes. First of all, it contained the medicinal herbs. Then it answered the purpose of the pleasure garden, providing alleys and arbors for people to walk on and sit under, besides ground for games. Finally, it supplied a mixture of vegetables and flowers for use and ornament. The orchard, if not actually a part of the garden, was placed near it and similarly ornamented.
A number of sun-dials were also scattered about, both for use and ornament. Henry VIII apparently ordered them by the dozen. Sun-dials had existed in England before the Roman invasion, but interest in them seems to have been especially keen during the sixteenth century. The first book in English devoted to dialing was published in 1533, and was largely a translation from Witkendus. At this period the actual dial was more fanciful than at a later date and often formed an armillary sphere.
A water supply was considered a very important adjunct to the garden. A central feature was often a well or fountain fed by a spring, or a...