The gardens, separated from the so-called Home Park by an iron railing, are three miles in extent, and were laid out by Loudon and Wise, gardeners to King William III. and Queen Mary.
The quaint forms still retained by many of the trees, and the universal stiffness and primness of all the designs, recall the time when mathematical instruments were among the tools of the nurseryman, and the shapes of birds and animals were considered more beautiful for yews, hollies, etc., than their own natural bushy foliage.
A door at the right-hand corner of the east front of the palace gives entrance to the private garden. Beyond, but connected with the palace, is a fine tennis court, and near to it the so-called Wilderness, enclosing the Maze, or Labyrinth, dating from the beginning of William's reign, and, even at this distance of time, forming a chief attraction to visitors to Hampton Court Gardens.