This Approach Is One Of The Greatest
Attractions Of The Place.
He also built a large conservatory in connection
with the house.
"Woodfield changed hands in 1847, having been purchased by Thos. Gibb,
Esq., who exchanged it with his brother, Jas. Gibb, Esq., a wealthy
merchant of Quebec, president of the Quebec Bank, who added much to the
beauty of the estate. [237] Woodfield, with the improvements and
embellishments made by the preceding proprietor is one of the most
imposing and showy places in Canada, well worthy the encomiums passed upon
it by J. Jay Smith, Esq., of Philadelphia, editor of the
Horticulturist, who, with a party of friends, visited it in 1857.
He says, in that work, 'James Gibb, Esq., at Woodfield, possesses one of
the most charming places on the American continent. Thoroughly English in
its appurtenances, and leaving out its views of the St. Lawrence, its
lawns, trees, and superb garden are together, a model of what may be
accomplished. The whole scene was enchanting. The traveller felt as if he
was transported to the best parts of England, our whole party uniting in
an exclamation of pleasure and gratification. Here is everything in the
way of well-kept lawns, graperies and greenhouses, outhouses for every
possible contingency of weather, gardens, redolent of the finest flowers,
in which bulbs of the best lilies make a conspicuous figure, and every
species of fruit that can be grown. The traveller who does not see
Woodfield hah not seen Canada in its best trim.'
"The remains of one redoubt [238] are visible near Belle Borne Brook, just
above Pont Bonvoisin, or Bridge of Friendship, no doubt intended to guard
the approach to Quebec by the footpath from Pointe a Puiseaux. Another
large one was on the west side of Samos road, nearly opposite the entrance
gate of the new approach to Woodfield, it commanded the Samos road.
"Woodfield once could boast of a well-stocked aviary. The garden, of large
extent, has always been celebrated for its fruit and flowers, for the
taste in which it was laid out, and for the beautiful prospect obtained
from it of the Citadel of Quebec, of the intervening portion of the St.
Lawrence, with the numerous shipping in the harbour busily engaged in
taking in their return cargoes of the staple article of exportation."
Since this sketch was published in the Maple Leaves for 1865, death
has borne heavily on the estimable Gibb family we then knew at Woodfield;
and in 1879, Mr. John Lawson Gibb sold the old homestead as a site for an
ornate rural cemetery.
"WOODFIELD CONSERVATORY - On 10th Feby, 1869 we availed ourselves of
the opportunity afforded to the public of visiting this celebrated
conservatory, and feasting our eyes on the immense mass of floral
treasures which it contains. Flora's rarest gifts from every quarter
of the globe are here in full bloom. The Indian Azaleas are
magnificent beyond description - the one near the entrance called
'Criterion" is exquisitely beautiful, Roi Leopold, purpurea and alba
are also very handsome. The Dielytra, or Bleeding Heart, is chaste and
beautiful the Joy plant (Chorozema) from the Swan River, struck us as
particularly interesting, the colours of the flower are so
harmoniously blended, the Golden-leaved Geranium (Cloth of Gold) - well
worthy the name, with intense scarlet flowers, is very pretty Numerous
Camelias of every shade and colour, these we think may well be called
the Queen of winter flowers rivalling in beauty the famous "rose." The
Cinerarias and Cape cowslips are very fine, and so are the Acacias
Many beautiful and interesting Ferns, the most remarkable being the
elks-horn, walking fern, hearts-tongue, maiden-hair and silver-
braken." - Morning Chronicle.
SOUS LES BOIS.
This country seat, two miles from the city limits, stands in view of
Pointe a Puiseaux, at Sillery, exactly fronting the mouth of the Etchemin
River Imagine a roomy, substantial, one story cottage equally well
protected in winter against the piercing north, east and west winds,
surrounded by large oaks and pines to temper the rays of an August sun,
and through whose foliage the cool river breeze murmurs in the vernal
season, wafting pleasure and health to the inmates Add one of those
unrivalled river landscapes, peculiar to Sillery, well cultivated fruit
gardens, pastures, meadows, and lawns intersected by a long curving
avenue, fringed with single trees at times, at others tastefully concealed
in a clump of evergreens, and leading to the house by a circuitous
approach, which hides the mansion until you are a few feet of it Place in
it a toiling professional man, eager, after a dusty summer day's work in
St Peter street, to breathe the coolness and fragrance of his rustic
homestead, and enjoy the presence of his household gods, again, add to it
the conviction in his heart that country life has increased the span of
his existence by twenty years, and you have a faint idea of one of our
many Canadian homes, of Sous les Bois the former residence of Errol
Boyd Lindsay, Esq., one of the few remaining Quebecers who can recall the
festivities of Powell Place, when Sir James Craig flourished there in
1809.
In 1870, Sous les Bois was disposed of for educational purposes. The
flourishing Jesus Marie Academy, with its shiny dome and lofty walls,
looms out in the very centre of the demesne The Lindsay manor, at present,
is the hospitable lodge of the devoted and talented almoner of the
Convent, Rev. Abbe Octave Audette.
SILLERY HOUSE.
This handsome dwelling, is situated at the foot of the Cape, close to the
Jesuits' old house, on a line with the river: it stands in the centre of
an extensive garden, with here and there some large forest trees
interspersed.
The residence was built a few years back by the late John Sharples,
Esquire, of the firm of Sharples & Co., whose vast timber coves are in
view from Sillery house.
ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, SILLERY
"A rural chapel neatly dress'd,
In covert like a little nest;
And thither young and old repair
This Sabbath day, for praise and prayer."
- The White Doe of Rylstone.
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