The four yews were carefully placed so that they would be like exclamation points at the end of the Moat Walk, but because they are aligned with the facade of the South Cottage, they are a bit out of alignment with the Moat Walk. In order to take a photograph which shows the four yews symmetrically framing the bench, a photographer has to stand close to wall, rather than taking the photo from the center of the walk. I wonder if the Nicolsons considered creating a round terrace in the spot where they planted to four yews; this would have made the Moat Walk flow into the Cottage Garden, and they could have erected an arbor over this round terrace to give a strong focal point to both the Cottage Garden and the Moat Walk. When I consider this solution, the Sissinghurst Crescent seems overly tricky and rather awkward.
If you examine the map, you may have a better understanding of why I think that the Sissinghurst Crescent is too tricky of a solution to the design problem that Harold had to deal with. I have colored the grass of the Moat Walk pale green, while the brick semi-circle of the Sissinghurst Crescent and the paved walks are colored pale brown. The Sissinghurst Crescent is backed by a clipped hedge that is colored dark green on the map. The South Cottage is represented by the dark brown square below the Cottage Garden. Please notice that the path from the Sissinghurst Crescent to the Cottage Garden has to make an awkward "dog's leg" in order to connect with the path before the cottage. The four small green circles in the Cottage Garden represent the four Irish yews that are that garden's focal point. Can you see how simple it would have been to connect the Moat Walk with the cottage garden. The paved path through the nuttery could have been connected with the angled path at the top of the Cottage Garden.
While I question the way that the Moat Walk is connected with the Cottage Garden, everything about the Moat walk is superb; including the way that the Sissinghurst Crescent terminates it. The photo at the top of this article shows the view from the Cottage Garden over the clipped hedge that backs the the Sissinghurst Crescent, down the grass walk towards a statue of Dionysus which stands on the opposite bank of the moat. The ground between the Nuttery and the Moat Walk slopes, so the Nicolsons planted the slope with deciduous azaleas. If you imagine the slope as mown grass, you can see how much the azaleas add; they balance the wall and direct the viewer's eyes towards the statue.
