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BCD Special Report
Historic Gardens 2010
17
Elizabethan Garden, Kenilworth Castle
The form and dimensions of the excavated foundation of the central fountain
match those recorded in an Elizabethan description. This information, together with details from the terrace beside the keep,
provides the key to understanding the layout of the garden.
elsewhere later designs have been copied to
enhance the setting of several 17th-century
houses. They include the layout of the walled
courtyard or bawn at Tully Castle, above
Lower Lough Erne in north-west Ulster,
together with the arrangement of garden
compartments and covered walks around
Moseley Old Hall, near Wolverhampton,
which draws upon a design from around
1640 that had been used in Yorkshire. More
accurate garden reconstructions can equally
mislead the unwary. Although the gardens
at Ham House, on the bank of the River
Thames at Petersham, are based on a plan
of the former grounds there, the Cherry
Garden lacks any such fruit and reproduces
the historical layout with fanciful box-edged
beds filled with Dutch and cotton lavenders.
Similarly, the reconstruction of the Great
Garden at Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire,
follows its known layout from the end of the
17th century when George London advised
upon changes, but the precise detail of the
reintroduced cutwork has been adapted
from his design for another property.
It is easy to promote an illusion
of authenticity, although the extent
of fabrication, or invention, can be
such that it adds an entirely false
layer. Caution is required. As garden
reconstruction and restoration become
more and more a precondition of
popular appreciation we must be aware
of our intentions, our wishes, and our
interpretations of the different historical
and archaeological sources available.
Evidence
Many sources of information are available for
the study and reconstruction of historic parks
and gardens, ranging from contemporary
written accounts and other historical
documents to a variety of illustrations,
including detailed views as well as measured
surveys, maps and other plans. None of them
was prepared with the needs of the modern
inquirer in mind, however, and they remain
silent on many aspects that today interest
us most. We must qualify the status of the
information they contain and sometimes
question what they show. For example, the
scale and effect of individual features and
layout may have been exaggerated through
tricks of perspective or artistic licence, or in
order to please a patron, and works might
be shown which were intended but never
completed, or only finished in a different
form. Reliance upon such details without
means of corroboration may easily result in
misrepresenting the historical appearance,
together with misunderstanding original
purposes. Likewise, building materials
may have been deliberately selected in
order to provide a contrast of colour and
texture, and layout and the choice of
plants might emphasise the wealth and
importance of the owner, in addition to
keeping up with changing fashion.
Archaeological investigation is a vital tool
for discovering this kind of detail. At Hampton
Court Palace, for example, early 18th-century
views show a triangular garden containing a
fountain at the south-eastern end of the Privy
Garden, even though it appears never to have
been constructed. Close physical examination
of the area has failed to reveal associated
earthworks or other remains, and geophysical
survey has also proved negative. Had traces
survived, archaeology would be an essential
means of identifying their age and character.
In addition to ensuring proper understanding
of the history and function of surviving garden
elements, its results can add knowledge
about the wider context that is crucial for site
interpretation and management, particularly
with respect to future use and development.
The historic core of many old gardens is still
recognisable and typical elements of rigid
landscape design can often be traced from
the Middle Ages onwards, as much within
existing parkland as beneath modern lawns.
Together with the banks and ditches of
former raised walks and moats, lesser scarps
and surface depressions betray the presence
of early garden features, frequently denoting
the lines of former walls and sunken paths.
Previous flowerbeds can also be identified
in the same way. The designed landscape
surrounding a country house might also
contain avenues, clumps of trees, shelter belts
and other parkland planting, often previously
connected with distant garden buildings and
other monuments that served as the focal
point of vistas or as eye-catching features.
Former tree sites and lost alignments may
still be visible in the shape of the ground or
can be denoted by different vegetation. With
abandoned approach routes and winding
carriage drives, they build a picture of how