The Creation of Sheringham Park 1804-1839
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BEFORE THE RHODODENDRONS: the creation of Sheringham Park 1804-1839 The National Trust is one of our ‘Useful Links’, or you can reach their details about Sheringham Park directly from here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sheringham-park Now, thousands of visitors are attracted by the extensive plantings of rhododendrons (not introduced until the early 1850s), expansive parkland and views of the sea; but Humphry Repton, the self-styled ‘landscape gardener’ largely responsible for Sheringham Park, would have been mortified at the thought of what he called ‘felicity hunters’ being within striking distance of ‘The Bower’ (now known as Sheringham Hall, a private residence). The only visitors he aimed to please were those invited by the estate owner who, from October 1811, was Mr Abbott Upcher. But the transformation of the land to make his scheme possible began seven years before that, and the whole story covers thirty-five years. Thanks to the collection of Repton family papers held by Norfolk Record Office, it is possible to unpick the ‘improvement’ and have a privileged view of the intrigue behind this lengthy scheme. In 1804 the estate, comprising a modest farmhouse, manorial rights and 1074 acres of land, was surveyed with a view to sale by its owner, Mr Cook Flower. One of Humphry Repton’s sons, William, was a solicitor practising with his uncle in Aylsham and acted as Mr Flower’s agent. His advice to Mr Flower was that the estate would be worth considerably more if he inclosed the common land. He was well-placed to give this advice because his firm, Adey Repton & Co., undertook many local inclosure schemes thanks to streamlined legislation that allowed local commissioners to be appointed. Flower took his advice and the legal process began with an Inclosure Act in July 1809. Under the Act, any person with rights to use common land was compensated either by a sum of money or by an alternative piece of land or both. But the people of Upper Sheringham were not to be so easily dislodged and satisfying their demands took nineteen meetings of the Commissioners over two years until 26 July 1811 when the Inclosure Award was finally agreed. Cook Flower contracted to sell the estate to Abbot Upcher on 10 July 1811 and the sale was completed on 11th October that year. Behind the scenes, correspondence between William and his father, Humphry, reveals that Repton senior had his eye to the main chance: he believed that the estate would make a national gift for the family of Lord Nelson and clearly saw himself as the designer who would turn this modest coastal estate into a worthy and impressive scheme. Despite frequent attempts to influence members of parliament, this was not to be; but he continued to press his son and create every opportunity to put himself forward to the new owner, whoever that would be. Repton’s trade card, illustrated below, shows him at his theodolite (which he purchased in Norwich when he set himself up in business in 1788), supervising a small army of labourers busy creating an ideal landscape to his design. Eventually, Repton persuaded the new owner of the estate, Mr Abbot Upcher, to let him visit in June 1812. He wasted no time: his ‘Red Book’ of proposals for Sheringham was delivered to Mr Upcher in July. Before looking at his scheme, the two maps below show how the inclosed landscape was over- written, with the position of the Bower (north), reached by new access roads (red, blue and green dotted lines), concealed and revealed gradually through thick belts of planting (the Temple was added in 1975 although Repton had envisaged one in a different position). Repton’s unique selling point was the ingenious use of hinged flaps to offer ‘before’ and ‘after’ views at a glance in his ‘Red Book’ of proposals. Sheringham was no exception and the two views below show how he sold his idea to Abbot Upcher. ‘The Bower’ was designed by John Adey Repton, another of Humphry’s sons, and its foundation stone was laid in July 1813. Abbot Upcher would never see The Bower complete. He was taken ill in October 1812 but rallied in 1813. From then until 1816, he made a concerted effort to follow Repton’s recommendations, albeit modified to better suit his own needs. In 1813 he planted new belts of trees; in 1815 he created a kitchen garden for the emerging residence, purchased and demolished a public house and built a lodge at the southern end of the site; access roads were created; more planting was undertaken in 1816, and Humphry Repton made what he described as a ‘love visit’ (one for which he made no charge) in 1816. Repton died in 1818 and Abbot Upcher in 1819. The estate passed to Henry Ramey Upcher and in 1839 the Bower (now known as Sheringham Hall) was finally completed and occupied. The family began to introduce rhododendrons in the early 1850s for which the ‘Park’ is now well-known to us ‘felicity hunters’. The National Trust became the estate’s guardian in 1986. The ‘Temple’, not quite to Repton’s design nor in the position he intended for it, was erected in 1975. ARCHIVAL SOURCES: Norfolk Record Office (one of our ‘Useful Links’) holds the papers relating to the Inclosure Award and Inclosure Act (on which the ‘before and after’ maps in this article are based) for the estate at Upper Sheringham, sale particulars of the estate, the office papers of Adey Repton & Co., Solicitors of Aylsham, and Humphry Repton’s original account book dating from the inception of his landscape gardening business (now accessible on microfilm). A copy of Repton’s ‘Red Book’ for Sheringham is held by The National Trust. FURTHER READING: There are numerous books about Humphry Repton but one of the most recent and comprehensive is ‘Humphry Repton in Norfolk’, edited by Sally Bate, Rachel Savage and Tom Williamson, and produced by Norfolk Gardens Trust to coincide with the Repton 200 Festival in 2018. https://www.norfolkgt.org.uk .