Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty T4 Area Method Historic Environment Background Theme Supplementary Action Plans Theme 4: Historic Parks and Gardens in the Landscape This document forms part of a suite of documents which together comprise the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB Historic Environment Action Plans. The HEAPs provide a summary of the key characteristics of the historic environment of the AONB at a landscape scale, they then set out the significance, condition and forces for change affecting the historic fabric and character of this special landscape and identify proactive actions to conserve and enhance these special characteristics. These summaries are divided into two groups: 1. Summaries of the historic environment of the AONB by area 2. Summaries of the historic environment of the AONB by theme These core documents are accompanied by documents which provide background information, supplementary information and detail on the methodologies used to create these documents. A series of icons help you navigate this suite of documents: Background - Provides an introduction to the AONB Historic Environment B Action Plans and provides background information on the history and archaeology of the landscape (B1 to B10) Area - Summarises key characteristics of discrete geographical areas A within the AONB, they then set out the significance, condition and forces for change affecting the historic fabric and character of each area and identify proactive actions to conserve and enhance its characteristics (A1 to A12) Theme - Summarises key characteristics of historic environment themes, T each document then sets out the significance, condition and forces for change affecting the historic fabric and character of each theme and identify proactive actions to conserve and enhance its characteristics (T1 to T14) Supplementary - A series of documents which explore supplementary S issues of relevance to the Historic Environment Action Plans (S1 to S2) Method - Introduces the methodology behind the production of the M Historic Environment Action Plans (M1 to M3) Contents Introducing the Theme Statements......................................................................... 1 Introduction to Theme 4: Historic Parks and Gardens in the Landscape ............... 1 Summary of Key Characteristics ............................................................................ 2 Linkages to other Historic Landscape Character Statements................................. 2 History and Context ................................................................................................ 3 Key Secondary Sources ......................................................................................... 6 Landscape Scale Characteristics and Components ............................................... 6 Historic Environment Actions................................................................................ 15 Introducing the Theme Statements Fourteen distinct Historic Landscape Themes have been identified in the AONB. These were chosen by the HEAP Steering group as representing the topics which best encapsulate the historic character of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB. The theme descriptions aim to provide an overview of each theme which encapsulates the main features of the Historic Environment present and include both the archaeological and historical, the very old and the more recent. The process through which the Historic Landscape Character themes were identified, and mapped, and the sources of information used to create these descriptions is documented in the methodological statement ‘Creating and Describing Historic Character Themes’. Introduction to Theme 4: Historic Parks and Gardens in the Landscape “O, lose me in the green delightful walks, Of Dodington, thy seat, serene and plain ; Where simple Nature reigns ; and every view, Diffusive, spreads the pure Dorsetian downs.” James Thomson 1730 in reference to Eastbury Park The aims are to provide an overview of the key archaeological and historic characteristics of the designed parks and gardens of the AONB and to focus on evidence of physical surviving remains and historic views in today’s landscape. From Medieval deer parks through to 18th century landscape parks and Victorian pleasure gardens. Designed landscapes are an intrinsic Philipps House, nestling in Dinton Park part of what makes this living landscape special and are integrally linked to the hunting landscapes of the Cranborne Chase, Grovely and Selwood. 1 Summary of Key Characteristics Nationally important designed landscapes and gardens associated with named designers through the ages such as Capability Brown, Humphrey Repton, Thomas Mawson and Gertude Jekyll. These include: - Very large scale 18th and 19th century landscaped parks. - More intimate formal gardens with a multi layered history. These include the Victorian pleasure gardens at the Larmer Tree, which are a visual expression of the legacy of the archaeologist Pitt Rivers, and the 19th and 20th century gardens at Cranborne Manor which sit within the frame of early 17th century formal gardens. Thirty five historic parks and gardens that are identified on lists compiled by the relevant county Gardens Trust as being of local importance. These are often smaller in scale and more intimate than the Parks and Gardens included on the English Heritage Register. The historic parks and gardens are associated with: - the settings of historic grand houses and manors - planting and trees, including veteran trees, with the creation of key views and view points both within the landscapes and beyond. - listed built garden features including ha-has, temples and grottos, and functional buildings with elaborate stylistic elements including carriage houses, walled gardens and lodges. - complex histories of redesign, reinvention and remodelling which continues into the 20th century. - Famous persons or events and garden and park designers. Large number of Medieval deer parks are known in the AONB, several of which survive as park pales or have been incorporated into later landscape parks. Several of the historic parklands form the focus of importance visitor attractions in the AONB, including Longleat and Stourhead. Three are now in National Trust ownership, the rest are still in private hands and access is variable. The creation of a new ‘modern’ designed landscapes such as at Ferne House. Linkages to other Historic Landscape Character Statements This statement forms one of 14 AONB wide Historic Landscape Character Theme descriptions. These are accompanied by a series of 12 Historic Landscape Character Area descriptions which cover the whole of the AONB. These documents together build up a picture of the key characteristics of the Historic Environment of the AONB at a landscape scale. These statements combined inform the Historic Environment Action Plans created for the AONB landscape. Other Themes of particular relevance to this theme are: Theme 5: Hunting Landscapes Theme 12: Water in the Landscape 2 The following Historic Landscape Character Areas of relevance to this theme are: Area 1: Longleat to Penselwood Hills and Kilmington Common Area 3: Chalk River Valleys Area 9: Vale of Wardour Area 10: Wooded Chalk Downland on the Cranborne Chase and Chetterwood Area 11: Downland Hills Area 12: Southern Downland Belt Fonthill Arch History and Context The origins of formal gardens in the AONB are derived from Medieval designed gardens. Monastic institutions in particular carried on a tradition of garden design and intense horticultural technique. During the Middle Ages, gardens were thought to unite the earthly with the divine. The Italian Renaissance inspired a revolution in private gardening. Renaissance private gardens were full of scenes from ancient mythology and other learned allusions. The origin of landscape parks in the AONB can be traced back to the Medieval deer parks in the area, for example at Wardour. 3 The 17th century baroque French formal garden, also called ‘Jardin à la Française’, was the inspiration for the first known gardens in the AONB though none of these survive though the 17th century framework of the gardens at Cranborne can still be discerned. This style of garden is based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order over nature. It reached its height of popularity in England in the mid 17th century before being replaced by the English landscape garden. The predecessors of the landscape garden in England were the great parks created by Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. These parks featured vast lawns, woods, and pieces of architecture. At the centre of the composition was the house, behind which were formal and symmetrical gardens in the style of the ‘jardin à la française’, with ornate carpets of floral designs and walls of hedges, decorated with statues and fountains. These gardens were designed to impress visitors with their size and grandeur. An example from the AONB is the archaeological earthworks belonging to the Vanbrugh designed parkland at Eastbury. The new style that became known as the English garden was invented by landscape designers William Kent and Charles Bridgeman, working for wealthy patrons. Charles Bridgeman (1690–1738), the son of a gardener and an experienced horticulturist, is associated with Eastbury Park in the AONB. Stourhead, created by banker Henry Hoare II, was one of the first 'picturesque' gardens. The Great Age of the English Garden and