
Newsletter of the Staffordshire Gardens and Parks Trust. Registered Charity No. 1013862. SummeR 2011 ISSue No. 44 News Staffordshire Gardens & Parks Trust Published by the Staffordshire Gardens and Parks Trust. c/o South Staffordshire LETTER Council, Wolverhampton Road, Codsall, Staffordshire WV8 1PX. Tel: 01902 696000 Staffordshire - the creative county Staffordshire is rightly known for its historic gardens, some, like Alton Towers, Biddulph Grange, Shugborough Park and Trentham Gardens, famous beyond regional and national boundaries. But equally deserving of recognition are a number of lesser-known gardens still in process of development which continue to provide the county with a reminder of the creative imagination, energy and dedication of owners whose work may not be so well known as that of such historic luminaries as the Earl of Lichfield and the Duke of Sutherland, but whose achievements deserve to be more widely known and appreciated. For the past fifty years and more, William Wootton Hall, the home of the Hon. and built by no means matched the number Podmore has been creating and Mrs. Johnny Greenall, is, though modern, demolished before and after World developing at Consall Hall a landscape itself of great interest. The present Hall, War II. garden of stunning vistas on a site once built to the design of Digby Harris, who disfigured by banks of pit spoil left behind has been described as “one of the most To one side of the house are the more after many years of mining. Covering accomplished country house architects of formal gardens, to the other Rousseau’s seventy acres, and including six lakes, four his generation”, replaced an earlier Cave, where the French philosopher, by miles of paths and a number of follies and eighteenth-century house which had been local accounts of the time a difficult and essentially English in appearance, it is still rebuilt in the 1850s. ungrateful guest, wrote part of his most a work in progress, and William celebrated work, “Les Confessions” (The Podmore, though now ninety, is still The Hall is one of between fifteen and stone façade and doorway are now at actively involved in the management and twenty whose owners have so far taken Consall Hall). development of this remarkable garden. advantage of “Gummer’s Law”, a planning law passed in 1997 and named Work on reclaiming the gardens in the This year, members have visited two after John Selwyn Gummer, then Minister valley below the house, which had been gardens where a similar vision is evident. for the Environment, which was intended colonised by dense bush and sycamore, In each case, members were privileged to to allow houses of ground-breaking began in 1997 and at an early stage be taken round by the owners, who were design to be built in isolated places. Of uncovered the base of a concrete generous in giving their time to explain this measure, Gummer later wrote “The fountain. A waterfall at the head of a the history of the garden and plans for its country house is one of the great glories stream running through the valley has future development. of England, and I was determined it been restored and the pool at the bottom should continue”, though the number dredged. Rousseau's Cave Wootton Hall continued overleaf The sides of the valley have been planted they also display a strong element of Packington Hayes - The Pagan Sundial with a variety of spring bulbs, limes and playfulness. rhododendron. Planting was hit by the devastating frosts of last winter, their As he or she walks around the gardens, most notable victim being a rare Wollemi the visitor encounters a number of Pine – the ‘Dinosaur Tree” -, hopes for surprises - here, two deer are lurking in a whose recovery have not, however, been corner, there, a face peers out of a heap entirely abandoned. of leaves under a tree. Elsewhere, the visitor will find an Easter Island head, a Immediately below the house is a more large hand encircled by shrubs, a dinosaur contemporary garden designed by Angela egg, a small terrier digging for rabbits Collins, noted for her naturalistic planting beneath a sundial, walk through a moon of grasses, whose work can also be seen gate or stop in front of the remnant of an at Cottesbrooke Hall. ancient oak brought in from the neighbouring woodland to form a The visit by members of the SGPT was, sculptural centre piece. by one day, the first ever hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Greenall, a mere prelude to the All are, of course, artefacts, the product expected visit next day of two hundred of Richard Barnes’s imagination and, in members of the Ashbourne Horse some cases, of his craftsmanship. Society! One monument in particular catches the eye; the Pagan Sundial stands in the The gardens at Packington Hayes Farm, middle of a large lawn, twin monoliths set visited by SGPT members in June, are the slightly apart so that, at the eleventh hour creation of Richard Barnes. Extending to of the eleventh day of the eleventh The gardens are an arboriculturist’s eight acres and expanded over a number month, a shaft of sunlight shines between heaven! Amongst the many species to be of years, they include what is probably them just as it does through the open found in the arboretum, there are the latest folly built in this country, a doorway in the Armed Forces Memorial Colorado Spruce, Cottonwood, miniature sham castle, inspired by a at the National Arboretum. Monterey Pine, Turkish Hazel, Golden tower seen at Hampton Court (and now, Dawn Redwood, a Persian Iron Tree, following a disagreement with the The buildings - the Sham Castle, the Chilean Pine (better known as the planning authorities, protected from any outside dining-room, the office (a replica Monkey Puzzle Tree), fastigiate yews, and threat of demolition by the presence of of the threepenny-bit house at Catton ten types of silver birch. bats), from the roof of which a panoramic Park) - are all built using reclaimed view of the gardens can be enjoyed. materials, and other archaeological A collection of eucalyptus trees treasures can be found elsewhere in the commemorates the presence at Fradley While there are more traditional gardens - a pinnacle from a church in of Australian airmen during World War elements to be admired – an Italian Liverpool, a window from a church in Two, some of whom were befriended by garden centred on a lily pond Derby, but, most notable, a pair of stone the Barnes family, though, sadly, the trees ornamented with a lead Eros, flanked by pillars from the Old Dockyard at were amongst those blasted this year by a a tapestry hedge and with an outdoor Plymouth between which Drake himself severe frost in early May. dining-room at its head; a collection of might well have passed - all rescued beautiful trees, many rare and unusual, following demolition. Water is another feature to delight the brought from different parts of the world, senses; there are a number of pools, some with koi carp, a waterfall and a large lake complete with temple. Beyond the gardens is a wild-flower meadow extending to four-and-a-half acres, sown with sixty different species and untouched by herbicides. All three gardens mentioned above are products of a creative imagination, tempered in each case by an individual personality, and driven by energy and a dedication of which Staffordshire should be proud, and all three owners deserve the fullest credit for their remarkable achievements. WBS It should noted that only the first of these gardens is open to the general public. Packington Hayes - Sham Castle A Shilling A Head The National Gardens Scheme was founded in 1927, when 609 private gardens “of quality and interest” opened to the public at an entrance fee of “a shilling a head”, a fee that was to remain unchanged until the 1970s. More than £8000 was raised for The Queen’s Nursing Institute. Four years later, over a thousand gardens opened, a school for dyslexic children); Oakley Hall, near and, in the same year, the first handbook, which market Drayton; Patshull Hall (now a wedding became known as “The Yellow Book” because of the venue and conference centre); Swynnerton Park; bright colour chosen for its covers, was published Thorpe Hall, Tamworth; and Wychnor Hall (now a by “Country Life”. country club). In 1948, the NGS joined the National Trust in Over the next eleven years, their example was restoring and preserving important gardens, and followed by Swinfen Hall (now a hotel); Vale Head, The National Trust reciprocated by opening some of Wightwick; Viewlands, Wightwick (later known as its own gardens for the Scheme, as it continues to elmsdale Hall and now divided into apartments); do to this day. Alton Towers (now the internationally-famous pleasure park); Chartley Hall; Himley Hall (now In 1988, The National Garden Scheme Charitable owned by Dudley mBC and run as a conference Trust was set up, with Queen elizabeth the Queen centre); Sandon Hall; Little Wyrley Hall; The mother as its first Patron. Its present Patron is HRH mount, Compton (now a hotel and a popular venue The Prince of Wales, himself an enthusiastic for weddings); The Woodhouse, Tettenhall; The gardener. Wombourne Wodehouse; Heath House, Tean; and Little Onn Hall (one of whose owners, mrs. Julia In keeping with its original purpose of funding Cavendish, survived the sinking of “Titanic”!). nursing (even now, when that responsibility has passed to the NHS), the Scheme’s principal Of these, only one is open under the Scheme in 2011 beneficiaries are macmillan Cancer Support; marie – The Wombourne Wodehouse, which first opened Curie Cancer Care; Help the Hospices; Crossroads in 1936, – though the total number of gardens open Care, which provides support for carers and the in Staffordshire this year is sixty-seven, out of a people for whom they care; and The Queen’s total of more than 3,700 throughout england and Nursing Institute; though they also include, Wales attracting a quarter of a million people each appropriately enough, The Gardeners’ Royal year.
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