Description

BICTON BICTON PARK
ST 08 NE
3/10 Orangery including hot-houses
- adjoining to north-west and
south-east
GV II*
Orangery, now a tea house. Early C19 with rear additions of circa 1980. Main walls
limestone ashlar, others brick and stuccoed to front, exposed to rear; slate roof
to main block, glass roofs to hot-houses.
Broad curving building facing south-west and overlooking the Italianate Gardens
(q.v.). The main block is relatively tall and single storey. The central part is
open behind a colonnade and the rooms either side curve slightly forward. The rear
wall continues the curve either side with hot-houses in front. They are lower and
set back fron the front. At the end of each of the inner hot-houses the rear wall
steps back before continuing the forward curve and thus the outer hot-houses are
recessed from the inner ones.
The Orangery has a symmetrical 3:3-window Classical front. The windows are confined
to the rooms whilst the centre portion comprises a wide distyle Ionic collonade in
antis on a pair of steps, with moulded entablature and modillion cornice and low-
pitched pediment over which contains a round-headed niche. The steps are flanked by
low walls on which are large limestone statues of seated barking dogs. Either side
of the colonnade are 4 bays with panelled pilasters between. The 3 inner bays
contain massive full height 48-pane sashes. The outer bays each contain a round-
headed niche with an oculus window over. The same moulded entablature and modillion
cornice is carried across each side with a plain parapet above. The roof is hipped
each end and the pediment is surmounted by a large wrought iron and brass weather
vane. The niches contain white marble busts on fluted columnular pedestals; the
Duke of Wellington in the pediment, Sir Walter Raleigh to right and Lord Nelson to
left.
The hot-houses on either side have low stucco sleeper walls, glass walls with
glazing bars and glass monopitch roofs leaning against the rear walls. They were
apparently designed for various levels of heat and the inner ones have boilerhouses
behind.
The Orangery with its adjoining hot-houses from part of the C19 landscaping scheme
which was conceived on a grand scale and includes a group of fine listed buildings
such as the Palm House (q.v.) and the features of the Italianate Gardens (q.v.).
The Orangery overlooks the gardens down to the valley where Hayward's Church of St
Mary (q.v.) stands a little to left of view. The church is partly hidden by a
stand of trees but a gap was left in the middle to concentrate the view on the Rolle
obelisk (q.v.) which stands on the brown of the next hill.

Listing NGR: SY0736085968

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17546621

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments