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Best Garden Walls and attached former Cold Bath, Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens

A Grade II Listed Building in Castle Bromwich, Solihull

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Coordinates

Latitude: 52.5057 / 52°30'20"N

Longitude: -1.7919 / 1°47'31"W

OS Eastings: 414218

OS Northings: 289772

OS Grid: SP142897

Mapcode National: GBR 3RZ.TN

Mapcode Global: VH9YY.W9J0

Plus Code: 9C4WG645+76

Entry Name: Best Garden Walls and attached former Cold Bath, Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens

Listing Date: 22 July 1976

Last Amended: 16 February 2021

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1342865

English Heritage Legacy ID: 218150

Also known as: Walls to north, east and south sides of garden west of Castle Bromwich Hall

ID on this website: 101342865

Location: Buckland End, Solihull, West Midlands, B36

County: Solihull

Civil Parish: Castle Bromwich

Built-Up Area: Birmingham

Traditional County: Warwickshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): West Midlands

Church of England Parish: Castle Bromwich St Mary and St Margaret

Church of England Diocese: Birmingham

Tagged with: Wall

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Summary


Early-C18 garden walls with attached former cold bath of 1733.

Description


Early-C18 garden walls with attached former cold bath of 1733.

MATERIALS: constructed of brick, the walls have brick coping stones.

PLAN: the garden walls enclose the Best Garden at its northern, southern and eastern ends, with the garden forming an area of approximately 0.7 acres in total. On the northern elevation of the north wall one of the rooms of the former cold bath survives.

DESCRIPTION: the walls are constructed in irregular brick bond and stand at approximately 3.5 metres tall with curved brick coping stones. The northern section of wall is punctuated by a large opening leading to the north garden and a further doorway at its western end leading to the former cold bath. The cold bath is rectangular on plan and leans against the north wall of the best garden. The building is partly ruinous and has no roof covering.

The eastern wall of the Best Garden flanks the hall and has an opening under a segmental arch both directly to the north and south of the hall, each with a brick pediment above. The southern wall is without openings and turns south to join the rest of the garden walling.

History


The gardens at Castle Bromwich Hall were begun in 1600 following shortly after the completion of the hall for Sir Edward Devereux. The formal gardens were initially laid to the north and south of the hall, with the walled ‘Best Garden’ later constructed immediately to the west in 1701, with parterre designed by George London. With the designed gardens continuing to expand into the C18, under the ownership of Sir John Bridgeman II, further areas were planted to the west and south-west of the hall, with the introduction of a ‘wilderness’ garden and a ‘holly walk’ planted to run along a north to south axis in the new gardens. In 1733 a cold bath was constructed to the north of the best garden consisting of two chambers: a robing room with a fireplace and a tiled bath room with steps into the water.

Over the course of the C19 some changes were made to the gardens though the garden walls, Orangery and Music Room (listed together at Grade II) are left relatively unaltered. The cold bath fell out of use and saw the installation of a new floor in the late C19; it was subsequently used as a store room.

During the C20 the Bridgeman family ceased living at the hall and the gardens were subsequently gifted as a restrictive covenant to the National Trust in 1946. The mid- to late C20 saw the gardens fall into decline, with many of the structures becoming ruinous. The gardens were restored with some of the buildings partly rebuilt by the Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens Trust, formed in 1985. Any surviving parterre within the Best Garden was also lost during this time and the area is now laid to lawn (2020). The Hall and Gardens are now in separate ownership, with the gardens owned and managed by the independent charitable Trust.

Reasons for Listing


The Best Garden walls and former cold bath at Castle Bromwich Hall are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:
* the walls of the Best Garden form an important part of the early-C18 gardens at Castle Bromwich Hall, a remarkably complete survival from the period.

Architectural interest:
* the garden walls have good detailing with brick coping stones and pediments.

External Links

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