Witches' Circle, formerly known as the Dial Garden, at Shrubland Hall, Barham, Suffolk

Summary

Garden feature consisting of a stone circle and six urns created in the 1840s.

Description

Garden feature consisting of a stone circle and six urns.

MATERIALS: artificial stone.

PLAN: the Witches’ Circle is located at the southern end of the Green Terrace, on its west side. It is surrounded by a low hedge with openings for six grass paths which radiate from the main circular feature.

EXTERIOR: the Witches’ Circle survives in a simplified form as a low stone circle surrounded by six urns on pedestals. The stone circle, which is now very overgrown, appeared originally to have six ball finials positioned at regular intervals but only two survive, one of which has toppled from its position. In the centre of the circle is a swagged urn with a domed top.

The six urns surrounding the circle rest upon circular plinths on hexagonal bases. The urns are shallow with wide rims and flaring bases. Around the main part of each urn is a pair of writhing, intertwined snakes.

History

The Shrubland estate is thought to have originated with the building of the Old Hall by the Booth family in the early C16 but in the 1770s the architect James Paine (1717-89) was commissioned by John Bacon to design a new hall on a new site. This Georgian building still forms the core of the present hall and occupies a dramatic site at the top of a steep escarpment. Sir William Middleton purchased Shrubland in 1788 and the same year commissioned Humphry Repton (1752-1818) to suggest improvements, some of which were carried out. Sir William Fowle Fowle Middleton inherited the estate from his father in 1830 and had the Hall extensively remodelled by the architect J P Gandy-Deering. In association with his nationally renowned head gardener Donald Beaton (who remained in charge at Shrubland until 1852), Sir William and Lady Middleton developed an elaborate and complex collection of gardens by the Hall and at the foot of the escarpment. In the late 1840s (possibly 1848) they commissioned Charles Barry (1795-1860) to continue to turn their ideas for an Italianate house and garden into reality, and it was during this time that Barry oversaw the creation of the Balcony Garden, the Descent, and the Lower or Panel Garden. The gardens were finally finished in 1854.
After his death in 1860, Sir William's cousin Sir George Nathaniel Broke Middleton took over the estate which in 1882 passed to his niece and her husband James St Vincent, fourth Baron de Saumarez. During their period William Robinson was consulted on modernising some of the planting. The Hall was used as a convalescent home during the First World War and the Old Hall as a brigade HQ during the Second World War. In 1965 a health clinic was established in the Hall by the sixth Baron and on his death the estate passed to the seventh Baron. The site has since been sold and remains (2021) in private ownership.

The Witches’ Circle was constructed at the southern end of the Green Terrace. This seems to have been created during the 1840s, together with at least some of the gardens aligned along it, forming a series of distinct ‘theme’ gardens. The Witches’ Circle was originally known as the Dial Garden, formerly a Rosery. It is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1883 where the circular wall built at its centre is clearly marked with six radiating paths.

The built elements making up the Witches’ Circle are made of artificial stone which was often used for statues and architectural features by this date. The use of Coade Stone (the first artificial stone) from the 1770s onwards led to a proliferation of practitioners offering reconstituted stone architectural features and ornaments throughout the C19.

Reasons for Listing

The Witches’ Circle, a garden room constructed in the 1840s, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* the careful layout and the ornate nature of the different built elements form a distinctive composition of notable design quality;

* the permanence of its construction has resulted in its survival as one of the few remaining ‘theme’ gardens laid out at the southern end of the Green Terrace;

* it belongs to the phase of garden design when the return of formal, structured gardens around the house culminated in the 1840s and 1850s in the vogue for elaborate architectural gardens in the Italianate style.

Historic interest:

* it dates to Donald Beaton’s time who, as editor of the ‘Cottage Gardener’ and adviser on bedding at Kew, became Britain’s principal spokesman and theorist on bedding and colour;

* it is associated with the highly gifted gardeners and patrons who created the gardens at Shrubland, widely considered to be the most elaborate and famous gardens in Suffolk.

Group value:

* it has strong value with the Grade I registered park and garden and the Grade II* listed Hall, along with the many other listed buildings situated throughout the estate.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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