Walls steps and paved surfaces of the sunken garden near Carrow Abbey, Thorpe Hamlet, Norfolk

Summary

The walls, steps, paving and terrace forming an Italianate sunken garden, built in the early C20, possibly by Edward Boardman who made improvements to Carrow Abbey around this time.

Description

MATERIALS: grey stone and soft red bricks.

PLAN: the garden has a symmetrical oval plan, bisected by cruciform paths meeting in the centre, and with a long path and flight of steps to the east.

EXTERIOR: the walls in the garden are built from soft red bricks with deep stone coping, and are surmounted by distinctive multi-faceted ball finials at the returns. The steps are of the same stone, as is the irregularly-shaped paving throughout.

The main approach to the garden is a grand flight of six stone steps up, leading to four steps down, into the sunken area. The steps then lead onto a stone path to the centre of the garden, marked by an octagonal plinth and planter (the planter is possibly not original). At this point, paths from the north and south sides of the garden converge, leading from smaller steps set in the north and south walls. All the paths contain small iron drainage grilles. At the west end of the garden is a lead water feature with a shell spout which formerly fed into a small pool. On each side of the pool, steps lead up onto a terrace or stage which has a high, curved, sheltering wall behind.

History

The historical development of the Carrow Works site in Norwich, until 2020 the former home of Colman’s, one of the world’s oldest condiment milling producers, dates back to 1146 when King Stephen granted land in Carhowe (Carrow) to the nuns of the Church of St Mary and St John for the founding of a Benedictine priory (scheduled and listed Grade I). After the Dissolution most of the priory fell into ruin with the exception of the prioress’s house which came to be known as Carrow Abbey. The priory estate passed through various hands, being acquired by Philip Martineau, an eminent Norwich surgeon, in 1811. In 1850, land immediately to the north of the Carrow Abbey estate was purchased by the successful mustard, flour and starch milling business of J and J Colman Ltd from the Norfolk Railway Company. Along with developing the factory complex, J J Colman also extensively rebuilt a mid-C19 villa on the site between 1860 and 1861, turning it into a family home called Carrow House (listed Grade II). The work is thought to have been carried out by the Norwich architect Edward Boardman (1833-1910); and later an extension and conservatory were added in 1895.

During the late C19 J and J Colman Ltd systematically acquired adjoining parcels of land on which to expand, including the purchase of the Carrow estate from the Martineau family in 1878. By 1926, the premises had expanded to cover some 50 acres and had a frontage of nearly a mile along the River Wensum. While mustard, flour, starch and laundry blue were still the main products produced at Carrow, Colman’s had started producing "Patent" barley, "Patent" groats and "Waverley" oats in 1925 following the acquisition of rival mustard maker and cereal producer Keen Robinson in 1903. In 1938 Colman’s merged with Reckitt and Sons Ltd, a firm producing household products such as polish and bleach, to form Reckitt and Colman Ltd. In 1995, the mustard and condiment side of Reckitt and Colman Ltd was sold to Unilever, while Robinson’s was acquired by Britvic. In 2017, Britvic announced it would close its Carrow Works factory in 2019, prompting Unilever to review its own future on the site, which led to a decision to cease production in 2020.

On the domestic side, Carrow Abbey was remodelled and extended between 1899 and 1909 by Edward Boardman for James and Laura Stuart (the eldest daughter of J J Colman). Boardman also designed a range of ancillary buildings within the immediate vicinity of Carrow Abbey, including a dwelling known as Stable Cottage c1909 and, earlier in 1880-1881, the lodge, gardener’s cottage and former cart shed. The sunken garden was built between 1907 and 1926: it is not depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey (OS) map of that date, but an oval outline matching the garden is depicted on the second edition published in 1907. The next edition, surveyed in 1926 and published in 1928 shows the detail of the paths, steps and terraces. Given the construction date range of 1907 to 1926 it is thought that this may also have been created by Boardman for the Colman family. Historic maps show that there were landscaped gardens with serpentine paths leading from Carrow House and Carrow Abbey, including a path from both residences to the sunken garden. By the 1928 edition of the OS map, the sunken garden was depicted surrounded by trees.

Edward Boardman founded the prominent Norwich-based architectural practice Edward Boardman and Sons; and his son, Edward Thomas Boardman (1861-1950) later joined the practice. Edward Boardman was a prolific architect, designing and restoring country houses, public buildings and churches in the area of Norwich, including the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital (Grade II), the former Primitive Methodist Chapel and Sunday School in Queens Road (both Grade II), and converting Norwich Castle into a museum. His son was principally responsible for the buildings designed by the practice in the Edwardian period and he later became Lord Mayor of Norwich in 1905 and High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1933. Boardman and Sons have over thirty listed buildings to their name. The attribution to Boardman is not definitive.

Reasons for Listing

The walls, steps, terrace and paving built between 1907 and 1926, forming the sunken garden east of Carrow Abbey, possibly by Edward Boardman, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it is a high-quality, harmonious composition, decorated throughout with distinctive multi-faceted ball finials;
* it survives almost completely intact.

Historic interest:

* it was created for the famous Colman family who lived at Carrow Abbey and Carrow House nearby.

Group value:

* it has strong group value with Carrow Abbey (Grade I), Carrow Priory (scheduled monument) and the nearby pet cemetery and flint wall (Grade II).

External Links

Historic England Listing

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