Walled garden at Giffords Hall, Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk

Summary

Walled garden of Giffords Hall, probably constructed in the late C17, with additions in the C18, C19 and C20.

Description

Walled garden of Giffords Hall, probably constructed in the late C17, with additions in the C18, C19 and C20.

MATERIALS: the walled garden, orangery and bothies are constructed of red brick, with some gault brick to the front (garden-facing) elevation of the orangery. The roofs of the orangery and bothies are slate covered.

PLAN: the walled garden southeast of the Hall is rectangular on plan and measures approximately 85m x 60m; it is open at its northwest corner and has a curved southwest corner (where the east avenue curves around it to the gatehouse of the Hall). It is constructed on a sloping site, with a drop of approximately 7m between the west and east walls. The orangery and bothies are each rectangular on plan and are attached to the exterior side of the north wall.

DESCRIPTION: the walled garden was constructed of red brick, probably in the late C17. The north exterior elevation of the walled garden retains a number of garden bothies, built in the late C19 and early C20; these single-storey structures are constructed of red brick with a catslide slate roof sloping from the garden wall. South of the bothies, a late C20 spider's-web timber door, designed by Peter Coats, provides access to the interior of the walled garden. The east exterior elevation of the walled garden is approximately 2.5m high and appears to show two phases of construction: the northern stretch, approximately 20m in length, has panelled sections separated by shallow buttresses over a coped brick plinth wall; the remaining 40m or so to the south has more substantial sloping buttresses which project from the wall and is probably of the earliest phase. The southeast corner has a large stone ball finial atop a red brick pier. The south elevation also has substantial sloping buttresses, and another late C20 spider's-web gate by Peter Coats.

The orangery is a rectangular-plan structure, constructed of red brick laid in English garden wall bond. It has a single-pitched slate roof sloping away to the north, with three late-C20 skylights. The front (south) elevation to the walled garden is constructed of gault brick with red brick dressings and has three red-brick recessed panels to the parapet, and a pilaster to each side topped by a stone urn. The front elevation has three flat-arched openings: a central glazed timber door has a six-pane overlight and is flanked by nine-over-nine timber sash windows, all in moulded timber frames flush with the brickwork.

History

The ruined chapel south of Giffords Hall was reputedly built by Richard Constable, who held the manor of Giffords Hall in 1216. The Hall gained its name from the Gifford family, owners from around the mid-C13 until around the mid-C14. A grant of free warren at the manor of ‘Giffardes’ was granted in 1378 to Sir Simon Burley, favourite of King Richard II. The Mannock family held the manor from 1428 after Philip Mannok, merchant of Suffolk, was appointed as a tax collector in Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Hertfordshire in 1425. The Mannocks undertook some rebuilding in the mid-C15, but the greater part of the present house was built between about 1490 and 1520, with some modernisation between around 1730 and 1740. The Mannock family died out in 1787 but various heirs assumed the Mannock name until the estate was sold around 1886. It was purchased in 1888 by J W Brittain, who carried out restorations and additions; further alterations and additions were made following its purchase by C G Brocklebank in 1934. A substantial red brick gatehouse stands on the south side and a great hall on the north.

A walled garden was added to the southeast side of Giffords Hall, probably in the late C17, with terraced lawns stepping down to the east to a long rectangular canal. The fashion for garden canals was introduced to England in 1660, after King Charles II returned from exile and commissioned the construction of two canals at St James’ Palace. The earliest recorded canal in Suffolk was that at Euston, which appears to have been built by 1669. It was not until about the 1690s that the fashion for canals took hold; an increasing popularity of informal styles of gardening from the 1730s, championed by Alexander Pope, Stephen Switzer and William Kent saw garden canals fall out of fashion. The 1817 Enclosure Map shows the walled garden with an early C18 orangery at its northwest corner, a canted southwest corner, and the rectangular-plan canal at the east end of the garden. The 1838 Tithe Map provides further detail, with two rectangular compartments occupying the west and central sections of the walled garden, and the rectangular canal occupying the east section.

By the time of the 1885 Ordnance Survey (OS) map, the canal had been drained and partially infilled and a round pool created in the northeast corner of the walled garden. A number of bothies and glasshouses were added to the walled garden in the late C19 and early C20. The 1885 OS map shows a lean-to bothy on the exterior side and a glasshouse on the interior side of the north wall. By the time of the 1904 OS map additional glasshouses had been added to the exterior and interior sides of the north wall, and another glasshouse added to the exterior side of the south wall; the glasshouses have since been removed. In the 1970s and 1980s the walled garden was redesigned in part by Peter Coats, a respected landscape designer, who introduced the borders flanking the east-west walk that descends from the house to the lowest terrace. His work included beds of topiary, grey and silver planting and box edging, and spider’s web painted timber pedestrian gates on the north and south walls inspired by C19 Chinese fret patterns.

Reasons for Listing

The walled garden at Giffords Hall is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a well-designed and impressive structure, little altered since its construction over 300 years ago;
* for the architectural quality of the elegant orangery, probably added in the early C18, which illustrates the design ambitions and social pretensions of the owners at that time;
* for the sensitive restoration of the gardens by Peter Coats, an eminent landscape designer in the late C20.

Historic interest:

* as a key design element of the historic designed landscape of Giffords Hall, which has evolved over at least 800 years;
* as a walled garden of relatively early date, pre-dating the proliferation of detached walled gardens in the mid-C19.

Group value:

* for the strong functional and historic group value it holds with the attached Grade I-listed Hall, the Grade II-listed ruined Chapel of St Nicholas and dovecote, and the Grade II registered historic parkland and gardens of Giffords Hall. Together they form a strong ensemble of designated heritage assets of historic significance.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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