Summary

An irregular hexagonal walled kitchen garden constructed in around 1776 for The Leasowes, property of Edward Horne, after the associated park and landscape had been laid out in the mid 18th century by the poet William Shenstone as a 'ferme ornee'. The walled garden was altered in the late 20th century.

Description

Walled kitchen garden constructed in around 1776, altered in the late C20.

MATERIALS: constructed of brick with some areas of stone coping.

PLAN: the walled garden is formed of six walls of unequal length, arranged in an irregular hexagonal shape. Moving clockwise, the outer elevations of the walls face north, north-east, east, south-east, south-west and north-west.

DESCRIPTION: the walls stand at just over three metres tall and are constructed predominantly in English Garden Wall bond, with some areas having three rows of stretchers between header courses and others having six. Other sections of wall are in an irregular bond. The walls form an irregular hexagonal shape, responding to the sloping nature of the site. Original entrances at the north-west and south-west corners survive and have brick three-centred arches, with later timber doors. The north-west opening is infilled with brick behind the door. The north and south-east walls have later inserted openings with modern timber gates. Some sections of the walls have coping stones, with others topped with a rendered course of headers. The north-west wall is stepped, owing to the garden’s slope to the south. The north-east wall is a cavity wall which was once heated, and some evidence of this function survives with a furnace opening situated at the west end. There is also evidence of heating on the adjacent north wall, with some evidence of chimneys which have since been removed.

History

The Leasowes was known to have been occupied by tenant dairy farmers in the early C18. In 1739 the poet William Shenstone (1714- 1763) moved to the farm, having inherited it from his father. From 1743 Shenstone began to make improvements to the landscape, which he termed as being ‘ferme ornée’ in style. These improvements included features which were intended to evoke the visions conjured up by pastoral poetry such as seats, urns and cascades. Following Shenstone’s death, the estate passed through a series of different ownerships and as a result further alterations to the landscape were made. This included the erection of a walled kitchen garden to the south of the principal house, by Edward Horne, who had purchased the estate in 1773. Horne also rebuilt the house during this period of alteration in the 1770s.

The walled garden was chosen to be situated between the estate’s cascade and the serpentine pool, giving it a concealed position. The walled garden was laid out with an irregular, hexagonal plan. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1885 shows the walled garden with two glasshouses on the south side of the north wall, with gardener’s potting sheds on the north side.

In 1936 the estate was purchased by Halesowen Council and became the location of the parks department. It was used in the later C20 as a horticultural training college. In the 1980s the walled garden’s remaining glasshouses were removed and replaced (the C20 buildings are not included in the listing). In 2014 the walled garden was purchased by Halesowen Abbey Trust, who have restored the site.

Reasons for Listing

Leasowes walled garden, erected in 1776, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* while constructed slightly after Shenstone’s original ferme ornée parkland was created, it remains an important element of The Leasowes C18 designed landscape;
* the walled garden is an early survival of a walled kitchen garden, significantly predating the proliferation of walled gardens during the mid-C19.

Architectural interest:

* the walled garden survives well and retains some architectural elements which indicates that the structure is not purely functional in nature.

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