Information for record number MWA6953:
Packwood House Formal Gardens, Lapworth

Summary	The site of a park and formal garden dating from the 17th century onwards. There are three gazebos and the garden contains a topiary garden said to represent the Sermon on the Mount. It is situated at Packwood House.

What Is It?
Type:	Landscape Park, Formal Garden, Walk, Garden Terrace, Pool, Fountain, Gazebo, Sunken Garden, Topiary Garden, Pond, Lake, Kitchen Garden
Period:	Modern - Modern (1670 AD - 2050 AD)

Where Is It?
Parish:	Lapworth
District:	Warwick, Warwickshire
Grid Reference:	SP 17 72
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)

Level of Protection	National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: ) Registered Park or Garden (Grade: II*) Sites & Monuments Record

Picture(s) attached
Description
Source Number
1 5 Packwood House's 43 hectare site comprises 1.5 hectares of formal gardens, and 41.5 hectares of parkland. A minor road, Grove road, passes from north to south through the site, immediately to the east of the House. ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES Packwood House is today approached from Grove road, the minor road which runs from north to south through the site. The road passes through a forecourt to the east of the House which is enclosed to the south and north by brick walls which flank tall, rusticated brick piers surmounted by pyramidal brick caps. To the east the forecourt is enclosed by a buttressed brick wall which retains Two Pits park at a higher level to the east. The park is approached by a flight of semi-circular brick steps aligned on the east facade of the House. At the top of the steps a simple wrought-iron gate set in a wrought-iron screen 10m long leads to a footpath within the north-east avenue which extends through Two Pits park to join Chessetts wood road 1km north-east of the House. The forecourt is enclosed to the south-west by the mid 17th century walls of the south garden, while to the north-west it adjoins mid 17th century barns, stables and outbuildings. A gravelled carriage turn with a central octagonal lawn lies to the west of the road, below a pair of early 20th century ornamental wrought-iron gates which are supported by a pair of mid 17th century rusticated brick piers surmounted by stone ball finials. PRINCIPAL BUILDING Packwood House stands towards the centre of the site, immediately to the west of Grove road. The late 16th century House is roughly square on plan with projecting full-height gabled porches on the east and west facades. gardenS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS There are formal gardens on all sides of the House, with areas of informal pleasure grounds adjacent to the lake to the south-west and west. The east garden lies between the forecourt and the entrance to the House, and is enclosed to the north by the mid 17th century brick outbuildings, and to the south by a high, mid 17th century brick wall which contains heating flues for wall-trained fruit trees. A central stone-flagged walk flanked by rectangular panels of lawn leads west from the entrance gates to the front door of the House. The south garden comprises a rectangular lawn which is enclosed by high, mid 17th century brick walls to the east and west, and by a mid 17th century raised terrace walk to the south which is approached by a flight of semi-circular brick steps flanked by brick piers with carved stone urns. To the north of the south garden a small stone-flagged terrace enclosed by low brick walls covered with climbing roses to the south-east and south-west lies immediately below the south facade of the House; a small niche containing a pool and wall fountain is set into the east wall. Each corner of the south garden is marked by a brick gazebo of square plan ornamented with corner pilasters. The mid 17th century north-east and north-west gazebos have pyramidal tiled roofs and are of two storeys with ground- and first-floor timber doors facing the garden. The south-west gazebo is believed to be mid 17th century, while that to the south-east was rebuilt in the early 20th century as part of Baron Ash's restoration of the garden. The southern gazebos terminate the raised south terrace to east and west, and have flat roofs with arched entrances facing along the terrace, and north to semi-circular brick steps which descend to the garden. The south-west gazebo contains a painted timber bench and a circular stone table supported on a brick pedestal; an oval window in the south wall is surrounded by shells. The south-east gazebo contains a timber bench seat. The south terrace walk comprises a stone-flagged walk flanked by herbaceous borders, and a low parapet wall to the south allows views across the topiary garden. The topiary garden to the south of the south garden is entered through an ornamental wrought-iron gate with an overthrow which is supported on rusticated brick piers with pyramidal caps. Semicircular brick steps descend from the gate to the level of the topiary garden, and at the base of the south face of the terrace retaining wall are fifteen pairs of arched recesses for bee skips. The north garden is enclosed by high brick walls to the west and east, and by a lower brick wall to the north which allows views through an area of trees and shrubs to the park. To the south a screen wall links the north-west corner of the outbuildings and the north-east corner of the Great Hall and encloses the service court. The north drive is adjoined by lawns to the north and south, and box topiary figures are placed along its edge in wooden tubs. A brick-lined rectangular pool extends south from the mid-point of the north wall of the garden, and is fed by a lead lion-mask spout. To the north-west of the House an area of informal lawns is separated from the park by an L-shaped pool which is fed by the outflow from the lake; this is shown on the 1723 estate plan. Some 30m north-west of the House a late 17th century plunge pool is enclosed by yew hedges with a pair of brick piers surmounted by terracotta finials to the south-west and north-west. park The park lies to the east and west of the House, and is divided from north to south by Grove road. Two Pits park to the east remains grazed meadow and is crossed from west-south-west to east-north-east by a mixed avenue of deciduous trees. Two square ponds flank the gate leading from the park to the eastern avenue 400m north-east of the House, while an L-shaped pond lies in Brick Kiln Coppice 240m south-east of the House. Two further parkland enclosures lie to the north of Two Pits park, rising gently to Pavis Cottage. The west park is today a series of large meadow enclosures divided by fences with scattered mature deciduous trees, some of which survive from earlier field boundaries. KITCHEN GARDEN The KITCHEN GARDEN lies to the east the stables and barn on the east side of Grove road, 100m north-east of the House. It is enclosed by high brick walls to the north and east, with lower brick walls to the south and south-west, and the east facade of the stables to the west. Arched timber doors are set in the north, west and south walls, and the interior of the garden is laid out with a central north/south gravel walk and a series of box-edged beds separated by transverse gravel walks. A range of brick frames survive to the south of the glasshouses, while a brick bothy stands against the outer face of the north-east wall. The late 20th century. Arrangement of walks and beds within the KITCHEN GARDEN reflects that shown on the 1723 estate plan. 2 Recording of the groundworks for a new pathway on behalf of the National Trust recorded a series of drains associated with earlier, probably 19th-century, arrangements of the gardens. 3 Recording for groundworks in 2005 on the behalf of the National Trust recorded a series of drains the oldest of these seem to be three brick-built drains, also three parallel runs of cylindrical ceramic drains where noted, there was some small finds of 19th century pottery found. These drains where all found south of the House just beyond the garden wall separating the House from the southern garden. Later on in 2009 the National Trust again commissioned ground works which led to the recording of archaeological evidence both in the months of January and October. In January 2009 a capped drain was found which consisted of hand made bricks laid in a clay bedding the drain was one brick wide and four brick high, and was capped with an limestone capping. In a shallow layer of silt 0.05m deep was found in which a few sherds of mid 19th century pottery was found. In October 2009 an other capped drain was found of a differing type of construction to the one found in January, this October capped drain was formed of a neatly cut limestone slabs for a base to which five courses of neatly laid and mortared hand bricks where laid to from a wall and then capped with neatly cut limestone slabs it seems to of been a 19th century construction. This October drain also cut a brick feature which seemed to be a small brick drain of which a date of 18th-19th century is a likely construction date. 4 negative watching brief of a pipe trench. 6 A conservation management plan for the parkland was created in 2012. As part of the creation of the plan all the main features within the parkland were photographed and their condition assessed. A detailed history of the site is also included in the report. 7 The House and the gardens have been extensively altered in the 20th century in such a way that the seem idealised versions of a 17th-18th century site.
Sources
Source No: 1 Source Type: Bibliographic reference Title: Register of Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England Author/originator: English Heritage Date: 1994 Page Number: Volume/Sheet:     Source No: 7 Source Type: Bibliographic reference Title: Warwickshire Register Review Report & Recommendations Author/originator: Lovie, Jonathan Date: 1997 Page Number: Volume/Sheet:     Source No: 6 Source Type: Conservation Plan Title: Packwood House, Parkland Plan Author/originator: The National Trust Date: 2012 Page Number: Volume/Sheet:     Source No: 5 Source Type: Statuatory List Title: National Heritage List for England Author/originator: Historic England Date: Page Number: Volume/Sheet:     Source No: 3 Source Type: Observation Report Title: Archaeological Recording at Packwood House, Lapworth, Warwickshire in 2005 and 2009 Author/originator: Warwickshire Museum Date: 2010 Page Number: Volume/Sheet:     Source No: 4 Source Type: Observation Report Title: Packwood House, Lapworth, Warwickshire, Archaeological watching brief Author/originator: Hunter J Date: 2011 Page Number: Volume/Sheet:     Source No: 2 Source Type: Serial Title: West Midlands Archaeology vol 48 Author/originator: S Watt (ed.) Date: 2005 Page Number: Volume/Sheet:

Images:
	A view of the gardens at Packwood House, Lapworth Copyright: Warwickshire County Council Date: 1900s
Click here for larger image

back to top