Information for record number MWA410:
Packington Park, Great Packington

Summary	An early 17th century park remodelled in the mid 18th century after a scheme by Lancelot Brown, with late 18th and early 19th century picturesque elements.

What Is It?
Type:	Deer Park, Formal Garden, Kitchen Garden, Lake, Landscape Park, Drive, Gate Lodge, Cascade, Garden Terrace, Parterre, Park Pale, Wild Garden
Period:	Imperial - Modern (1751 AD - 2050 AD)

Where Is It?
Parish:	Great Packington
District:	North Warwickshire, Warwickshire
Grid Reference:	SP 22 84
(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

Description
Source Number
1 Imparked by Sir Clement Fisher in the reign of James I 'out of the outwood and some other grounds here' (Dugdale). It is at present a park of 500 acres, with a herd of 300 fallow deer. 2 Listed as a deer park in a work by Whitaker. It formed part of the Forest of Arden and contained some very old oaks. About 270 hectares. Imparked at time of James 1 (1603-25). There are still deer in the park, but there is no surviving indication of a park pale. 3 8 Packington Hall 275 heactre site comprises 12 heactres of pleasure grounds and walled gardens, and 263 heactres of parkland. A stream running through this valley has been dammed to form the Great Pool to the east, and Hall Pool to the west. Hall Pool discharges into the River Blythe which flows from south to north through a wide shallow valley immediately to the west of the site. ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES Packington Hall is approached from the Birmingham Road to the south. The entrance is set back from the Road, and flanked by quadrant planting set behind simple fences. A pair of rendered, rusticated, rectangular-section piers support a pair of wrought-iron gates dated 1935, and are flanked by a pair of late 18th century single-storey, square-plan stuccoed pavilions. Immediately to the north-east of the entrance and within the park stands a mid 20th century two-storey lodge. The tarmac drive extends 650m north through the park, dropping to cross the eastern end of Hall Pool on a mid 18th century bridge. Some 50m north of the bridge, the south drive reaches a junction and sweeps west for 200m through the park to approach the gravelled carriage turn below the east façade of the Hall. A further drive extends north from the junction north of the bridge for 200m, enclosing the east side of an area of level grass east of the Hall. Sweeping west and south-west for 200m, this drive approaches the mid 18th century stable block north of the Hall from the north-east. Further drives approach from the north, east, west, and south-east. The north drive enters the site from a minor lane south-east of Little Packington bridge 1km north-north-west of the Hall. The entrance is marked by a pair of square-section brick piers which support a pair of massive carved stone ball finials. The piers are flanked by stone-coped brick wing walls, while to the south-west of the entrance a late 18th or early 19th century two-storey lodge with an ornamental porch on the east façade stands within the park. The north drive leads 900m south-south-east across the park, the drive turns south-south-west for 100m to approach the stables and farm buildings from the north-east. The east drive enters the site from Maxstoke Lane, a pair of mid 19th century Tudor-gothic gabled brick cottages known as East lodge stand on the east side of Maxstoke Lane, opposite the entrance to the site. The east drive follows an approximately level and straight course across the park. The east drive joins the north and south drives immediately to the north-east of the stables. The south-east drive is today a track which approaches the site from the Birmingham Road to the south-east. Some 300m north-west of the Birmingham Road the drive passes a late 18th century monument. . The Monument is partly enclosed by 19th century spiked railings and stands immediately north-west of a picturesquely gnarled veteran oak. The south-east drive enters the park at Beech or East lodge 570m south-east of the Hall. The late 18th century lodge comprises a square, two-storey house. Beyond East lodge, the south-east drive extends north for 400m, crossing the dam at the west end of the Great Pool and sweeping north-west across the park for 300m before joining the south drive 270m north-east of the Hall. The west drive is today an agricultural track which crosses Long Meadow to the west of the pleasure grounds. It enters the site 450m north-west of the Hall and passes through Garden Spinney to the north of the pleasure grounds and sweeps south-east to reach the farm and service buildings north of the stables and east of the kitchen garden. PRINCIPAL building Packington Hall stands on a level site to the north of the mid 18th century Hall Pool in the south-west quarter of the site. GardenS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS The informal pleasure grounds lie principally to the south and west of the Hall. The south side of the east terrace or carriage turn is closed by a low stone wall surmounted by mid 18th century spear-headed railings. These flank a pair of similar, centrally placed gates supported by a pair of rectangular stone piers. The gates lead to the gravelled south terrace which extends below the south façade; the terrace is also approached by stone steps from the Hall. A flight of centrally placed, wide, stone-flagged steps descends from the upper gravelled terrace to a lower grass terrace, similarly retained by a stone wall and planted to the north with herbaceous borders. A further axial flight of stone steps descends to a lawn which slopes gently down to Hall Pool. This lawn bears traces of a mid 19th century formal parterre which was removed in the early 20th century. Some 100m south-east of the Hall, a mid 19th century single-span footbridge crosses a low cascade at the east end of Hall Pool to reach an area of mown grass and specimen trees on the south bank of the lake. This area of pleasure ground to the south of Hall Pool is bounded to the east by a traditional split-timber park pale, and to the south by a sunk fence; to the west the area is bounded by a mixed plantation, The Wilderness. The upper, gravelled south terrace returns below the west façade of the Hall. The central section of the terrace, below the portico, is recessed where a wide double flight of stone-flagged steps descends to the pleasure grounds. The steps are flanked by balustrades which return at the lower level to the south-west and north-west. To the north and south of the central steps the upper terrace is ornamented by a pair of geometric box- and stone-edged parterres planted with roses. At the north end of the terrace a wide flight of stone steps ascends to the site of the west range of the mid 19th century conservatory. The site of this structure is now occupied by a late 20th century swimming pool. Hall Pool extends 850m west-north-west from the footbridge south-east of the Hall. It was formed from an existing mill Pool and a chain of ornamental fishponds separated by a series of cascades; remains of these cascades survive, submerged in the lake. To the north-west of the Hall a gravel walk leads west and north-west through the pleasure grounds. The south-west-facing slope above this walk is bounded to the north by the kitchen garden wall, while to the east it is enclosed by the wall of the service courts and a 19th century single-storey cottage with an ornamentally tiled west façade; to the north-west a hard tennis court is terraced into the slope. This area is today lawn. In the late 18th century it was laid out as a flower garden which incorporated a small Doric temple designed by the fourth Earl; this structure does not survive. The late 18th century pleasure grounds replaced a mid 18th century walk. This walk, led north-west from the Hall for 350m to 'the Scots Fir clump', a square plantation whose outline survives within the pleasure grounds. Earthworks in this area including two pronounced ditches and an approximately circular depression 320m north-west of the Hall are relics of a system of culverts and leats used to flood Long Meadow. Some 200m north-west of the Hall the gravel walk becomes a grass path which leads 200m north-west parallel to the west wall of the kitchen garden through an area of standard apple trees, to reach a single-storey cottage of late 18th or early 19th century appearance madjacent to the west drive, which here forms the northern boundary of the pleasure grounds. The pleasure grounds are separated from Long Meadow to the south-west by a late 20th century timber fence; the boundary has been extended 15m west since 1904. park The park lies to the south-west, south, north, and east of the Hall, and today (2000) remains pasture. The park to the east of the Hall retains a deer herd. A late C20 golf course has been developed in the north-east corner of the park, adjacent to Maxstoke Lane, an area which retains many mature oaks. The south and south-west park lies to the south of Hall Pool, and is separated from the east park by a deer fence which extends from the footbridge south-east of the Hall to the south lodge. This feature may relate to the early 18th century formal landscape around the late 17th century mansion. To the south-south-west of the Hall, Little Dayhouse wood extends parallel to the south avenue to the Birmingham Road; the mid 18th century kennels stand in this plantation 600m south of the Hall. The park is enclosed to the east by a mixed plantation, The Wilderness, and to the west and south-west by a further mixed plantation, mill Shrubbery. An 18th century carriage drive leads from the south-west park through mill Shrubbery, passing the remains of Packington mill 600m south-west of the Hall. The east park is generally level and characterised by scattered mature oaks. To the north-east the ground falls towards park Pool, an approximately square Pool retained to the west by an earth dam. A shallow valley extends north-west from park Pool towards North lodge, and enclosures north-east of North lodge, today in arable cultivation. To the east of park Pool, and 1.1km north-east of the Hall, the late 17th century Packington Old Hall stands in Gardens enclosed by late 17th century brick walls. Some 20m south-west of the Old Hall the Gardens are bounded by the late 18th century brick Venison house; to the north-west of the Old Hall a late 17th century dovecote, rectangular on plan, stands adjacent to late 17th century stables. Approximately 130m south-east of the Old Hall the Earthwork remains of a medieval moated enclosure survive. A Pool 20m south-east of the Old Hall feeds the park Pool to the west. To the south-east of Packington Hall the outflow from the Great Pool is canalised and retained by a cascade associated with the footbridge 100m south-east of the Hall. The Great Pool, known in the late 18th century as the 'New River', was created in the mid 18th century. Some 400m south-east of the Hall the Pool is retained to the west by a high earth dam. The Pool, of early 17th century origin extends 800m east, with a small island towards the eastern end. The east end was developed as a decoy, which was remodelled as three decoys in the late 18th century by Wedge. At the same time the 17th century rectangular Pool was remodelled in a more naturalistic form. The outflow at the south-west end of the dam of the Great Pool, known as the Lion's Mouth, comprises a mid 18th century brick-lined tunnel with a rusticated stone opening. To the north of this plantation, 290m south-east of the Hall, a spring, fed through a lion-mask spout, is enclosed within a mid 18th century stone structure which comprises a round-headed opening to the west set beneath a pediment. The parish church of St James stands in the park 750m east-north-east of the Hall within a churchyard enclosed by late 18th century rubble-stone walls. Land to the west and south of the church and north of church wood, a mixed plantation on the north bank of the Great Pool, is today in arable cultivation. kitchen garden Lying 130m north-west of the Hall and immediately to the north of the pleasure grounds, the kitchen garden is enclosed by 18th century brick walls 3m high and surmounted by stone copings. A panelled timber door is set in the south wall; there are further doors in the west wall. The Garden is approximately rectangular on plan and is divided into three sections by lateral walls running from east to west. The two southern sections are of approximately equal area and are laid to grass with remains of late 19th or early 20th century timber-framed glasshouses surviving in the central section. The larger northern compartment is today planted as an orchard with standard apple trees. 4 Historical article on the development of Packington. The estate belonged to Kenilworth Priory in medieval period. It was acquired at the Dissolution by the former tenant (John Fisher),who is said (by Dugdale) to have built the first house, probably on or near the site of the present Packington Hall. The estate was emparked by his son at the beginning of the 17th century, and the monastic estate settlement may have been removed as early as this. The lake now known as the Great Pool was established in the first half of the 17th century but lay outside the then extent of the park. In this period there were probably fishponds on the site of the later Hall Pool, for there are references to Parliamentarian troops plundering fish during the Civil War. The park was extended in the second half of the 17th century, and the house now known as the Old Hall repaired, refaced and extended, possibly to act as a temporary home for the family. A new house, which forms the core of the present Packington Hall, was completed circa 1693. There is little evidence for the appearance of its late 17th century and early 18th century Gardens, but they are likely to have been formal and to have made extensive use of water. The southern part of the park was transformed in the mid 18th century after the designs of Capability Brown, who conceived the Hall Pool. At the same time the Hall was rebuilt around the late 17th century core. Later in the 18th century the Great Pool was reshaped, the Holyhead Road diverted away from the house, and the old church rebuilt. A pleasure garden was laid out north of the Hall Pool at the end of the 18th century and hothouses, greenhouses and terraces had all been constructed by 1820. At this date the park was extended again, obliterating Dyalls Green: this was the last major alteration to the Packington landscape. 5 6 7Lovie reported parkland with Pools/lakes, drives, plantations, terraces, pleasure grounds and kitchen garden. park by 1625, created from old Forest of Arden. Designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown, 1751, and pleasure grounds developed late C18th by 4th Earl of Aylesford. 8 Portable Antiquities Scheme find provenance information: Methods of discovery: Metal detector
Sources
Source No: 5 Source Type: Bibliographic reference Title: Warwickshire Register Review Data Tables (North Warwickshire, Nuneaton & Bedworth, Rugby) Author/originator: Lovie, Jonathan Date: 1997 Page Number: Volume/Sheet:     Source No: 6 Source Type: Bibliographic reference Title: Warwickshire Register Review Report & Recommendations Author/originator: Lovie, Jonathan Date: 1997 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: 4 Source Type: Bibliographic reference Title: Warwickshire History Author/originator: Tyack, G Date: 1998 Page Number: 130-144 Volume/Sheet: Vol X, No 4     Source No: 1 Source Type: Bibliographic reference Title: Deer Parks Author/originator: Shirley E Date: 1867 Page Number: 156-7 Volume/Sheet:     Source No: 3 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: Source Type: Internet Data Title: Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) Database Author/originator: British Museum Date: Page Number: Volume/Sheet:     Source No: 8 Source Type: Statuatory List Title: National Heritage List for England Author/originator: Historic England Date: Page Number: Volume/Sheet:     Source No: 2 Source Type: Record Card/Form Title: OS Card 29NE1 Author/originator: Ordnance Survey Date: 1967 Page Number: Volume/Sheet: 29NE1

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