Historic water garden in Westbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire, England
Westbury Court Garden is a Dutchwater garden in Westbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire, England, 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Gloucester. It is a rare survival of seventeenth century garden design and was initially laid out by the owner of Westbury Court, Maynard Colchester I, in 1696–1705. The garden has been under the guardianship of the National Trust since 1967.
Background
The garden was laid out in 1696–1705,[1] a rare survival[2] not to have been replaced in the 18th century by a naturalistic garden landscape as popularised by Capability Brown.[3] It is situated facing the high street of the rural village, extending on low-lying water meadows adjacent to the River Severn; the flat watery ground makes the site well suited to a Dutch-style garden, of which Westbury is the outstanding survival in Britain. Christopher Hussey associated the Dutch style not so much with topiary as with canals, giving Westbury Court as the prime example, observes David Jacques.[4] Similarly Miles Hadfield considered that "an essential of Dutch versions of the grand manner was that the ground be tolerably level, with an abundance of water".[5] Later, Hadfield found "not the slightest hint" of a Dutch connection at Westbury Court[6]
Layout
The garden's centrepiece is a 137 metres (449 ft) long canal (illustration, right), centred on a two-storey Dutch style red-brick pavilion at one end and a large wrought iron gate in the wall at the far end, designed to extend the vista from the pavilion out into the surrounding countryside. The main canal is flanked by yew and hollytopiary in pyramids and balls. A second red-brick building, a summer house built in 1702–04, overlooks a T-shaped canal running parallel to the main canal. Behind the summer house is a small walled garden of cottage plants and beyond the water garden is an orchard of fruit trees, which also contains an ancient evergreen oak planted in the 17th century, the largest ever recorded,[7] it is also claimed to be the oldest in England.[3]
History
The garden at Westbury was created by the owner of Westbury Court, Maynard Colchester I, between 1697, when the brook was first diverted, and 1705. Impetus may have been provided by the canal garden nearby at
Colchester died in 1715, and the garden continued to be developed by his nephew and heir, Maynard Colchester II, who was probably responsible for the summerhouse and the small walled garden.[11]
Maynard Colchester II also demolished the original late