Terraced garden structures at Condover Hall

Summary

Structures of the formal terraced gardens to Condover Hall, forming a group with variety and interest, with broad steps, low walls, a seat, bastion and a grotto-like feature, laid out around 1870 and probably designed by George Devey.

Reasons for Designation

The terraced garden structures are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* a well-composed set of structures forming a formal terraced garden of variety and interest, with broad steps, low walls, a seat, bastion and a grotto-like feature;
* well-constructed and enriched with carefully dressed stonework, including the upper balustrade which includes stylistic references to the architecture of the hall.

Historic interest:

* the Victorian culmination of an evolving terraced garden to the hall;
* part of Reginald Cholmondeley’s significant contribution to the development of the house and estate;
* as a probable design by architect George Devey, contributing to our understanding of his significance in the design of formal landscapes.


Group value:

* for the strong relationship with the Grade I-listed hall, and with the other listed garden structures, most notably with the sculpture of Richard Tarlton and walls to the north.

History

The manor of Condover was acquired in 1586 by Thomas Owen, the eldest son of a Shrewsbury merchant. He immediately began to rebuild the hall (listed at Grade I), and in due course laid out gardens around it looking out into a new deer park. The estate passed through a series of heirs, and then to Thomas Cholmondeley, who assumed the name Owen, in 1863. Following his death a year later, it passed to his younger brother, Reginald. Reginald was succeeded in 1896 by Revd Richard Cholmondeley, and the estate was sold E B Fielden. After passing through various hands the hall and most of the park was bought in 1946 by the Royal National Institute for the Blind, in whose ownership it remained until 2005. It was subsequently used as school for special educational needs, and then as a children’s activity holiday centre.

Reginald Cholmondeley (1826-1896) commissioned George Devey (1820-1886) for a scheme of works to the grounds, probably in the late 1860s. Two undated plans by Devey in the RIBA archive show the layout of the parterre garden to the north-west of the house. While no plans have been found to chart the design of the formal gardens to the south-west, a series of images shows the development from the late-C18 and through the C19: a 1767 estate survey depicts a short terrace with retaining walls and a feature in the location of the current bastion, and terraced lawns to the south; a watercolour of 1791 shows the garden without terracing or other structural features; a 1868 illustration shows terracing and a low wall in the position of the present balustrade, while a roughly contemporary photograph shows the lower terrace wall in place; an image from 1872 shows the present structural elements in position, and thus the works can be dated to between 1868 and 1872, adapting and incorporating some earlier features. Stylistically the scheme resembles Devey’s hand, with similarities to other sites of his work. While Devey is better known as an architect, Tenneson’s thesis (2022) has proved his significant contribution and influence in the revival of formal garden design in the mid-C19.

Details

Terraced gardens and associated structures, mainly of 1868-1872, probably by George Devey, incorporating earlier structures.

MATERIALS: sandstone ashlar and rubble with limestone dressings.

PLAN: balustrade parallel with the south-west elevation of Condover Hall, approximate length of 85m. Terraced lawns step downhill, with a second wall parallel, 30m to the west. Terraces are linked at the north and south by steps and low walls. A south-east bastion and an exedra to the north.

DESCRIPTION: the top terrace has an open balustrade with bottle balusters and rectangular piers flanked by round-arched openings and C-shaped brackets. Two short flights of steps at the north end to the lower terrace. Square bastion at south end with splayed corner buttresses, through which passes a rib-vaulted tunnel with round-arched four-bay arcades to either side, serving as garden house or grotto. On a bank immediately to the east is an inscribed stone tomb slab commemorating Catherine Owen (1703-1721). At the north end of the terrace is an exedra: a raised semi-circular platform with a garden seat, terminating in square corner piers with scrolled brackets, approached by wide flight of three steps to south.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

259387

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Stackhouse Acton, F, The Castles and Old Mansions of Shropshire, (1868)

Websites
A survey and valuation of estates the property of Nicholas Smyth esqr. and his lady, 1767. Yale Centre for British Art., accessed 24/03/2025 from https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/orbis:12793323
Condover Hall (watercolour), Moses Griffiths, 1791, UK Government Art Collection, accessed 24/03/2025 from https://artcollection.dcms.gov.uk/artwork/11036/
Preliminary designs for parterres, Condover Hall, Shropshire, for Reginald Cholmondley: plan (RIBA125969), Devey, George, 1870, The Devey Collection, PB8004/12, RIBA, accessed 14/04/2025 from https://www.ribapix.com/Preliminary-designs-for-parterres-Condover-Hall-Shropshire-for-Reginald-Cholmondley-plan_RIBA125969?ribasearch=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmliYXBpeC5jb20vc2VhcmNoP3E9Y29uZG92ZXI=
Preliminary designs for parterres, Condover Hall, Shropshire, for Reginald Cholmondley: plan (RIBA125970), Devey, George, 1870, The Devey Collection, PB8004/12, RIBA, accessed 14/04/2025 from https://www.ribapix.com/Preliminary-designs-for-parterres-Condover-Hall-Shropshire-for-Reginald-Cholmondley-plan_RIBA125970?ribasearch=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmliYXBpeC5jb20vc2VhcmNoP3E9Y29uZG92ZXI=

Other
Photograph of west elevation and gardens to Condover Hall, c1870. Stamper P&G collection, Shropshire Council
A watercolour of Condover Hall showing to the north of the house the new planting of the parterres with box and yew hedging, dated circa 1872
Tenneson, Sara, ‘The revival of the formal garden in the late nineteenth century and the contribution of architects George Devey (1820-1886) and Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942)’. Unpublished PhD thesis 2022, Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London

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