Walled Garden at Gate Burton Hall

Summary

C18 or early C19 walled garden.

Reasons for Designation

The walled garden at Gate Burton Hall is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it is a well-preserved and important element in the C18 landscape garden, pre-dating the proliferation of walled gardens built on many estates in the early Victorian period;
* it retains two C19 bothy ranges and a late C19 curvilinear greenhouse using the wire tension construction technique developed by Skinner, Board and Company, providing important evidence of the ancillary elements necessary for the efficient running of a productive walled garden.

Group value:

* together with the numerous listed buildings on the estate - most notably the Hall and Burton Chateaux which are both listed at Grade II* - the walled garden forms an ensemble of historical significance that aptly demonstrates the aesthetic quality associated with the Georgian period.

History

In the C17 and early C18 the lordship of Gate Burton formed part of the Knaith estate of the Lords Willoughby of Parham. It was sold, perhaps as early as 1739, to the Hutton family, formerly of Treswell in Nottinghamshire, who were presumably responsible for the removal of the village from its ancient site, possibly around 1747. The hall, outbuildings and gardens may have occupied much of the earlier village site. The core of the present Gate Burton Hall is formed by William Hutton's house built between 1774 and 1780 but the surrounding landscaped park may be older, since the ornamental temple to the north-west was allegedly erected in 1747 when perhaps the village was also cleared. The hall was altered in 1913 by Detmar Blow who added the north front or wing with giant stone pilasters and did much of the remodelling inside. Additional wings were added in 1934. The hall is now (2020) divided into three dwellings, and the stables have been converted into residential accommodation.

The walled garden was built in the C18 or early C19. The earliest available map on which it appears is the 1848 Tithe Map. Situated directly to the east of the hall, it is just labelled ‘garden’ and is evidently part of a larger area of production. To the east is an orchard, and above this the area containing the moat is labelled ‘kitchen garden’, whilst to the north-west there is another orchard. The first map to show clearly the layout of the walled garden is the first edition Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1886. This shows the garden divided into two equal halves by a path with a sundial and tree in the eastern half. Another path runs around the inner walls. A long range of sheds/ bothies adjoins the outer side of the north wall, and a shorter range of sheds adjoins the outer side of the east wall. An L-shaped pond to the east may have been constructed or adapted to provide water for the garden, given its close proximity.

The 1886 map also shows a glasshouse on the inner side of the north wall. This is an example of a wire tension greenhouse which was developed in the late C19 by Skinner, Board & Company, founded in 1884. They developed a new method of glazing a glasshouse without the use of putty, which they patented as their ‘wire tension’ greenhouse. These were constructed with curved iron rafters about 2 to 3 feet apart and galvanised steel rods were threaded through them from one end of the house to the other, the height of a pane of glass apart. Sprung steel clips were attached to the rods, and the glass was inserted into the clips which thus held it in place, each pane overlapping the one beneath, producing a curvilinear structure with little obstruction of light.

The second edition OS map of 1899 shows that another range of bothies was added alongside the south wall but this had been removed by the third edition OS map of 1920. A freestanding pool has been created in the north-eastern corner in more recent years. This is not included in the listing. The walled garden is no longer in production and is laid to grass.

Details

C18 or early C19 walled garden.

MATERIALS: the walled garden is built of handmade red brick laid in English garden wall bond which has been eroded in some places by the repeated need to nail fruit tree branches against the walls. The bothy ranges are constructed of red brick with slate roof covering dating to the C19.

PLAN: it is situated to the east of Gate Burton Hall and has a large rectangular plan with adjoining sheds/ bothies on the outer side of the north and east walls. A lean-to glass house is located on the inner side of the north wall. The freestanding pool is not included in the listing.

EXTERIOR: the walled garden has several openings with vertical plank doors under brick aches. Metal brackets along the top of the south wall support glazed panels. The bothies are lean-to ranges adjoining the outer walls with ledged and braced doors, some pierced by ventilation slits, under segmental brick arches. Some internal features survive, including the red tiled floor, fitted wooden shelves (probably for apple storage), and the brick base for a copper. The late C19 or early C20 curvilinear lean-to glasshouse on the north wall is of wire tension construction. A small swimming pool within a metal-framed plastic structure, added in the late C20/ early C21, is situated in the north-east corner of the walled garden.

Sources

Books and journals
Harris, John, Pevsner, Nikolaus, Antram, Nicholas, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, (2002)

Other
Gate Burton Hall records from Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record

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