Summer House approximately 40m south of Orchard House

Summary

A two-storey summer house clad in rough timber logs, likely dating to the mid-C19.

Reasons for Designation

The summer house approximately 40m south of Orchard House is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Degree of Architectural Interest:
* As an eye-catching two-storey garden building constructed in a picturesque Gothick design;

* For its well-crafted and imaginative construction using roughly hewn logs laid in geometric formation.

Degree of Historic Interest:
* As a rare example of a mid-C19 picturesque garden building within a small-scale domestic garden setting.

History

The summer house within the garden of Orchard House in Shipston on Stour likely dates to the mid-C19. From 1830, William Smiles, a surgeon, leased a plot of land known as Cherry Orchard from the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. By the publication of the 1840 tithe awards, Smiles was recorded as the owner of the plot which was described as a ‘house, yard and garden’. Smiles also owned land adjoining this site, including a plot to the south containing ‘stalls, gardens and yard’ and which featured a structure in the position of the present summer house. The 1887 Ordnance Survey map indicates that, by this time, some of the land to the south of the house had been converted into formal gardens. The plan of the summer house is clearly discernible and appears to be in the same position as the structure on the 1840 tithe map.

The summer house was built in a rustic Gothic style, popularised as part of the Picturesque movement, and which by the mid-19th century had been used in a number of prominent landscape gardens including Lowther Castle in Cumbria and The Bear’s Hut at Killerton House in Devon. The design of the summer house may have drawn from earlier schemes included in the widely circulated publications on villa gardens by John Claudius Loudon (1783-1843), influential Scottish garden designer and botanist. His 1838 publication, 'The Suburban Gardner and Villa Companion', featured a design for a polygonal rustic summer house and provided suggestions for the creating panels through the arrangement of hazel rods.

By the 1970s, the summer house at Orchard House had begun to fall into disrepair. A programme of restoration work was carried out in 1976, during which the building was pulled upright; concrete footings and steel supports were introduced; the roof and sections of rotted timbers were replaced; and acrylic glazing was inserted into the window openings.

Details

A two-storey summer house clad in rough timber logs, likely dating to the mid-C19.

MATERIALS: the summer house is constructed of unfinished timber logs beneath a scalloped shingle roof.

PLAN: the summer house is octagonal on plan with a roughly rectangular stair tower adjoining the east side of the building.

DESCRIPTION
Exterior: the octagonal summer house is of two storeys beneath an octagonal roof surmounted with a finial. The stair tower on the east side rises in two stages to the first floor. The structural timbers of the outer frame extend the full height of the building from concrete footings. The walls of the building are composed of geometric panels formed of unfinished logs laid horizontally, vertically and diagonally. There is some metal strapping and replacement of timber to the base of the structure. The ground floor features gothic arched entrances to the north and south sides of the building. Between the south opening and the stair tower is a single arched window. Each face of the first floor features a gothic arched window, except those above the entryways which are square. All are inset with clear acrylic glazing. The stair tower has square windows to the ground and first floor and an arched store entrance to its south side.

Interior: There is an open undercroft to the ground floor which features bench seating around the west walls with curved, natural timber arm rests. The ceiling is supported by a central post with bracing struts and is adorned with logs. A timber staircase leads to the first floor which is accessed through an arched entrance with a rustic timber door. The room has visible rafters radiating from the apex of the ceiling and is clad with horizontal timber panels.

Sources

Other
Tithe map of Shipston on Stour parish, Worcestershire, 1841
OS Map Warwickshire 1:2500 (1887)
William Smiles and Dean of Chapter of Worcester, 1830, BA2601/147461

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