Summary
Villa garden created in 1862, with its layout and planting associated with James Veitch, senior, of the nursery Messrs James Veitch and Sons of Exeter and Chelsea.
Reasons for Designation
The gardens at Larkbeare House, created for the amateur botanist John Charles Bowring with a layout and planting associated with the nurseryman, James Veitch, senior, are included on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Design interest:
* created in about 1862, the gardens are a relatively intact and representative example of a mid-C19 villa garden;
* for their documented association with the nationally-important nurseryman, James Veitch, senior, of the influential Veitch nurseries;
* for the re-landscaping of the grounds, with carefully-planned terracing, walks, and tree and shrubbery planting, deliberately designed to emphasise the existing significant views to and from the house;
* for the survival of the 1875 plan which provides important evidence for the continued existence of the layout of the garden which is supported by later historic mapping and aerial photography.
Extent of survival:
* the garden’s exhibit a good degree of overall survival, retaining features such as the garden steps, terracing, and walks, as well as evidence for the legibility of lost elements such as the kitchen gardens, which survive as depressions in the ground;
* for the retention of its historic character through the survival of tree and shrubbery planting that includes a good collection of particularly coniferous species reflecting mid-C19 taste and the introductions popularised by the Veitch nurseries.
Historic interest:
* as a representative example of a modest mid-C19 villa garden designed for the keen amateur botanist John Charles Bowring, and its contribution to our understanding of the national interest in growing and cultivating exotic plant species by the amateur gardener in the mid-C19, and how this was reflected in the design of their gardens.
Group value:
* with the Grade-II listed boundary wall to Larkbeare House.
History
The gardens of Larkbeare House occupy a site of approximately 2.2ha created for John Charles Bowring (1821-1893) in about 1862. This land had previously formed the southern part of the early-C16 Great Larkbeare House estate; the remains of the C16 house survive at 38 Holloway Street (Grade II, National Heritage List for England (NHLE) entry 1306002).
In the C16 the estate is known to have been occupied by the Hull family, and then by Sir Nicholas Smith, and it is shown on the Hooker-Hogenberg ‘Map of Exeter’ (1587). In 1737 the estate was sold to John Baring, who made his fortune in the woollen trade, and is subsequently shown on Rocque’s ‘Plan of the Town and Suburbs of Exeter’ (1744), Tozer’s ‘Plan of the City and Suburbs of Exeter’ (1793), and Hayman’s ‘Map of Exeter’ (1805). The Baring family resided at Larkbeare until 1819, and it is understood that the southern part of the estate, which forms the current Larkbeare House, was sold to Charles Bowring (1769-1856) a successful fuller in the woollen trade, in about 1824. Little Larkbeare included a house to the north-west corner of the grounds. His grandson, John Charles Bowring set about re-designing the grounds when he returned to England in 1861.
John Charles Bowring (1821-1893) was the son of Sir John Bowring (1792-1872), a government adviser and diplomat, who became the 4th Governor of Hong Kong, travelling there in 1854. John Charles is believed to have been living in Hong Kong prior to then, probably since 1842, when he embarked on a commercial career involving trade with China. He was associated with the mercantile firm Jardine, Matheson and Company from 1848, later becoming a partner. Bowring had an interest in entomology (the study of insects), specifically coleoptera (beetles) and was a keen collector; in 1863 he donated his large collection of beetles to the British Museum. He also developed an interest in botany and during his time in the Far East was in regular correspondence with Sir William Jackson Hooker, the director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and sent both Kew and the Exeter branch of the nursery Messrs James Veitch and Sons of Exeter and Chelsea (as the nursery was known between 1853 and 1864) seeds and plants. On his return to England, Bowring is understood to have brought with him ferns, mosses, and orchids.
Bowring commissioned the local Exeter architect and surveyor Ambrose Westlake to design a new Larkbeare House. The house was positioned on a newly created platform towards the north-east part of the grounds, and the gardens were landscaped to slope down towards the River Exe, covering the redundant lime kilns at St Leonard’s Quay. The coach house and stables (thought to have been the earlier Little Larkbeare House), and an C18 hexagonal summerhouse, were retained from the earlier phases of the estate. The extent of the grounds were bounded by a wall of Heavitree stone and limestone; parts of the wall may relate to the earlier boundary.
The layout and planting of the gardens is associated with James Veitch, senior, of the Exeter branch of the Veitch nurseries. A newspaper article of 1863, states:
‘On these grounds, that by-and-by will surround the house with arborescent and horticultural beauty, the genius of Mr Veitch has been employed, and when nature has done her part it will become one of the most charming of spots where charming spots abound.’
Whilst there is no further documentary evidence of James Veitch’s involvement in the design of the gardens, he is known to have advised many of his clients on their garden layout and planting schemes, contributing to his family’s reputation as the leading horticulturists of mid-Victorian England, and the gardens at Larkbeare House appear to be an example of where his advice was employed. The attribution is also supported by Bowring’s known relationship with the Veitch nursery. James was a key figure in the sponsorship of the leading plant hunters of the day including Thomas and William Lobb, and alongside building relationships with amateur enthusiasts, of which Bowring was one, was able to build up a network of plant collectors. The seeds and plants were subsequently cultivated by the nursery and the Veitch family were responsible for the introduction of over 1200 plants into England. It is worth noting that in 1876 Bowring was one of the first amateur growers of orchids to produce an artificial hybrid; the first artificial hybrid orchid which flowered was produced by John Dominy of the Exeter branch of the Veitch nursery in 1856. Bowring received special mention in a list of amateur growers and in 1884 the Veitch nurseries named a collected species of orchid in his honour, Cattleya bowringiana, stating that it was ‘dedicated to the late Mr J C Bowring of Forest Farm, Windsor, for many years a well-known amateur’.
The earliest known plan of the gardens at Larkbeare House is that included in the 1875 sales particulars. The plan shows a lawn to the south of the house with ornamental planting, a conservatory and a shrubbery to the west, and a raised bedding area to the east of the billiard room. It also shows extensive tree planting such as the belt of tree and shrubbery planting to the eastern boundary, and specimen trees to the western terraces, as well as a series of walks, with garden steps between the formal south lawn and the upper west terrace and at the north end of the lower west terrace. The plan also includes two kitchen gardens, and an icehouse. To the north-west corner are shown a series of outbuildings including a gardener’s cottage and a tool house, and several glasshouses comprising an orchid house, fern house, peach house, strawberry house, melon and cucumber house, and vinery, all heated with a hot water system. The plan also shows the C18 summerhouse to the south-west of the gardens and the coach house and stables to the north-west.
Larkbeare House was purchased by the city of Exeter in 1877 to be used as judge’s lodgings for the Devon County Assizes. The 1888 Ordnance Survey (OS) map, and the subsequent OS maps and the OS aerial photograph of 1946 show the continued good degree of survival of the layout of the gardens and its tree and shrubbery planting, as well as some alteration. The glasshouses to the north-west of the grounds were mostly demolished in the late C19. The conservatory was largely removed prior to the 1946 aerial photograph; two bays of stone panels that formed its base continue to survive. In about 1950, the garden steps to the north end of the lower west terrace were removed. In the late C20, the coach house and stables and the remaining glasshouse were demolished, and a housing development was built in their place. Despite these changes the historic character of the garden layout and the disposition of tree and shrubbery planting has been largely maintained, with a good collection of particularly coniferous species reflecting mid-C19 taste and the introductions popularised by the Veitch nursery.
Larkbeare House has most recently (2024) been used as the Registry Office for Devon County Council.
Details
Villa garden created in 1862, with its layout and planting associated with James Veitch, senior, of the nursery Messrs James Veitch and Sons of Exeter and Chelsea.
LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING: Larkbeare House covers an area of about 2.2ha. It lies approximately 750m to the south east of Exeter City Centre, and is bounded by Topsham Road to the north, Larkbeare Road to the east, the River Exe to the south, and Colleton Grove and Colleton Mews to the west. Most of its extent is defined by a boundary wall (Grade II, NHLE entry 1266936). The house is positioned on a raised platform to the north-east of the site with the ground sloping away to the west, south, and east. To the south are views of the River Exe with the Haldon Hills beyond; to the north-west are views of Exeter Cathedral, although reduced by later housing development; and to the north-east are views of St Leonard’s Church (Grade II, NHLE entry 1224193) which was built in two phases (1873 and 1883), replacing a classical-style church of 1831, that in turn replaced a medieval church.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES: the principal entrance to Larkbeare House is at the north-east corner of the grounds, off Topsham Road. At the entrance is a carriageway flanked by gate piers and an adjoining pedestrian entrance within a walled surround. The drive, lined by dwarf stone walls, approaches the rear (north-east elevation) of the house before widening to form a forecourt in front of the entrance elevation to the south east. There are grass verges to either side of the drive with some mature tree planting. There is a single-storey mid-C20 prefabricated building to the west side.
There is an additional late-C19 pedestrian entrance on Larkbeare Road with a pointed brick arch opening and timber door. To the south-west corner, giving access to a small quay on the river, is an altered pedestrian entrance beneath a C20 cambered head of three rows of brick headers, which is approached by a cut-in path bounded by C20 brick walls. On the west side of the grounds is a C20 vehicular gateway with a pair of timber gates beneath a cambered brick head.
PRINCIPAL BUILDING: Larkbeare House, constructed of grey Torbay limestone, was built in about 1862 for John Charles Bowring. It was designed by the local architect and surveyor Ambrose Westlake in an Elizabethan-Revival style and was built at the same time as the gardens were laid out. The house is orientated with the principal rooms to the south. The conservatory was removed in the early to mid-C20 although two bays of stone panel that formed its base survive.
GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS: Larkbeare House stands on an artificially-levelled platform towards the north-east corner of the site.
To the south of the house a terrace walk extends east to west above an area of level lawn. The south façade of the house supports a mature Magnolia grandiflora which appears to date from the Veitch planting scheme. At the south-west corner of the house, and immediately adjoining the north side of the terrace walk stand the remaining two bays of stone panels that formed the base of the mid-C19 conservatory. The conservatory was removed in the early-to mid-C20.
The south lawn is defined by a bank and ornamental shrubbery planting to the west, and a steep bank which drops away to a further, lower terrace to the south. To the east the bank appears to have been reduced in height and specimen planting recorded on the 1888 OS map removed to create parking spaces adjacent to a widened mid-C19 walk. The 1875 sales plan indicates chain beds to each side of the south lawn, and a series of geometrical flower beds cut into the lawn itself. None of these features is recorded on the 1888 OS which shows a much simpler arrangement more in keeping with what prevails today (2024).
The terrace walk to the south of the house is terminated to the west by a flight of stone steps which descends to the upper of two parallel terrace walks cut into the west-facing slope below the house. The lower flight of the stone steps has a distinct deflection to the north which may have been intended to focus attention on a view towards Exeter Cathedral or the private gardens of the C18 and early-to mid-C19 houses to the west and north-west. These views have been partly obscured by later housing and tree growth.
The upper west terrace is flanked on both sides by specimen conifers including Wellingtonia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), Thuja plicata, and various cedars introduced by the Veitch nursery. Some of these specimen conifers appear to survive from the original planting scheme. The northern end of the terrace is marked by a mature sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) introduced by the Romans and used here pre-dates the mid-C19 landscape. The tree stands on the western side of the terrace walk and opposite a late-C19 or early-C20 wash house. At its southern end, the upper west terrace joins the western end of the lower southern terrace. At this point there is a designed view south-west across the Quay towards Whitestone Hill.
The lower west terrace survives in earthwork form. Extending north-east to south-west, the line of the walk is terminated to the south-west by the C18 two-storey summerhouse. The summerhouse is hexagonal on-plan and constructed in brick laid in Flemish bond and incorporating vitrified headers. The structure has an arched entrance opening in the north façade facing the lower west terrace, and a further window opening at first-floor level; the southern walls are in partial collapse but it would have enjoyed views towards the Quay and Whitestone Hill, and to the River Exe and entrance to the C16 Exeter Ship Canal. The structure is surrounded by self-sown sycamore and scrub and is enclosed by a late-C20 chain-link fence. The lower west terrace walk was formerly terminated to the north-east by a flight of steps which ascended to a serpentine shrubbery walk masking the western boundary of the site, and to a walk which ascended south-east to join the northern end of the upper west terrace and the walk ascending the slope to the north of the house to return to the courtyard to the north-east of the building. Only the latter walk survives today (2024). From approximately the point where this walk joins the north end of the upper west terrace there are designed views north-west towards Exeter Cathedral and west towards the private gardens of early-to mid-C19 houses. The views towards the Cathedral have been partly obscured by C20 residential development on part of the site of the kitchen garden, and by tree growth.
To the south-east of the summerhouse a walk descends gently to join the western end of the lower south terrace walk. This broad earthwork terrace supports a broad tarmac walk or drive. The verge to the north, below a steep slope ascending to the south lawn, has been appropriated for late-C20 parking. The verge to the south of the walk retains some specimen ornamental planting including a group of Musa basjoo (Japanese banana) with ornamental trees, conifers, and shrubs on the south-facing slope below. The 1875 sales plan indicates two parallel walks set out on this terrace with geometrical beds set between the two. However, the 1888 OS records an arrangement which corresponds to the layout existing today (2024).
The walk leading south-east from the summerhouse continues down the slope before turning east parallel to the river boundary where a grass path corresponds to the walk recorded on the 1875 sales particulars and the 1888 OS map. To the north-east of this walk is a further area of sloping lawn with ornamental trees, conifers and shrubbery ascending to the lower south terrace. The grass walk turns north-north-east near the south-east corner of the site where a large late-C20 single-storey pavilion of timber construction has been erected. From this point the walk ascends the slope in a northerly direction, passing the east end of the lower south terrace and to the east of the south lawn, before reaching the carriage turn on the east side of the house. To the east of this walk the boundary of the site is screened by a continuous belt of predominantly evergreen ornamental shrubbery interspersed with specimen trees. This arrangement corresponds to that recorded on the 1875 sale plan and the 1888 OS map.
To the north-east of the house a raised border retained by low stone walls extends parallel to the drive and the service wing of the house. This corresponds to a shrubbery bed recorded in this position on the 1888 OS map, but the present bed has been reduced in length at its northern end. It is today (2024) planted with seasonal bedding rather than the original shrubs which would have screened the service entrance.
The present structure and layout of the gardens and pleasure grounds corresponds closely to that delineated on the 1888 OS map, and, with the exception of some ornamental elaborations, to that shown on the 1875 sale plan. The disposition of the planting in the grounds corresponds to the historic map record, while its predominantly evergreen and coniferous character reflects both the prevailing taste of the 1860s and the species introduced and popularised by the Veitch nursery. It is apparent that some of the specimen trees, especially some of the Wellingtonias and cedars survive from the original Veitch planting scheme.
KITCHEN GARDENS: the principal kitchen garden was located to the north-north-west of the house. A further, smaller kitchen garden was located at the south-west corner of the site.
The site of the principal kitchen garden survives as a level grass lawn bounded by a grass slope and shrubbery to the south-east side and late-C20 planting to the north-west. The remains of a brick icehouse survive in the shrubbery to the north of the mid-C20 prefabricated building adjacent to the drive. The date of the icehouse is uncertain, and it may survive from an earlier phase of the site’s development. The principal kitchen garden was no longer in cultivation in the mid-C20.
The glasshouses, which included an orchid house, fern house, peach house, strawberry house, melon and cucumber house, and a vinery, all heated by a hot water system stood adjacent to the stables and coach house to the west of the principal kitchen garden on the site now occupied by part of a late-C20 housing development. Although recorded on the 1875 sale plan, by 1888 (OS) all but the most northerly range of glasshouses closest to the stables had been removed. The stables and some outbuildings survived until after 1946 (OS aerial photograph).
The smaller, southern kitchen garden survives as a grassed hollow at the south-west corner of the site. It is enclosed by the stone boundary walls to the north, west and south, and by steep grass slopes to the east. A small, late-C20 gauging station of prefabricated construction has been erected on the south side of this area. This area is delineated as kitchen garden on the 1875 sale plan; it remained in productive cultivation in 1946 (OS aerial photograph). The southern kitchen garden occupies the site of the King of Cleves, presumably a public house.
