Swan Fountain

Summary

An ornmental fountain, with a reused cider mill and a granite sculpture of a pair of entwined swans as the centrepiece, that dates from around 1933 and 1948. It is a good-quality design incorporating features from one of America’s notable landscape architects and from a leading 20th century sculptor, and is an integral part of the garden at Dartington Hall.

Reasons for Designation

The Swan Fountain of around 1933 and 1948, some 103m south-west of Dartington Hall is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* a small ornamental fountain featuring a sculpture of considerable artistic quality by Willi Soukop, a leading C20 artist;
* it is an elegant design which brings considered use of materials and form.

Historic interest:

* it reflects the importance of Dartington as a learning ground for young artists who would go on to become leading figures in their respective fields, and the influence of a renowned landscape architect on the design of its garden.

Group value:

* strong group value from its setting within a Grade II* registered landscape to which it also contributes in terms of the landscape's aesthetic and structural composition, and with nearby garden structures and sculptures that are listed.

History

At the centre of the Dartington Hall Estate are the surviving parts of the great C14 medieval house (listed Grade I, wider area scheduled), which was almost derelict by the time it was purchased by Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst in 1925 from the Champernowne family, who had owned the estate since 1559. The Elmhirsts set about using their substantial wealth to renovate Dartington Hall, beginning The Dartington Experiment, an ambitious programme of rural regeneration based on modern methods of agriculture and forestry, progressive education, arts and literature. Under their patronage, Dartington became a magnet for émigré artists, craftspeople, thinkers, musicians, dancers and actors during the interwar period, and it developed into a vibrant cultural community and a centre of innovation and influence. The couple made Dartington their home for the rest of their lives.

The Elmhirsts also restored and developed the garden and pleasure grounds (Grade II* on the Register of Parks and Gardens), collaborating with landscape garden designers, including Beatrix Jones Farrand (around 1933 to 1939), and Percy Cane (from 1945 to 1968). The couple also commissioned sculptures and other ornaments for the gardens. The first to be installed in 1935 was ‘Donkey’ (listed Grade II) by the Viennese sculptor, Willi Soukop.

Around 1933 a fountain designed by Farrand was installed in the gardens on a levelled area of York stone paving, and in 1948 the Elmhirst’s commissioned Soukop to produce a sculpture for this fountain. He added a pair of entwined swans carved from a single block of granite; his first sculpture in this material.

Beatrix Jone Farrand (1872-1959) was a pioneering American landscape architect, with commissions at the White House, New York Botanical Garden and Yale University. Dartington Hall is the only example of her work outside the United States and followed her work for Dorothy Elmhirst on the garden at Elmhurst, Long Island, New York State.

Willi (Wilhelm Josef) Soukop (1907–1995) was born in Vienna, and studied sculpture at the city’s Academy of Fine Art. In 1934 he was invited to stay at Dartington which had become a refuge for many European artists. There he took up a part-time teaching post and was given the use of a studio where he could work on his own pieces. Dartington had a tremendous effect on Soukop’s creative output which lasted for decades (Parkin, 1995). He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1935 and held his first solo exhibition at the Storran Gallery, London in 1938. Soukop worked in a variety of materials and styles, influenced by British and European modernism and his work was exhibited at the London County Council (LCC) open-air sculpture exhibitions at Battersea Park in 1949 and 1950. He undertook many commissions, including works for public and educational settings, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1956.

Details

Fountain of around 1933 by Beatrix Farrand, featuring a sculpture of 1949 by Willi Soukop, for Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst. It is situated within the Azalea Dell, to the west of The Tiltyard in the early and mid-C20 gardens of Dartington Hall.

It is fed by a spring, hence the water varies in pressure and height. A former circular, granite cider mill stone serves as the basin of the fountain, and set upon the raised block at its centre is Soukop's sculpture of two entwined swans carved from Cornish granite. A hole drilled through the sculpture enables a gentle jet of water to flow.

Sources

Books and journals
Snell, R, From the Bare Stem: Making Dorothy Elmhirst's Garden at Dartington Hal, (1989), 66

Websites
M Salon, 1977, Beatrix Jones Farrand: Pioneer in Gilt-Edged Gardens, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Vol. 67, No. 1, pp. 69-77, accessed 24 July 2025 from https://www.jstor.org/stable/44666471
Michael Parkin, Willi Soukop, obituary in The Independent, 9 February 1995, accessed 21 July 2025 from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-willi-soukop-1572170.html

Other
Dartington Hall Estate: General Maps & Plans: Garden Designer: Beatrix Farrand, 1931-1938. Cider press and steps [base of Swan Fountain, Dartington Hall Gardens]. Devon Archive, DHTA/T/EST/S/25/B/9

End of official list entry

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