Last-minute reprieve for 18th-century garden
31 March 2011
The remains of an early 18th century landscape garden in Northamptonshire have been saved from development after English Heritage assessed the site as of national importance.
All that's left of the once-fine gardens at Watford Park, near Daventry, are the shadows of its elegant formal design, still visible in the contours of the land. They include the remains of a rectangular moated water feature, a double pond with islands and terraced formal garden and parterres.
A proposal to develop the site as a wind farm led English Heritage to commission a report which described the site as 'one of the best surviving living landscapes in Northamptonshire' and recommended it be registered as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Only about 250 examples of early 18th-century gardens still exist in the UK. The gardens formed the imposing setting for the mansion of Watford Court, owned by the Clerke family at the time the garden was created and described as 'an ancient mansion situated in a beautiful park'.
The house was demolished in 1975, but the remains of some of the garden's structures, already Grade II listed, can still be seen and include gate piers, the enclosure wall and the footings of a walled kitchen garden.
Although little is known of the history of Watford Court itself, detailed plans survive of the original garden, showing it was once divided into three areas, Upper Park, Park Meadow and the Home Park. Avenues of trees criss-crossed the 200 acre parkland including one which ran across its entire width: the original avenue was felled but new saplings have now been replanted along its length to recall some of its former grandeur.