Landscape record 14334/2 - Hatherton Lodge Gardens

<1> Historic England, 2015-, Notification Report of Decision not to Designate, Ellis V, 06/09/2018, Case Number: 1458019 (Written Communication). SCH7825.

‘…It is suggested that Lancelot ‘Capability Brown’ may have had a hand in the design of the grounds of Hatherton Lodge, while attending to his work at nearby Doddington Park in about 1778, but there is no evidence to support this claim. Stylistically, the grounds reflect the ideals of the Picturesque Movement of the early nineteenth century, and both the landscape and the associated villa are considered to date to this period after the inheritance of Hatherton Lodge, by John Twemlow in 1807. It is believed that he demolished the existing seventeenth century house and replaced it with a smaller Regency-period villa that became a fashionable gentleman’s country residence, in a style advocated by the Picturesque Movement, rather than as a centre of a working agricultural estate. There is a clear design relationship between the house and its grounds; the house was designed to be seen as a picturesque feature in the garden, and the pleasure grounds with its pasture, lake and plantations, screened and contained from the outside world by a woodland shelter belt, was designed to be viewed across the ha-ha from the principal rooms of the house.

That the work on the grounds of Hatherton Lodge was complete by 1829 is demonstrated in Jones’ 'Views of the Seats, Mansions, Castles Etc. of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England', who describes it: ‘A fine sheet of water adds to the general beauty of the surrounding scenery, which, from the ornamented parterre before the principal front of the building, affords a varied and agreeable prospect; the grounds also include shrubberies tastefully disposed, and extensive plantations.’ The parterre no longer exists and it is likely that it was replaced by the lawn fronting Hatherton Lodge.

The earliest map depiction of the grounds is shown on the Wybunbury Parish tithe of about 1844 [see 2]; it shows Hatherton Lodge overlooking a garden with a kidney-shaped pasture, divided by a fence, that runs down to a lake; the latter can be viewed through a gap in the woodland planting in front of the house. The outlook from the house was contained within the pleasure grounds by a woodland shelter belt around the perimeter and there was a walled kitchen garden to the north-east. The Tithe map shows the lake with a more circular-plan than is the case today and with an overflow to the north-east that passes beneath Lodge Lane. It also shows that the woodland plantation to the west of the lake extended beyond its present current boundary, with a triangular projection to the north of Lodge Lane (Plot 245).

The Tithe map apportionments [see 2] indicate that in 1844, the house, gardens and pleasure grounds, and the fields to the north of Lodge Lane (Plots 248, 250, 456 and 457) were owned by Charles Mare and occupied by John Forshaw, the triangular woodland Plot 245 was owned by Charles Mare and occupied by John Witmore, the two fields (Plot 254 and 255) to the west of the garden were not part of the designed landscape and were owned by Lady Chetwynde and occupied by Joseph Massey. Hatherton and Birchenhill Woods situated to the east, were also not part of the garden and were owned by Sir John Delves Broughton.

Analysis of historic mapping shows that the gardens and pleasure grounds have changed little; the first edition of the Cheshire 1:2,500 Ordnance Survey (1876) [see 3] shows greater detail than the Tithe map and includes a circular-plan summer house in the woodland plantation, which corresponds with a cast-iron arbour that is still extant; it does however show a change in the outline of the lake and a modification to the plan of the walled garden. Two small islands within the lake are not shown on any historic maps and their date remains undetermined. The 1898 map edition [see 4] shows that the triangular wood to the north of Lodge Lane (Plot 245), had been felled and turned over to agriculture, and the addition of a brick-built stables and carriage shed (now known as The Old Stables), erected to the rear of the original stable block. Little further change took place during the twentieth century, apart from minor extensions to the house and the demolition of the original stable block…’

‘…During the first decade of the twenty-first century, the drive was realigned and a number of ancillary buildings and decorative features were erected in the garden of Hatherton Lodge, including a new walled gateway that re-used original wrought-iron gates, a rose arbour within the walled garden, a timber-built workshop, a tennis court with floodlighting and an adjacent parking area bordered by perforated stone walls, and a brick-built garage fronted by a artificial stone-set hard-standing. The garage has two reclaimed carved stone blocks set into the brickwork; one has a monogram that reads ANI, while the other is the coats of arms of Manchester…’

‘…GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS
The garden and pleasure grounds are considered to have been established post-1807, at the same time as the house. The house sits on a lawned terrace that is defined to the north-west by a ha-ha, bounded to either side by tree plantations and shrubs. A lawn with borders is also situated to the right-hand side of the house and a walled garden to the left. The ha-ha (Grade II, NHLE 1137010) [see 5] delineates the house and its immediate garden from the surrounding pleasure grounds, it is relatively low in height and a slight hollow that fronts the ha-ha is an in-filled ditch. A pets' cemetery with three headstones is situated in the shrubbery to the north of the ha-ha. The pasture beyond forms a kidney-shaped rough lawn that gently slopes down to the lake and is bounded by specimen trees including Luscombe oak, copper beach, and blue spruce (Cedrus atlantica). The lake has two small islands at opposing ends that have been planted with shrubs, willow, and specimen trees. A woodland shelter belt of mature beech trees and Scots pines and shrubs, including rhododendrons and honeysuckle, is formed between the lake and the west boundary. A walk within the trees follows the edge of the lake; a circular cast-iron arbour decorated with classical motifs is situated within the woodland and allows vistas across the lake to the house. The woodland belt turns a right-angle at the south-west corner of the gardens and continues along the southern edge of the grounds, parallel to Hunsterson Road.

KITCHEN GARDEN
A rectangular-plan kitchen garden lies to the north-east of Hatherton Lodge; it has an axial stone paved path beneath a rose arbour and is laid out as lawns with borders. Brick-built walls with ashlar coping stones enclose the western and northern sides of the garden, which is accessed by a six-panel door in the western wall. The eastern side is enclosed by a tall clipped hedge that terminates in a short length of wall that houses a similar doorway. Shallow brick niches, with ashlar sills, moulded arches and keystones, can be found in both the western and northern walls. A central gateway with ashlar rope mouldings in the northern wall is a modern insertion…’

<2> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards, EDT191/2, 1844 (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ6947, 1876 (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ6947, 1898 (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.

<5> Historic England, 2011, The National Heritage List for England, 1137010 (Web Site). SCH6528.