Monument record 1332/2/1 - Gawsworth Old Hall Garden

Garden Earthworks at Gawsworth Old Hall.Present earthworks mostly stand to their original height.Along the W side is a linear bank 250m long x 8m wide,running parallel to the garden wall.Centre of the terrace is raised suggesting a pathway,perhaps with flower beds or tree-lined alley.3 terraces rise from the pool edge towards the S end of the garden.The northernmost terrace is aligned with the pool & is 28mx 54m.The middle terrace is parallel to the wall and linear mound & is 136m x 54m & stands 1.2m above the N terrace,but drops 6m on the E to the house.The S terrace is 52m x 16m.In the centre of the garden is a sunken rectangular enclosure,surrounded by 3 steps to the N & W & 1 step to the S.The steps were originally 4m wide x l.2m high & they appear to have been revetted by brick walls.In the SW corner is a flat-topped conical mound known as the 'mount of the Queen of Beauty',which poss stands on a square base,c.22m sq.Mound is c.4m high & is level with the top of the linear bank.Top is 5m in diam,but with an artificially raised centre of 2.5m.E side of garden,also has a raised terrace parallel to the boundary wall.In the centre of the garden a main axis is created by the surviving pond & a boggy area to the N,suggesting a canal running from the house towards the centre of the half-moon (1). A survey by Joseph Mayer in 1849 shows the SW mound & a similar mound in the SE corner.A door is shown out of the garden nr the church & a stream running through the central area of the garden & to the E of the house into the 2nd lake from the E.Mayer suggested the ewks represent a tilting ground (2). The SE mound was quarried away for sand in WW2 & now remains as a slight mound (1). In 1851 Richard Brooke concluded that the ewks were elements of a formal garden (3). Turner suggests the ewks are part of a formal Elizabethan garden,poss constructed by Sir Edward Fitton III (1550-1606) for open air entertainment,poss tilting matches.The garden incorporated allegorical emblems based on the cult of the Virgin Queen of Elizabeth I.It was based on a geometric layout - the linear axis through the half-moon & the adaped S range of the hall lies almost perpendicular to that down the line of pools forming the N part of the garden.Due to a decline in the fortunes of the owning family,the hall grounds were never landscaped & so the Elizabethan gardens have survived (1). The garden is graded II star on English Heritage's Provisional List of Historic Gardens (5). Excns have revealed details of the original layout and planting of the earthworks of the western side of the garden. The long mound carries a substantial gravel path, and there is a bedding trench inside the W boundary wall. The triple-terraced feature in SW corner has a very complex set of revetment walls and planting details. Geophysical survey of most of the site undertaken,and survey and assessment of surviving trees (6)
Scheduled Ancient Monument .

<1> Turner R C, 1986, The Gardens at Gawsworth Hall, /3-4 (Oral Communication). SCH3124.

<2> Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1883 -, Transactions of the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 2/200-210 Mayer J 1849 (Journal/Periodical). SCH3293.

<3> Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1883 -, Transactions of the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 4/135 Brooke R 1851 (Journal/Periodical). SCH3293.

<4> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, 1882 (Book). SCH1389.

<5> English Heritage, 2001, Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, 1986 (Report). SCH2822.

<6> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Turner R C 1988 1/18-19 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

<7> Cheshire County Council, 1992-1995, Cheshire Past, Cheshire County Council 1991 (Newsletter). SCH870.

<9> English Heritage, Various, Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Amendment), 30386 (Scheduling Record). SCH2950.

<10> AAA Archaeological Advisors, 2006, Gawsworth New Hall, Repairs to Pool Wall: Report of an Archaeological Watching Brief, R2628 (Client Report). SCH4671.

<11> Higham N J, 1984-9, Professor Nick Higham's Aerial Photographs, 1988/2/2/29 (Aerial Photograph). SCH7659.