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Summary

Traces of 16th-17th century gardens, 'one of the most important historic gardens in the county'

Monument Types

• GARDEN (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status

• A Sites: POST-MEDIEVAL GARDENS AT STANDON LORDSHIP
• SHINE: Standon Lordship, Medieval Manorial Site

Full description

The apparent remains of 16th-17th century gardens attached to Ralph Sadleir's house, Standon Lordship [12818]. Preliminary assessment <1, 2> suggests that earthworks in the field south of the house and west of the track are early garden features; an earthwork north-west of the house known as Queen Anne's Bath, and its associated terraces, and features beneath the lawn, also appear to belong, although the precise nature of Queen Anne's Bath (see [4238]) is so far unresolved <2>. Rectilinear parchmarks in the field south of the house and east of the track may also be garden features [10305].
This is 'probably the site of one of the most important historic gardens in the county' <4>. A house like Standon Lordship, grand enough for visits by Queen Elizabeth, would have had formal gardens to match, but no documentation survives. A vineyard containing a covered seat existed here in the later 17th century, possibly surviving as apparent ridge and furrow on sloping ground south of the house, but there is little other known detail. The 1766 map <5> shows a series of courtyards south of the house, two containing gardens, within a landscape of pasture with scattered trees. The main carriage drive came from the north, with another from the west. Following the estate's sale in 1767 it gradually fell into disrepair and the gardens disappeared; much of the land which appears to have been gardens in the 16th and 17th centuries was later sold off as farmland <4>. Some walls [30297] survive on the south side of the house.
See <4> for a detailed plan of the earthworks.

<1> Information from Anne Rowe, Site visit 14.10.2005 (Verbal communication). SHT4974.

<2> Information from Anne Rowe, Site visit 27.4.2006 (Verbal communication). SHT4974.

<3> HCC Planning Dept, 1979-82, Historic parklands and gardens in Hertfordshire; record sheets & supplementary material (Unpublished document). SHT8294.

<4> Rowe, Anne, & Williamson, Tom, 2006, The history of the park and gardens at Standon Lordship (Unpublished document). SHT16743.

<5> Dury & Andrews, 1766, A topographical map of Hartford-shire, from an actual survey… (Cartographic material). SHT3062.

Sources and further reading

Related records

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