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Summary

Blocked up façade of garden building visible in wall of North Garden, probably an orangery or greenhouse built in c 1700

Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status

• Conservation Area: Shaw House and St Mary's Church, Shaw
• Registered Park or Garden (II) 1001446: Shaw House

Other Statuses and Cross-References

• Berkshire SMR No. (pre 2000): 03467.05.000
  

Monument Type(s):

• GARDEN BUILDING (18th century - 1701 AD? to 1705 AD?)
• ORANGERY? (18th century - 1701 AD? to 1705 AD)

Full Description

On the north side of the garden a section of the brick garden wall incorporates the blocked-up facade of a garden building, probably an orangery or glasshouse. A garden building is shown at this location on 18th and 19th century maps <2>. The footings survive below the surface of the stable yard to the north.

An archaeological evaluation trench excavated in April 1999 located the structural remains of the garden building <2>. The remains of a red brick wall parallel to the standing southern wall were excavated; the bricks were of a different character to the surviving wall and represent a robbed out exterior wall. If this was the northern wall, the building would have been about 8.50m wide. A small hearth of flat tiles was also recorded, supporting the interpretation of the building as an orangery or greenhouse.

A survey of the garden's standing structures in 2003 <4> describes the former orangery. It faced south and closed the north side of the North Garden of Shaw House. Only the lower part of the south wall survives to a height of 2.6m. It is built in a deep orange brick with fine white pointing. There is a high base or plinth c 0.5m high and above this was the open arcade; piers also survive with the lower part of pilasters and moulded stone bases. The openings of the arcade were filled in with similar brickwork in about 1735 when the building was converted into a stable <4>.

Sources and further reading

Related Monuments

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

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