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Summary

Victorian garden, including listed glasshouse, engine house, terrace, ponds, bridges and garden paths. From the front of the house the ground drops away rapidly to a former quarry, now the Japanese garden.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1325836: REEVE CASTLE INCUDING ADJOINING GLASSHOUSE, ENGINE HOUSE, TERRACE, PONDS, BRIDGES AND GARDEN PATHS

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• GARDEN (XIX to Late 20th Century - 1801 AD to 2000 AD)

Full description

Sharpe, H. M., 1987, Castle in the air (Un-published). SDV365204.

Story of the renovation of the castle by the Sharpes between 1975 and 1986. Reeve Castle was built in neo-Gothic style in 1900 by William Carter-Pedler. It was built of stone quarried from the slopes to the south, the quarrying carefully managed to create a terraced Japanese garden with pools, bridge and cherry trees.

Devon Gardens Trust, 1999, Devon Local Register, 118 (Un-published). SDV170167.

Devon Gardens Trust, 2013, Devon Gazetteer of Parks and Gardens of Local Interest (Reg/Local list of Historic Parks and Gdns). SDV354335.

Clark, J., 2013, Reeve Castle (Un-published). SDV358145.

A large Victorian Venetian Gothic house but with also hints of Arabic inspiration. A romantic late Victorian fantasy. The walls are cream coloured Barnstaple machine-brick with decorative bands of red brick. Built by and for Richard Carter-Pedler in 1900. A most unusual house and garden as signified by the fact that even the garden paths and ponds are listed.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

Historic England, 2015, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV358087.

Reeve Castle including adjoining - glasshouse, engine house, terrace, ponds, bridges and garden paths From the front (south) the ground drops away rapidly to a former quarry, now the Japanese garden and includes 2 terraces. The upper terrace in front of the verandah projects forward with a round end. It is grassed with slightly battered retaining walls with brick coping and plain iron railings. The lower terrace includes concrete-lined ponds and service walkways to the cellars. To left (west) of the upper terrace an iron bridge over one of the walkways leads over to a hothouse with a round vaulted iron frame but now missing its glass. Under the lower terrace is the boiler house. Outside (south) the ground drops very sharply and a bridge from the engine house connects with the top of a tall iron-framed tower. This contains a weight and pulley connected to the boiler engine. When the weight was dropped the engine was started. From the front a series of winding concrete and brick paths with simple iron rails and including several simple timber and iron footbridges wind down the steep slopes of the former quarry which has been landscaped as a Japanese garden including a large concrete-lined lake with islands. The paths also wind off through water gardens, rookeries, other series of ponds, tennis court, croquet green, bear pit etc. The series of lakes, ponds and waterfall are fed by an elaborate system of overflow pipes and fed by a nearby spring and water tower (q.v.).

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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