Sunken Gardens At Site Of Drakelow Hall

The Sunken Gardens at the site of Drakelow Hall are a Grade II listed feature created in 1902 by Reginald Blomfield for Robert Gresley. Constructed from brick and ashlar, the gardens have a rectangular layout with the River Trent to the north and raised terraces on the other three sides.

At the southern side, there is a central ashlar pavilion featuring a moulded semi-circular arch with a large double keystone, flanked by attached Tuscan columns. The pavilion includes a balcony on top, accessible by flights of steps on either side, though the vase balustrade is mostly missing. Inside the pavilion, a plaque reads: "Robert Gresley 11th Baronet built these terrace AD 1902 as a monument to the memory of his beloved mother, Laura, Lady Gresley."

On either side of the pavilion, high rubble retaining walls are adorned with moulded circular niches on stone brackets and rusticated buttresses. The east and west retaining walls are made of brick and feature large segment-headed recesses at the south end, along with a series of oval brick niches on brick corbels at the north end.

To the north, at a lower level, rusticated semi-circular headed brick archways with large double keystones provide exits from the garden. The short walls beside these archways have bands of tile hanging. At the northern ends of the terraces, each has a brick retaining wall with a semi-circular headed arch made of alternating coloured bricks, enclosing a small semi-circular headed niche. Drakelow Hall was demolished in 1934, and the site is now largely occupied by Drakelow Power Station.