Walls Enclosing Melbourne Hall Gardens

The walls enclosing Melbourne Hall Gardens are garden walls with gates and attached dog graves, dating from the early and late 18th century, with numerous late repairs. They were built as part of a French style garden designed by London and Wise, who were Royal Gardeners to Queen Anne, for Thomas Coke of Melbourne Hall. The walls are constructed of stone rubble and red brick with stone dressings. The northern section of the wall, which adjoins Blackwell Lane, is made of rubble stone with flat stone copings. At the eastern end, there are a pair of plain stone gate piers topped with pyramidal copings and ball finials, along with double plank gates. The eastern section of the wall is made of red brick with vitrified headers and is likely contemporary with the gardens. To the south and west, the walls change to rubble stone, with the south side featuring one blocked segment with a headed stone doorcase. In the south-east corner, there is a dog graveyard containing small stone memorial plaques, dating from 1855 to the present day, which are set into the garden wall. The site is included in the Derbyshire Historic Gardens Register at Grade I.