Railings, gates, piers and urns to south side of South Parterre (also known as the French Garden)

MATERIALS: cast-iron railings sitting upon a yellow-brick plinth with ovolo-moulded stone coping, and ashlar piers positioned at regular intervals.

DESCRIPTION: the piers are surmounted by urns; at the western end is a C20 cement-based, artificial stone urn of Campana form which is a copy of that at the eastern end and is of little historic or architectural interest. The example at the eastern end is a carved, English limestone vase of c1840 sitting on a bath stone pedestal.

Working eastwards from the C20 urn, positioned either side of the main walk south from the Italian garden, is a pair of carved C19 Carrara marble vases. They are gadrooned to the lower half, beneath a plain frieze and plain undecorated rim. To the side simple handles span the hollow freize, curling under the rim. The whole is supported on a socle and the plinth beneath is stepped.

Marking both the west and east sloping edges of the parterre are a set of four Campana form, Carrara marble vases, two to the east side and two to the west. From the simple tulip form, and the fact they have turned socles and no mouldings or projections, they are thought to be late-C19 in date.

Flanking the main gates leading from the French Garden parterre are a pair of marble statues, one of a boy with a dog and the other a girl with a dog, placed upon piers. These are c.1840 and thought to be by Terence Farrell. Documentary sources suggest the dogs are reminders of 'Dandie' and 'Little Dick', dogs of the Countess Cowper and Amabel Cowper, now buried in the dogs' cemetery.

Towards the eastern end of the railings is a pair of Campana shaped veined marble vases with mask decoration. These date to the second half of the C19 with the lower half being gadrooned beneath a thin band, and the upper sections undecorated apart from a pair of masks carved in relief to either side. The rims of the vases are un-decorated and the whole is supported on a moulded socle.