Walled Garden immediately West of Wrest Park House, including Linking Screen Wall

Walled Garden immediately West of Wrest Park House, including Linking Screen Wall

This walled garden complex at Wrest Park comprises the main kitchen gardens, orchard, and Italian Garden, enclosed by walls constructed mainly of cream-coloured brick in Flemish bond, with pink brick used in the subdividing walls and ashlar dressings with stone sculpture.

The garden walls stand approximately 2.5 to 3 metres high. The screen wall links the house at its north-west corner and travels west before turning south to form the north-west corner of the Italian Garden, then turns west again to form the north wall of the orchard. From there it turns north and west to become the north wall of the kitchen gardens. At the Garden Cottage it turns south to form the west wall of the gardens, turns east after the Coachman's Cottage, curves at the south-east corner (where it holds the Ceres Gate), and rejoins the Italian Garden at the East Orchard Gate. The kitchen garden wall encloses an area of about 250 hectares, subdivided by internal walls between the orchard and kitchen gardens, between the kitchen gardens and the area to the west, between the two square kitchen gardens, and between these and the long garden to the south.

The west, south and east walls are plain on both sides. The north face of the north wall, visible from the carriage drive, features rusticated pilasters at intervals separated by three square raised panels. The top of the north kitchen garden wall is crowned with three urns, and another urn surmounts a stone scrolled pediment above a door in the screen wall close to the house.

Ornamental detail is concentrated in the main entrances and gateways. The Strangers Gate, at the north-west corner of the Italian Garden, and the return wall immediately to the west are entirely faced in stone externally, though inside the garden only the central section and surround to the main gate are stone. The entrance consists of a central tall double door with Rococo decoration of carved panels and swags on the outer face under a segmental arch, flanked by rusticated pilasters. To either side are doors under segmental arches with ornate keystones. The gateway is surmounted by ornamental stone sculpture by W Kelsey. Above each pilaster is an ornate urn; between the urns at the centre of the arch is a cartouche bearing the Coat of Arms of the de Grey family, surmounted by a coronet. To either side are wyverns (heraldic elements from the family coat of arms) mounted by putti.

To the west of the Strangers Gate is the entrance to the orchard, consisting of a simple round arch supported on pilasters with plain capitals containing an elaborately decorative wrought iron gate. Its most significant feature is a late 18th-century Coade-stone keystone with a relief of the head of a river god.

The Eagle Gate, situated halfway along the north wall, gives access to the kitchen gardens. It consists of a central double doorway flanked by smaller doors, with the door to the west being blind. The outer face of the central doors contains panelled Rococo decoration. Rusticated pilasters flank the gateway, with urns above, and further urns flank the central doors which are surmounted by a stone eagle carrying festoons.

The Ceres Gate is the main gate from the garden into the walled garden, providing access to the orchard. It curves around the south-east corner and contains a segmental-headed double doorway with panelled Rococo doors. Surmounting the gateway is an inscribed plaque with a Coade-stone statue of a Naiad above, possibly remodelled as Ceres, her vase overflowing with flowers rather than water. The plaque and statue are flanked by urns. To either side of the doorway stand early 18th-century statues of Bacchus and Flora respectively, standing on 18th-century stone plinths set into the gateway's brickwork. An inscription at the base of each statue records their maker as the notable Flemish sculptor Peter Scheemakers (PET:SCHEEMAKER FECIT). Bacchus leans on a tree stump entwined with vines, with a faun's skin thrown over his left shoulder and a vine-covered staff held in his left hand. Flora's head is turned to the left, away from her right hand which clasps a posy of flowers cradled in the folds of her dress; behind her is a tree stump with leaves growing from the base.

The two square kitchen gardens contain modern greenhouses and other structures, though the original potting sheds survive at the centre of the west garden. These sheds are aligned west to east and form a long lean-to structure against the central wall. At the top of this wall runs a line of chimneys, the remnants of the heating system for the sheds and the greenhouses (now demolished) on the other side of the wall. The sheds are built of pink and cream brick with a slate roof sweeping around the curve of the east corner. The north-facing elevation has doors at regular intervals with pairs of windows between, all with flat arches. These windows have small square panes and are hinged at the top, opening from the bottom.