Kitchen Garden Walls Including Railings And Gates, Attached And Detached Internal Walls, Attached Sheds And Green Houses, And A Detached Greenhouse In North West Section

Kitchen garden walls with railings, gates, attached sheds and greenhouses, and detached wall and greenhouses at Hackwood Park, Winslade.

The complex dates from the 18th century with later alterations. The railings, gates, greenhouses and sheds are 19th century, with additional greenhouses of later date.

The walls are constructed of red brick in Monk bond above header bond, with some rat-trap bond to the north wall and some ashlar dressings. Iron railings and gates are present, along with brick sheds. The greenhouses have brick dwarf walls supporting wooden and glass superstructures.

The layout encloses a large rectangular kitchen garden orientated north-south. Across the centre runs a detached west-east wall, originally a heated wall, with a central break that aligns with the central break in the south wall (filled by railings) and with another west-east cross-wall set further north. Greenhouses are added to the south side of the central wall, with sheds to the north side. Two walls flank the centre and return northward to connect to The Orangery. The north wall has lean-to sheds along its north side, with later greenhouses at the west end on the south side.

In the north-west section of the garden stands a free-standing greenhouse running east-west, which appears on the 1910 Ordnance Survey map. Four further free-standing greenhouses running north-south are of mid-20th century date and are not considered to be of special interest.

The long west and east walls each have four equally-spaced segmental-arched entrances with board doors and flanking piers with capstones, which formerly supported large decorative urns. Only the urns at the south-east corner and along the south wall survive in situ; others have been relocated in Spring Wood. The main walls have domed oversailing brick coping.

The railings and double-gates in the south wall have an ashlar plinth, spiked bars, and bracketed standards with urn finials. The opening is flanked by piers with urns, with further piers to either side.

The central cross-wall is lower, with piers, domed brick coping, and taller end-piers with pyramidal capstones (part of the west section has been lost). The former heated wall has bricked-up former archways at its base for vines to grow through and chimneys. The walls linking the heated wall to The Orangery have round archways at either end and flat stone coping.

The greenhouses have decorative metal braces and ties to roof trusses and lever-operated roof-lights and side-windows.

This is a well-preserved and well-detailed 18th century kitchen garden with much of its 19th century internal arrangement preserved. Although separate, the kitchen garden forms part of the early 18th century design of Hackwood Park and is integral to it. The rectangular enclosure of six acres retains its major original internal compartments. Changes to structures such as the greenhouses have been for renewal and repair. The overall design remains intact and charts the development of this late Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian walled garden.