Garden Walls To Carclew House

The garden walls and terraces at Carclew House date from the 18th and 19th centuries. They are constructed from Flemish bond brick, featuring scantle slate and clay ridge tiled copings, as well as killas rubble and some granite ashlar. The walls incorporate earlier materials, including bricks from the 16th and 17th centuries, along with freestone and marble pieces used for garden furniture and ornamental features.

The layout consists of linked rectangular enclosures that are oriented roughly east to west, with terraces on four levels that descend towards an ornamental pond to the east and a kitchen garden or orchard located to the north of the west terrace. A boiler house is integrated into the north side of the upper terrace wall, which was previously used to heat four large greenhouses built in the late 19th century, situated within the upper two sloping levels.

The gate-piers flanking the steps between the terraces feature panelled square granite monolith shafts topped with pagoda caps and ball finials. The lower flight of steps is adorned with leaf-shaped iron balusters and an oak handrail. The garden ornaments, primarily acquired by a former owner named Jack Siley, include an 18th-century sundial (possibly original to Carclew), ornamental benches, an original greenhouse heater, two fine mermen fountains in the pond, and a freestone pergola supported by six columns on pedestal bases. This pergola is topped with a round entablature that holds an open wrought iron dome with scrollwork decoration.

Overall, this arrangement of gardens serves both domestic and ornamental purposes and is set within a wooded valley that features some unusual tree species, including a Locomb oak believed to have been planted in 1762.