Garden Ornaments And Furniture In The Italianate Gardens

Garden Ornaments and Furniture in the Italianate Gardens

The Italianate Gardens at Bicton Park comprise an early 19th-century walled and terraced formal garden of exceptional architectural quality. The principal materials include Flemish bond red brick walls topped with limestone coping, brick-lined ponds, statuary in limestone, cast iron and alloy mounted on stucco pedestals, cast iron fountains, and limestone garden furniture.

The garden extends down a terraced slope to the south-west of the Orangery. Tall ramped walls define each terrace on either side, though they do not fully enclose the gardens—they stop short at each end. The lower terrace is bordered by a wide U-shaped pond fed by a natural stream, which frames a large rectangular ornamental pond.

The terraces are filled with diverse features arranged in a carefully choreographed sequence. The uppermost terrace is relatively gentle and expansive, with paths running around its edges (now tarmaced over pitched cobbles). A curving path along the front of the Summerhouse is lined with a series of vases: two large broad examples in the middle, flanked by narrower vases with sides carved with classical figures. Approximately 10 metres from the Orangery and positioned centrally is a brass sundial on a limestone pedestal with a turned baluster form. The dial is inscribed "G and GW Dixey, New Bond Street, London". The sundial is flanked by small circular ponds towards the Orangery, each containing a small cast-iron fountain with dolphins at the base and a cherub holding aloft the fountain spout and basin. Away from the Orangery are raised limestone flowerbeds, octagonal with outwardly splayed panelled sides, guilloche-decorated bases, and large curving rims.

Along the path above the first terrace stand numerous vases—some enriched with acanthus leaf ornament, others in broad and narrow forms—with smaller examples along the upper side. Towards each end are limestone benches with large scrolled arms, cable moulding along the top of the back, and support on a series of balls. At either end, Portland stone steps with cast iron railings lead down to the middle terrace. The railings have standards with foliate bases and caps; each flight features 3 vases with lobed bases and sides carved with trailing vines in fruit.

The middle terrace is relatively narrow. Across its centre stands a line of statuary: vases at each end and, in the centre, two cherubs flanking a taller figure of paired Bacchanalian putti with another cherub on their shoulders holding a cornucopia. The path returns across the top of the second terrace, lined by 4 vases. The garden walls here have gateways through each side; the north-western gateway was rebuilt in the 20th century, while the south-eastern gateway is original and retains its cast iron gate.

Paths do not extend to the lower terrace, which is largely occupied by the large rectangular lake. At its centre stands a large ornate cast iron fountain comprising 5 diminishing stages of ornate lobed vase-like basins on a granite plinth with soffit-moulded coping. At each corner is a large pedestal supporting a statue of a rustic figure—a shepherdess and a harvestman with scythe, for example. A path around the outside of the bordering lake is also lined with vases.

These gardens form part of a grand-scale early 19th-century landscaping scheme that includes other fine listed buildings such as the Orangery and the Palm House. The garden is deliberately arranged so that Hayward's Church of St Mary is visible in the valley to the left when looking down the slope. The church is partly hidden by a stand of trees, but a gap was intentionally left in the middle to direct the view towards the Rolle obelisk, which stands on the brow of the next hill.