Garden Structures Including Terraces, Balustrades, Urns And Statues To Front Garden To Castle Hill House

Garden structures including terraces, balustrades, urns, and statues are located in the front garden of Castle Hill House. These features are primarily from the 18th century and largely reflect the landscape design of Matthew, the 2nd Lord Fortescue, with some alterations made in the 19th and 20th centuries. The principal terrace extends the entire length of the facade and projects forward in line with the central range of the house. The balustrade is mainly recast in concrete and includes urns on the principal uprights, along with two lead-cast lions resting on ashlar plinths at the center. A free-standing urn in the middle of the terrace features a sculptured drum depicting a classical scene, with an inscription on the plinth stating, "This vase was given by Peter Lord King to Hugh Earl Fortescue MDCCCXXXI."

The arrangement of statues is symmetrical on the grass terrace, which slopes down to a raised parapetted terrace. At the center, there are two pairs of female Egyptian sphinxes; the upper pair is flanked by figure statues, while the lower pair is accompanied by three large stone urns on each side, angled outward toward the walkway's terminating walls, which are also flanked by similar urns. The front retaining parapet wall is made of stone rubble with brick above, rendered with sunken panels, and it breaks forward at both ends and in the center. Each break features urns at the angles, all cast in lead except for the stone urns at the front of the central break. A baluster sundial is positioned at the central break.