Boundary Wall And Railings To Main Road, Westbury Court Gardens

This is a boundary wall and railings dating to the early 18th century, originally constructed for Maynard Colchester I and II as part of the gardens of Westbury Court, which included a Dutch water garden. The wall, approximately 2.1 metres high on the garden side and 450mm thick, begins with prominent gatepiers constructed of rusticated ashlar stone. These piers have splayed plinths, moulded edges to their tops, and are capped with stone, each supporting a demi-lion sculpture. The wall runs for about 6 metres towards the first “clairvoyee” (a decorative opening). The wall has a plain, weathered stone coping. The piers framing the first clairvoyee are built of ashlar stone with a moulded plinth, and the cope of the wall sweeps up to meet the piers, topped with stone scrollwork. The piers have wide, projecting moulded caps with stone pineapple finials on high bases. Between these piers is a low wall of random rubble, above which is a wrought-iron screen featuring alternate angled or twisted bars terminating in spikes, with two main bars exhibiting wrought-iron finials, curved flourishes at the ends, and a central twisted stay bar. A section of brick wall, approximately 29 metres long, extends to the second clairvoyee, with the last metre rebuilt around 1970. The piers to the second opening are of rusticated ashlar, featuring a moulded stone cap above a brick plinth, and are topped with a wide projecting moulded cap, a square base, and a tall decorative stone urn. Stone coping meets the piers here. The wall between these piers mirrors the first, with a screen of flat bars with twisted tops, sweeps up to piers at the ends, and has main bars with spiked tops and wrought-iron decoration, as well as three twisted stays fixed to the sill wall. The main wall continues for a further 28 metres towards a gazebo, with a further 9 metres of the wall appearing to be of the same date. The first section of wall and the first clairvoyee were likely built by 1704, while the second section was probably built between 1715 and 1725. The gatepiers were likely constructed around 1745, and the lions may have been carved by Biswick of Bristol.