Monument record 4156/1/15 - C19th Walled Garden (Probable Kitchen Garden & Orchard)

{1} The walled garden comprises two separate, but interconnected, areas with brick walls partly faced on the outside with stone. It was constructed c.1840.
The earliest map to illustrate the area is an estate map of 1856, which shows the gardeners cottage and the large eastern compartment of the walled garden. The garden is divided by a single cross path but with no peripheral paths. The area where the smaller, western compartment now lies is indicated as a narrow strip, though this does not appear to be the present walled area nor are any paths indicated.
By the time of the 1st OS map of 1880 the two walled compartments are shown as they remain today. The larger compartment is divided now by cross paths with a peripheral border path and the southern compartment is divided into two, unequal, parts with a peripheral path also. The long range of glasshouses is shown in the north east corner and the presence of paths leading up to the enclosing walls indicate that both doorways were present. No boiler house is indicated to the north of the north wall suggesting that the glasshouse was not at this time heated.
Photos taken c.1910 show that the larger compartment had paths edged with the Staffordshire blue edging tiles found in the southern compartment, and drains with iron covers close to the junction of the paths. The planting appears to be dense but consisting of flowers rather than vegetables; it could however be that this is the one view captured in the photograph.
Detailed description of the walls surrounding the garden, the paths that cross it, and the remains of the glasshouses within it.Trial excavation revealed evidene of the paths crossing the garden, previous planting trenches and drains.

{3} The walled garden comprises two separate, but inter-connected, areas with brick walls partly faced on the outside with stone and lies to the south of this earthwork. The northernmost area of the walled garden is the largest and may have been a kitchen garden. The southernmost, smaller compartment appears originally to have been an orchard.
The First Edition OS map of 1880 shows the two walled compartments as they remain today. The larger compartment is divided by cross-paths with a peripheral border path, and the southern compartment is divided into two, unequal parts also with a peripheral path. The long range of glasshouses shown in the north-east corner and the presence of paths leading up to the enclosing walls indicate that both doorways were present.
Northamptonshire Record Office holds a number of photographs relating to gardening within the walled garden.

<1> Prentice, J., 2011, Archaeological Desk-Based and Building Assessment With Trial Excavation in the Walled Garden at Rockingham Castle, Northamptonshire, (checked) (Report). SNN108237.

<2> Horne B. (Editor), 2012, South Midlands Archaeology (42), 42/35 (checked) (Journal). SNN108346.

<3> Simmonds C., 2012, Archaeological Evaluation at Rockingham Castle, Northamptonshire March 2012, p.5; https://doi.org/10.5284/1104257 (Report). SNN109188.

Record last edited

Oct 24 2024 3:24PM