Monument record 3382 - Boughton Park

Landscape park and formal gardens to Boughton Hall. Formal gardens were created during the 1690s for John Briscoe. However, much of the current landscaping dates to the second half of the 18th century and was developed by William Wentworth. Some alterations to the park were made during the 20th century .

{2} Walpole correspondence, letters to The Earl of Strafford.

{3} "….the building follows the old taste….it offers exciting vistas through the alleys that pass through the garden. The garden is small but lovely. The place with the most beautiful view over the remote meadows and hills is on the highway side. From this and from the park the house is separated by a wall sunk in a ditch which is imperceptible from a distance. There stands a kind of semicircular temple made of laths covered with white linen which can be rotated round an axle hidden in the gound in accordance as one wishes to avoid the wind. Not far from the place where one can enter the park and drive to the house there is a look-out tower. The Earl spends five months in the town and two months here. The other six months are spent in the much more beautiful Wentworth in Yorkshire…."

{4} A 10 acre fishpond is mentioned; presumably on the site of the dammed pools but silted up by the 1883 OS first edition mapping.

{5} Marks the position of "The Temple" in the area of Little Brickhill Spinney; any evidence of this structure would have been destroyed by the WWII internment camp.

{6} In 1798 described as gardens of pleasure grounds etc. Containing 15a and 10 perches. Other lands of 28a; further lease of Old or Great Port of 100a and the New Park and plantations of c 124a.

{7} Seat of the Earl of Strafford. The building follows the old taste is not especially furnished, it is not remarkable for pictures or objects of art… yet it offers exciting vistas through the alleys that pass through the garden. The garden is small but lovely the place with the most beautiful view over the remote meadows and hill is on the highway side. From this and from the park the house is separated by a wall sunk in a ditch which is imperceptible from a distance. There stands a kind of semi circular temple made of laths covered with white linen, which can be rotated round an axle hidden in the ground, in accordance as one wishes to avoid the wind. Not far from the place where one can enter the park and drive to the house there is a look-out tower. The earl spends four months in the town, two months here, the other six in the much more beautiful Wentworth Woodhouse [Wentworth Castle] in York and loves solitude.

{8} Follies were constructed within the eighteenth century landscape to create an integrated vista between the main house and the follies incorporating a full stretch of nature between each. The follies themselves provided a pause or "exclamation mark" in the language of landscape design.

{9} The Park has a very good group of lighthearted follies.

{13} Enclosed parkland, owned by Earl of Strafford.

{19} Second Earl of Strafford spent building medievalised follies on the estate……..Archway from village plain and castellated.

{20} Manor house on seat of the Earl of Strafford is old but not large. It is pleasantly situated upon rising ground which commands a very extensive prospect. The gardens and woods adjoining it are well disposed. Part of the house was pulled down by Jn Priscoe. Now in the possession of the Earl of Strafford, who by a late purchase from the Lord Ashburnham, mortgagee of Sir John Briscoe, bought with the manor a considerable estate in Boughton and Pitsford.

{21} The house was deserted after 1808 and by 1820 it was recorded as being nearly levelled to the ground. The park and grounds were well wooded. Temples, triumphal arches and artificial ruins were interspersed with a fantastic variey of Obelisk erected on an eminence.

{22} Significant remains of late C17th gardens set in mid C18th parkland developed by 2nd Earl of Strafford. Boughton Hall stands roughly in the centre of the site, the main entrance off the Market Harborough Road. At the western end of the drive stands The Hawking Tower built c.1756. The gate piers adjacent bore a stone lion and griffin which now stand on the piers at the current entrance to the park. There was once a castellated arch at this main gate, set between high castellated walls. A pair of cottages in the park to the north-east of the hall also sport crennelations. The Boughton and Pitsford estates were purchased by Thomas Wentworth 1672-1739, Earl Strafford of 2nd creation and owner of Wentworth Castle. Boughton was a half-way-house between London and Yorkshire. Strafford was responsible for the layout of the formal gardens. His son William inherited, and was a close friend of Horace Walpole. The Second Earl continued to develop the landscape with the addition of gothic ornamentation to several existing farm buildings and construction of several gothic follies. The estate eventually passed to the Howard-Vyse family and was broken up in 1927. The present house was built by Richard Burn in 1844. To the west and south of the present hall the gardens occupy a level terrace surrounded by a stone retaining wall which survives from the early C18th layout. An area of level parkland provides the setting for gardens to the south. The main area of the park lies to the north. The remains of formal planting persisted into the C20th: Duke's Clump and Long Clump survive. Duke's Clump Lodge is a C19th addition. A minerals railway caused disturbance at the north end of the park. The park extends past Grotto Spinney and includes an area of five former ponds. The stream was dammed to form a series of pools with a stone bridge. The current pools date to the C20th but occupy the area of the original pools. A set of gothic buildings decorate the wider landscape setting; they form a key part of the Second Earl's landscaping activities.

{23} The parkland at Boughton shows an attempt to recover the character of the medieval English countryside by adding Gothic ornamentation to existing and new building. Detailed accounts survive of the works carried out to the park and gardens for Thomas Wentworth (from 1717 onwards). The formal park comprises of three main areas: the gardens, the Great or Old Park and the New Park. Elements of the planting in the parkland have survived into the C20th including the C18th plantings of Duke's Clump, Long Clump and Grotto Spinney, and a line of old walnut trees leading directly to a statue of the flying horse Pegasus by the lake.

[SMR note 17-SEP-96: Follies mapped on mapinfo under H:\mapusers\holding\follies.tab.]

{29} Landscape park and formal gardens at Boughton Hall, first documented during the 1690s and further developed between the mid-late 18th century. 18th century features include the woods and plantations present to the north of the park. These were also planted throughout the 19th century. The main feature of the park during the 18th century was a set of gothic buildings. Most of these survive and are concentrated in a valley to the north. A series of 20th century ponds, created by the damming of a stream are on the site of pools documented in 1720.
Formal gardens were created during the 1690s for John Briscoe. Much of the current landscaping in the park dates to the second half of the 18th century and was developed by William Wentworth. Some alterations to the park were made during the 20th century .

<1> Eyre T. (Revised by Jefferys T.), 1779, Map of the County of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Map). SNN1852.

<2> Walpole H., 1973 Edition, Walpole's Letters, (unchecked) (Book). SNN3289.

<3> SZECHENYI F., 1787, Description of Visit To Park, (unchecked) (Report). SNN1434.

<4> 1792, Survey of Boughton Park, (unchecked) (Uncertain). SNN1438.

<5> 1794, Boughton, Howard Vyse Estate Map (Map 5313), (unchecked) (Map). SNN1437.

<6> RANSOME S., 1969, Boughton Hall, (unchecked) (Report). SNN3223.

<7> 1994, Boughton Hall, p.66 (unchecked) (Article). SNN46236.

<8> NORTHAMPTONSHIRE GARDENS TRUST, Correspondence, (unchecked) (Correspondence). SNN44219.

<9> Jones B., 1974, Follies and Grottoes, (unchecked) (Book). SNN56966.

<10> BADESLADE T., 1732, Boughton Hall, House and Gardens, (unchecked) (Engraving). SNN56962.

<11> 1850 (circa), 19th Century Plan of Proposed Straightening of The Turnpike Road, FS 61/73 (unchecked) (Map). SNN59254.

<12> 1861, Glebe Map (NRO Map 665), FS 72/34 (unchecked) (Map). SNN59295.

<13> 1862, Parish Map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN57650.

<14> Ordnance Survey, 1883, Map 118, (unchecked) (Map). SNN57651.

<15> 1884, Map 160, (unchecked) (Map). SNN54672.

<16> Ordnance Survey, 1900, Map 17/35, (unchecked) (Map). SNN54674.

<17> Ordnance Survey, 1901, NRO Map 1211, (unchecked) (Map). SNN57652.

<19> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.109 (unchecked) (Series). SNN1320.

<20> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.410 (unchecked) (Book). SNN100366.

<21> Baker G., 1830, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Book). SNN77327.

<22> English Heritage, 1994, Register of Parks & Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England (1994, Northamptonshire), (unchecked) (Report). SNN1324.

<23> Scott S., 1995, The Follies of Boughton Park, p.30-40 (part checked) (Book). SNN44220.

<24> Bryant A., 1827, Map of The County of Northampton, (unchecked) (Map). SNN2733.

<25> Ordnance Survey, 1950, Ordnance Survey 1950s Mapping Series (SP76), (unchecked) (Map). SNN54695.

<27> Dawson M., 1999, Pitsford Quarry Environmental Impast Assessment: Desk Based Assessment of Archaeological Evidence August 1999, 4.7 (checked) (Draft). SNN105318.

<28> Prentice, J., 2011, Archaeological Evaluation at Boughton Hall Park, Boughton, Northamptonshire October 2011, (checked) (Report). SNN107702.

<29> English Heritage, Register of Parks & Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England (2004, Northamptonshire), Part 30 (Report). SNN116093.

Record last edited

Feb 3 2025 8:02PM