Monument record 4709/3/3 - Modern Formal Gardens at Courteenhall House

{1} Red Book dated March 1793, held at Courteenhall.

{2}{10} The C19th parterre was replaced in the 1930s by a new formal layout. Part of Repton's plans for the grounds were never executed.

{3} The private part of the garden was re-designed by Repton, with a preference for formality: oval pool beds radiating from within a larger oval, and within a shrubbery.

{10} The main formal garden lies before the south-east front and was laid out in the 1930s to replace a Victorian parterre. It comprises yew hedges, 1m tall and cut with wave-like tops, enclosing a lawned area c 50m square with, at its centre, a small rectangular pool. Urns decorate the enclosure, on plinths along the hedge and standing around the edge of the pool. To the front of the enclosure, the south-east, the hedge is absent and there is a view from the hall, across the formal garden, to the tower of Courteenhall church which stands on a slight rise on the far side of the park 400m to the south-east. Alongside the church, to its south, is the substantial Rectory, the main gable of which is crow-stepped, presumably to improve its appearance from Courteenhall. South-west of the formal garden is a large tennis lawn. The lawn is served by a patio on the south-west side of the hall.

<1> REPTON H., 1793, The Red Book (Courteenhall), (unchecked) (Book). SNN45772.

<2> Stroud D., 1962, Humphry Repton, (unchecked) (Book). SNN19111.

<3> Jacques D., Georgian Gardens, p.139 (unchecked) (Book). SNN42524.

<4> 1860, The Cottage Gardener (25), p.49-57 (unchecked) (Series). SNN55453.

<5> 1939, Country Life (1939), p.144 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN59198.

<6> CASTER G., 1982, Humphrey Repton, p.159-60 (unchecked) (Book). SNN54870.

<7> 1983, Garden (1983), p.361 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN59200.

<8> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Series). SNN1320.

<9> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, (unchecked) (Series). SNN77382.

<10> English Heritage, 1991, Register of Parks & Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England (1991, Northamptonshire), (unchecked) (Report). SNN1167.

Record last edited

Dec 14 2010 4:17PM