Hestercombe House (33)
Hestercombe House, Nr. Taunton, Somerset
Hestercombe House is nestled in the parish of West Monkton approx. 13 miles away from Taunton, Somerset. Originally built in the 16th century for the Warre family where it remained for approx. 400 years. The house was enlarged and changes were made, alas that work is no longer visible, due to extensive renovation work carried out in and around 1875. The house today is a mixture of different styles of architecture, Neoclassical, Italianate and French but pleasing to the eye.
Sometime in the 18th century a watermill was built, today this is now the visitor’s centre.
The garden when originally set out consisted of a grand cascade, a Gothic Alcove, a Tuscan Temple Arbour, several Ponds and a folly Mausoleum. A formal parterre was added in the 1870’s. Between 1904-1906, an Edwardian Garden was laid out by Gertrud Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens doyens of the Art and Crafts Movement.
Lutyens designed the Orangery (Grade 1 listed). The ‘Great Plat’ featured Gertrude Jekyll’s herbaceous planting. Unfortunately very little of this work exists today. By the early 1970’s the formal gardens were largely run down. It was then that Somerset CC along with the Fire Brigade that restoration work started. In 1995 a project to restore the Landscape garden, in 1998 The Great Plat was replanted. In the same year work on the Victorian Terrace commenced and the fountain repaired.
Another garden where each year more improvements have been completed to make it a great place to visit. This is the 2nd of 2 postings.
Hestercombe House (33)
Hestercombe House, Nr. Taunton, Somerset
Hestercombe House is nestled in the parish of West Monkton approx. 13 miles away from Taunton, Somerset. Originally built in the 16th century for the Warre family where it remained for approx. 400 years. The house was enlarged and changes were made, alas that work is no longer visible, due to extensive renovation work carried out in and around 1875. The house today is a mixture of different styles of architecture, Neoclassical, Italianate and French but pleasing to the eye.
Sometime in the 18th century a watermill was built, today this is now the visitor’s centre.
The garden when originally set out consisted of a grand cascade, a Gothic Alcove, a Tuscan Temple Arbour, several Ponds and a folly Mausoleum. A formal parterre was added in the 1870’s. Between 1904-1906, an Edwardian Garden was laid out by Gertrud Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens doyens of the Art and Crafts Movement.
Lutyens designed the Orangery (Grade 1 listed). The ‘Great Plat’ featured Gertrude Jekyll’s herbaceous planting. Unfortunately very little of this work exists today. By the early 1970’s the formal gardens were largely run down. It was then that Somerset CC along with the Fire Brigade that restoration work started. In 1995 a project to restore the Landscape garden, in 1998 The Great Plat was replanted. In the same year work on the Victorian Terrace commenced and the fountain repaired.
Another garden where each year more improvements have been completed to make it a great place to visit. This is the 2nd of 2 postings.