Historische aanleg, Clingendaal bij 7

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction to component 2.

The HISTORICAL GARDEN AND PARK LAYOUT belonging to the historic country estate Clingendael received an impressive layout in the 17th century commissioned by the then owner Philips II Doublet. He transformed the farmstead into a very substantial country estate with formal garden layout, which was extended several times during the period 1634-1680. In 1644 on the grounds of Clingendael stood a house with barn, 3 haystacks, an avenue with a plantation, an orchard with a pond and an avenue flanked by silver poplars leading to the house. Much care was devoted to the planting of the garden and the embellishment of the country estate in the style of Dutch Classicism. At the commission of Philips III Doublet the modernisation of the garden was undertaken in the decade after 1680. The country estate received a formal garden, the layout of which was inspired by the ideas of the French architect Le Nôtre. The garden surrounded and traversed by waterways was arranged symmetrically along a central axis perpendicular to the house. The wind belt still present also dates from this period. In the course of the 18th century, while retaining the structure, the garden was considerably simplified. On the front and rear sides of the house the formal layout was largely abolished and replaced by lawns. Across the width of the garden a serpentine wall was constructed, bordered by vegetable gardens and an orchard. Two pleasure houses were built at the pond. The large pond behind the house was reshaped according to prevailing ideas and at the rear of the garden a pond with pavilion was added. In the second half of the 18th century a double row of trees was planted along the central axis behind the house for the entire length of the garden; that row of trees still exists in part. Around 1838 the formal garden was transformed into a romantic landscape park according to the design of J.D. Zocher jr. (according to cadastral minute 1822 already in conformity with existing). An elongated water feature oriented northeast/southwest was provided with multiple branches and small islands. On three sides the area with among others the estate building was enclosed by water, while one of these continues under the country house with culverting. (current layout however in conformity with that of 1822 cadastral min.). Furthermore Leonard Springer designed the terraces with double staircase at the Old Dutch garden. This garden, for which no design has been found, was re-laid out in 1918 after it had been demolished in WWI, in place of the jeu de paume court. This presumably happened under the supervision of the gardener and garden architect Theodoor Dinn, engaged in 1905 by the then owner Marguérite Mary van Brienen, who worked at Clingendael until 1920. Baroness M.M. (Daisy) van Brienen had a Japanese garden laid out in a segment of the star wood in the period 1903-1913 with garden ornaments brought by her from Japan. The star-shaped path pattern of the star wood is located in the former hunting ground the Pheasant Wood. After 1910 the waterways on either side of the access avenue were filled in. After the municipality of The Hague became owner of the entire country estate on 30 September 1954 the park acquired a public function as a walking park and the rosarium and flower garden were laid out; these are of subordinate importance for protection by the state.

Description

The extensive garden or park is composed of various components with very diverse characteristics and very diverse ages. From the original 17th-century layout remain both the pond in front and that behind the house, a waterway on the southwest side and part of the access avenue (Doublet's Allee). The access avenue flanked by beeches and lindens leads onto a square plaza with some ornamental bollards. The ponds have their origin in basins which likewise formed part of the layout of that period. The current character of the park is determined by the early 19th-century layout in Landscape style according to the design of Zocher and the later 19th and early 20th-century additions of the star wood and the Old Dutch and Japanese gardens, which have remained nearly intact. The garden contains a large number of monumental, grouped, arranged in rows and solitary trees, a great variety of shrubs, bushes and plants, various water features in the form of streams and ponds, a moss-covered dune ridge, lawns, play area, aviary, pheasant wood, dune wood, cattle pasture, star wood, artificial and natural elevations, paths that traverse the garden and ditches and a waterway that enclose the garden. Characteristic is also the alternation between open and more enclosed areas and the presence of sight lines, which give the park a very varied character. An important sight line is the central axis between the front of the house and the Van Alkemadelaan. On the front plaza stand a lamp post and a sundial.

Within the layout on the so-called Peacock Hill lies the former grave of Daisy van Brienen. There is also an animal burial ground.

A more or less independent garden within the whole is formed by the early 20th-century JAPANESE GARDEN laid out in a corner of the current star wood by Baroness M.M. van Brienen possibly with assistance of garden architect T.J. Dinn. The JAPANESE GARDEN contains various sculpted garden ornaments (see component 20) and a wooden pavilion. The garden is in fact a miniature imitation of the natural landscape and is full of objects which have symbolic meaning. The garden is, both in construction and in the use of garden ornaments and in the manner of the original planting a typical and for the Netherlands unique example of the so-called 'Japonaiserie craze' that prevailed throughout Europe at the time of its creation. For the laying out of the garden naturally formed stones and various types of moss were used among others. The garden is provided with oriental plants, bushes and trees, such as Chinese juniper, azaleas, Japanese cherry, wisteria, Japanese maple, Japanese bamboo, Japanese primrose and hostas. The garden has a fence made of bamboo knotted together with rope. The garden surrounded by rhododendrons contains a great diversity in planting, part of which still dates from the period of laying out. The garden is traversed by narrow streams and winding paths with stepping stones, which are left clear in the moss. The garden also contains an irregularly shaped pond and streams, which are connected with the waterways. The pond encloses an oval island in the shape of a turtle, the oriental symbol for immortality. Most garden paths are now widened to increase accessibility of the garden for wheelchair users. The current entrance gate comes from the Floriade in Zoetermeer and is of subordinate importance for protection. Slightly in front of the original entrance a small new piece of garden has been laid out.

The OLD DUTCH GARDEN is situated to the north of the country house and borders on the artificial dune ridge at the edge of the estate. L.A. Springer was responsible for the execution. From his hand is a drawing dated 1887 with two sketch designs for garden terraces, one with a rectangular and one with an oval staircase, the latter of which was executed. In WWI the Old Dutch garden was demolished and after 1918 re-laid out in a different pattern. The garden is actually a reconstruction of part of the formal garden from 1680. Symmetrically-geometrically laid out, bordered by paths and grass margins, essentially rectangular garden, executed in a historicising formal garden style. On the northeast side is an elevated section, against which stands a flight of steps in the central axis. The garden is traversed lengthwise and widthwise by a central path, which form a cross and divide the garden into four beds. These beds are composed of a large number of small compartments edged with box hedges, which form a geometric parterre pattern. On the axis of the cross, in the middle of the bed stands a bronze sculpture placed on a plinth.

N.B. The sculpture in the middle of the garden, a female nude by Jean Marianne Bremers, called La Douce (1981), is excluded from protection because of the legal age limit of 50 years.

Valuation

The garden and park layout of the historic country estate Clingendael is of general interest because of its cultural-historical value, garden architecture-historical value and ensemble value:

- as a reasonably intact and characteristic example of a historic garden and park layout, in which the different development phases, which date back to the 17th century, are still clearly recognizable in the current layout;

- as a special expression of a typological and landscape development and because of the close relationship with the development of the region The Hague/Wassenaar, in which Clingendael has been one of the leading country estates since the 17th century;

- through the close connection and the historical-spatial relationship with the built components on the country estate;

- as an essential component of the country estate Clingendael and because of the connection with the other country estates and their gardens in the nearby surroundings, which form a more or less continuous whole and are decisive for the appearance of the region;

- through the qualities of the designs of the constituent components, the still visible and demonstrable developments in the development of the garden and because of the special connection between the various components, which are also of importance for the oeuvre of various garden and landscape architects;

- through the recognizability and the high degree of intactness of both the whole and a number of the constituent components.