Walls enclosing Kitchen Garden including Vine House and Pineapple House

Cadw's description

Location

Situated some 150m NW of the bridge reached by winding path through rose garden.

History

The kitchen garden is shown on a map of 1794 which calls it the 'New Garden'. The vine house and pine house probably date to the very beginning of the C19, with the heating system modernised from a system using pits filled with rotting tan bark to one using iron stove pipes around 1845. The wooden superstructure of the east glass house dates from the C20. Similar structures are known at Tatton Park in Cheshire, and Holkham Hall.

Exterior

The outer garden walls form an irregular pentagon, with an E-W cross wall dividing the area into unequal parts. The outer walls stand approximately 3.8 to 4 metres high. The S wall is brick on the outside and stone within, the N and W walls stone outside and brick within, and the E wall is all brick, as is the cross wall. Flat stone copings. Near the E end of the S wall is a stone doorway in tooled stone, elliptical-arched with imposts, keystone and pediment. There is an arched doorway in the W wall, and also near the E end of the N wall. A gap in the E wall near the cross wall marks position of another doorway. There is a hut in SE corner of N section of the garden, and remains of a similar hut in SW corner. The E wall has Garden Cottage built onto the outer N end.
Built into cross wall with glass houses to S, and heating plant to N are the Pineapple House and Vine House. The Vine house, (to W) has dwarf brick wall to front, wooden framing, glazing bars and sashes. The wall to rear of Pineapple House (to E) appears to have been raised. Dwarf brick wall with raking low walls to sides. Wooden (C20) framing and glazing bars. Inside, tiered brick beds with stone coping; iron stanchions support rafters. On N side of cross wall are attached buildings (some lost) and pits associated with heating plant which retain important stove and pipe installations which supplied heat to glass houses, and evaporation trays.

Reason for designation

Graded II* as well-preserved C18 kitchen garden walls with exceptional early C19 glass houses retaining unusually complete heating systems associated with the cultivation of tropical plants.