Castle Howard, Walled Garden

The Walled Garden was the first section to be created at Castle Howard because of the early need for horticulture at the site (Hussey, 1967: 122). The original garden covered three acres (1.2 hectares).

The first evidence for the origins of the garden dates from 1703 and concerns the construction of the gardener's house and the walls of the kitchen garden. Work was carried out by Matthew Nettleton and Philip Clarke, two local labourers, and William Smith, who was a mason (Saumarez Smith, 1988: 121).

In 1705 Samuel Carpenter was paid to create the Satyr Gate. He carved the satyr heads which gave the gate its name (Saumarez Smith, 1998: 122) and the baskets of ornamental flowers on the pillars above. He also carved lions' heads on the opposite side of the gate.

The garden was expanded slightly in the 1740s, but by the 1750s it was clear that it was still too small. Sir Thomas Robinson, who was already making alterations to the west wing of the house, made proposals for alterations to the garden in 1755. A plan of this date (Castle Howard Archives) shows that the east wall was extended from 297 feet (90.5 metres) to 825 feet (251 metres) in length. This more than doubled the extent of the garden from 3 acres (1.2 hectares) to 9 acres, 2 rods and 29 perches (3.6 hectares). Surviving structural evidence for the extension of the wall is indicated by a single pillar which marks out the original corner of the garden and now stands alone in the brickwork (Lee, 2003: 7).

The walls were heated and hothouses were also created at this stage. Robinson also proposed the siting of a new gardener's house and office at the centre of the garden between the boundary of the old and new kitchen gardens. Robinson's plan shows a flower garden for this area, in front of the conservatory.

A new entrance was created in the form of an ornamental gate which was positioned so that visitors would enter the garden closer to the conservatory (Lee, 2003: 7-8).

These changes brought a host of visitors to Castle Howard during the late 18th and 19th centuries. Sir John Cullum (Saumarez Smith, 1998, 122), The Reverend MacRitchie (1897: 9-13) and Ibbotson (1851, 38) all list the wealth and quality of the produce at Castle Howard.

In the early 20th century a new conservatory costing £5,650 5s (Castle Howard Archives, F5/76), a new boiler room and chimney and 19 glasshouses were added to the garden. An early 20th-century plan (Castle Howard Archives) shows that the gardens layout had been simplified.

Events during and immediately after the First and Second World Wars meant that produce was cheaper to purchase on the open market than to grow in the garden. Castle Howard fared better than most because of its size, but by the 1970s the garden had been much neglected and lay fallow (Lee, 2003: 13).

In the 1970s three rose gardens were created by James Russell and another section was converted into a plant centre in the 1990s.

In 1993 soil sickness was diagnosed in the Sundial Garden and Venus Garden resulting in 22,000 cubic feet (623 cubic metres) of soil being replaced with uncontaminated soil taken from another part of the estate. In 1994-5 these gardens were replanted with modern roses.

In 2006 a new section was added to the gardens in the creation of an Ornamental Vegetable Garden.

Type

Garden

Purpose

Ornamental

Survival

Part: standing remains

Hectares

4

Open to the public

Yes

Civil Parish

Henderskelfe