Thicket Priory Park and Gardens

1. 1. HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE
2. 1.1 Estate owners

The riverside site of Thicket Priory park and garden runs across the boundary between the parishes of Thorganby and Wheldrake, with the site of buildings and the largest proportion of the land being within Thorganby. (Thorganby comprises the older parishes of West Cottingwith (northern half) and Thorganby (southern half)).

Roger son of Roger, an early demesne tenant of West Cottingwith, founded Thicket nunnery about 1190. Records show that he and others donated land in West Cottingwith and Wheldrake to the St Mary’s Benedictine nunnery, confirmed by a charter from King John in 1204 (EYC1). In West Cottingwith the gift comprised: Roger son of Roger 4 bovates; Thomas son of Roger ½ carucate; Picot 1 bovate (total about 55 ha (135 acres)). In Wheldrake the gift comprised: Geoffrey de Fiteling 2 bovates; Hugh de Bolton 2 bovates; Emma de Dilolton 1 bovate (total about 30 ha (75 acres)) (ibid). Dugdale, writing in 1693 indicates ‘Thickhed’ nunnery as being in the parish of Wheldrake, perhaps because the nunnery originally had land in different parts of Wheldrake, but quitclaimed the castlery of Wheldrake to Fountains Abbey in 1219 (EYC2). It is possible that most of the riverside land owned by the nunnery, with its main complex of buildings in West Cottingwith, extended across the parish boundary between West Cottingwith and Wheldrake and occupied a similar area to the later 19th century Thicket Priory estate, as some of the land gifted to the nunnery in Wheldrake descended with the site of the nunnery to future owners of Thicket Priory (VCH1).

The Benedictine nuns were in occupation until the dissolution of the monasteries. John Aske of York was granted the former monastic estate by Henry VIII in 1542, with another John Aske selling it to John Robinson in 1596 (VCH2). The estate remained with the generations of Robinsons. In 1752 Nicholas Robinson left his estate to his daughter, Sarah, who married Henry Waite, becoming Henry Waite Robinson on Nicholas Robinson’s death in 1754. In 1801 the Revd. Nicholas Waite Robinson sold 23 acres (9.3 ha) to Robert Jefferson and in 1803 the remainder of the lands, comprising 220 acres (89 ha), including Thicket Priory estate, to Joseph Dunnington (VCH2), grandson of Thomas Dunnington. The Dunnington-Jefferson family tree shows the succession to land and estates across Thorganby and West Cottingworth was not straightforward. Rev. Joseph Dunnington-Jefferson inherited Thicket Priory from his father, Joseph.

By 1840, Rev. Joseph Dunnington-Jefferson owned most of the land in Thorganby and West Cottingworth, along with the Thicket Priory estate and Thorganby Hall. In 1841 Rev. Joseph Dunnington-Jefferson was living at Thicket Priory. Between 1844 and 1847 Joseph had a new house, designed by the architect Edward Blore, built on the Thicket Priory estate.

On Joseph’s death in 1880, Thicket Priory passed to his eldest son Joseph John, who died without issue in 1928. The estate was then inherited by John Alexander, Joseph John’s nephew, the son of Mervyn Dunnington Jefferson (Rev. Joseph’s second son). Joseph John and John Alexander appeared to have very sporadic residency at Thicket Priory (1881-1911 census records; 1939 register). In 1955 Sir John Alexander Dunnington- Jefferson (1884-1979) sold Thicket Priory house, along with 23 acres (9.3 ha) of land to Carmelite nuns, who were moving from Exmouth. The Prioress at the time was Mother Mary of Saint-John Vavasour, whose family home was Hazelwood Castle near Tadcaster. Sir John had moved to Thorganby Hall prior to 1939 (resident at Thorganby Hall on 1939 register; Thicket Priory vacant except for gardener’s cottage). He sold the remainder of the Dunnington-Jefferson landholdings in Thorganby and West Cottingworth in 1964 to J.B. Eastwood, who used them as productive farmland. In 2008 the main building of Thicket Priory with 16.5 acres (6.7 ha) of land was sold and is now in private ownership. The funds were used by the Carmelite order to build a new monastery, which the nuns now occupy, to the southeast of the house in the grounds of the walled garden (6.5 acres (2.6 ha) in total).

Key owners responsible for major development of the designed landscape:

John Robinson and descendants (1596 – c.1812)

Rev. Joseph Dunnington-Jefferson (c. 1840 – 1880)

1. 1.2 Early history of the site

Benedictine nuns occupied the riverside site from c.1190 until c.1539, the time of the dissolution of the monasteries. There are records of archiepiscopal visitations to the nunnery over the centuries, often it appears to chastise wayward nuns or deal with complaints (VCH3). The riverside landscape supported cattle meadows and fishing: in 1484 fields and pasturage were flooded with much loss of cattle (VCH3); ‘Thicket priory had a weir at West Cottingwith in 1332, presumably for fishing; along with others it was said to obstruct boats and cause flooding’ (VCH2).

At the Dissolution the Priory included ‘a church, chapter-house, cloisters, hall, two parlours, bakehouse, buttery, kitchen, and various chambers’ (VCH2). A transcription of the transfer to John Aske in 1542 records a ‘chief house of the late Priorie of Thickede with all the singular houses, barns, stables, dove-houses, buildings, structures, pooles, orchards, garden, land, soil and grounds within the site.’ (UDDJ/14/396). This description suggests the Priory was a typical Benedictine, self-contained complex, with river frontage, and that there was some survival of buildings, rather than wholesale destruction, after the Dissolution. Indeed, a surviving Dissolution survey gives some details of the layout, but not the exact location, of the priory: ‘the church was placed on the south side of the cloister, the east side of the cloister contained the chapter house and an upper floor dormitory, and the north side was occupied by a brew house and bolting house. The west side of the cloister was formed by the new house, the new parlour and the buttery, all of which were of timber-framed construction and “coueryd wt tyles”’ Richardson and Dennison (2007, 2). By 1542 any woodland in the area had been cleared, as the grant of the Thicket priory estate to John Aske included £2 for the repair of buildings because of the scarcity of trees in the neighbourhood (VCH2).

1. 1.3 Chronological history of the designed landscape

3.3.1. c.1596-1817

There appear very few records of the buildings and landscape between the Dissolution and enclosure in 1817. Evidence for the layout of buildings and landscape during this time comes mostly from architectural investigations undertaken in 2007 (Richardson & Dennison) and the enclosure map of 1817 (HA U DDJ/14/395). Over the time that the Robinsons owned Thicket Priory (1596 – 1803), at least one new house was built. The “capital house” of Thicket was mentioned in 1656, and in 1672 Richard Robinson occupied a house with ten hearths (VCH2). In c.1720 the house, seat of Humphrey Richardson, depicted on a contemporary sketch by Samuel Buck, was described as a ‘plain square building with mullioned and transomed windows’ (Richardson & Dennison, 2). Thicket Priory is shown on John Warburton’s 1720 map, with some woodland and a church or chapel. Thicket Hall is shown on Thomas Jefferys’ 1771 map, with no apparent parkland and in the ownership of Henry Waite Esq.

The combination of the 1817 enclosure map (HA U DDJ/14/395) and Richardson and Dennison’s 2007 architectural assessment gives some clues as to the development of the landscape prior to ownership by Rev. Joseph Dunnington-Jefferson in 1840. In 1817 the estate was in the ownership of Joseph Dunnington and had a total area to the east side of the road of about 143 acres (57.9 ha) – this excludes the extreme northern end in Wheldrake parish. The enclosure map shows an E-W walk of over 11 acres (4.5 ha); Hall gardens of just over 2 acres (0.8 ha) and an orchard of 4 acres (1.6 ha). Thicket Hall, built by the Robinsons, was sited on the south side of a quadrangular range of buildings, surrounding a small garden as seen on the 1817 enclosure map. The layout suggests the quadrangle was possibly the remains of the priory buildings enclosing a cloister or court (ibid, 2). The site lay close to the River Derwent, but situated on higher ground above the floodplain at 8m AOD.

To the west of the Hall was a rectangular garden with a curved front, containing two small rectangular ponds. This faced out onto a broad axial walk with a central path, giving views from the Hall to the landscape beyond, where there is place-name evidence on the 1854 OS map of a former deer park. This arrangement of axial walk with a half-moon, or parterre, and association with a deer park is seen at Healaugh Park (Boutwood 2016, 12-13) and landscapes in the East Riding of Yorkshire at South Dalton and Londesborough (Neave and Turnbull 1992, 51 & 68). The latter has a geometric pattern of radiating tree avenues, elements also seen at Thicket Priory, which is typically found in designed landscapes between the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

On the east and south sides of the Hall were enclosed areas, possibly gardens, both with small apsidal ends on one of their sides. A similar shaped garden is also seen at Londesborough on Knyff & Kip’s 1708-9 engraving. The south wall of the southern garden at Thicket Hall, had a double structure flanking the bow end, interpreted as a pond or ha-ha (Richardson and Dennison 2007, 3). Although the Hall was later demolished and parts of the walled enclosures incorporated into later garden structures and kitchen walled garden, the architectural form of some of the surviving walls showed moulded string courses, possibly of late 16th or early 17th century date, or even earlier (ibid, 15).

To the east of the quadrangle and north-east of the Hall lay an orchard extending down to the river, which was later reduced in size within a smaller square enclosure. This area faced onto a wharf on the west riverbank, depicted on the 1854 map. In this earlier period access by river would have been an important route to the Hall.

Under the Thicket Priory landholding of Joseph Dunnington there are named closes on the 1817 enclosure map - e.g. Coney Close 12 acres (4.8 ha), Mill 12 acres (4.8 ha), Sey 17 acres (6.9 ha), Acorn 9 acres (3.6 ha). Similar references appear for named land associated with Thicket Priory acquired by John Aske in 1542 - e.g. ‘one close of land and pasture called Miln Platt 10 acres (4 ha), Acorn Close 9 acres (3.6ha), unnamed close 14 acres (5.7 ha) being between Milne Close and Acorn Close’ (UDDJ/14/396). Together these references suggest little change in the size of the Thicket Priory estate, or in the parcels of land, between the Dissolution and enclosure. The field names give some clues as the potential use of the land, or its former use, but it is uncertain if they were part of the parkland setting at this time.

3.3.2 1817-c.1850

It is likely that the layout of land shown in 1817 remained much as it was until Rev. Joseph Dunnington-Jefferson built a new house between 1844 and 1847 on ground to the northwest of existing buildings. As he was shown as living at Thicket Priory in the census of 1841 with his wife, seven-month-old daughter and a retinue of seven servants, it is probable that Rev. Joseph occupied the old Robinson house during the construction of the Victorian house which was designed by Edward Blore. Blore’s previous commissions had included Government House, Sydney and additions to Lambeth Palace and Buckingham Palace.

The first edition OS map of 1854, surveyed 1850/1, shows the designed landscape following the initial revamping of the estate by Rev. Joseph Dunnington-Jefferson. The new house, with a clock tower by Vulliamy, was built to the northwest of Thicket Hall and north of the axial walk. At the same time Blore designed coach house, stables and brewery attached to the north of the house. The construction of the house and associated buildings altered the symmetry of buildings in relation to the existing walk and avenue to the old house, so that after 350 metres (383 yards) a curved driveway north to the front of the house replaced the original trackway. An entrance lodge, also designed by Edward Blore, was constructed immediately to the north of the E-W avenue.

Earlier garden features were modified, as an icehouse had been inserted into an earlier mound, one of two former garden features at the end of the avenue and walk, possibly designed for statues (Richardson and Dennison 2007, 16-17). Instead a new formal garden parterre was created to the immediate south of the house. The geometric elements were softened by the addition of a more natural style, with scattered tree clumps in the parkland and creation of large sinuous ponds, also remodelling the two rectangular ponds, shown in 1817, into a more irregular shape. Walks surrounding the ponds provided views of the house and formed a pleasing visible feature from the house and terrace. The walks continued into more secluded areas of pleasure grounds lying to the north and south of the ponds.

The old Robinsons’ house appears to be gradually abandoned, although the complex of buildings remains on the 1854 OS map. However, a garden cottage, designed by Blore and built about the same time as the other Blore-designed buildings, appears on later maps to occupy the northwestern corner of the old complex of buildings. It is perhaps likely that most of the complex of buildings between the garden cottage and the walled garden was demolished around this time. However, one small section of the wall of the Robinsons’ house, attached to the northwestern corner of the walled garden remained in situ until at least 2007.

The two enclosed gardens with apsidal ends seen in the 1817 map were remodelled and incorporated into a walled garden by 1854 (see section 4.9).

3.3.3 c.1850-c.1900

By the 1890s, the parkland had been extended, with additional features, to produce the maximum extent of designed landscape for the Thicket Priory estate. The complex of old Priory buildings close to the northwest of the walled garden had disappeared. Greenhouses and outbuildings associated with a productive Victorian walled garden had been added. House, gardens and parkland occupied about 218 acres (88.2 ha) in total (acreage from 1893 map). There appeared to be minimal change in the landscape between 1893 and 1908.

A driveway extended southeast from a pair of lodges at the northwest corner through parkland to the front of the house, perhaps deliberately exhibiting an extensive estate for travellers from York. Further copses of trees were added in the extended northern parkland, with some lines of trees following the old field boundaries. At the southeast end of the estate, an additional area of river frontage had been incorporated into the parkland. An area of tree plantation (c. 2 ha, 5 acres,) had been added to south of the ponds, identified in the 1908 OS map as a ‘coniferium’. The ponds had effectively been joined, forming a lake with an island connected by footbridges to the west and east banks. On the east bank a boathouse had been added.

The area close to the house comprised extensive pleasure gardens to the northeast and east, with walks around the lake, over footbridges, and through woodland. The walled garden had undergone change, with the 2007 architectural assessment providing detail of change and survival (Richardson & Dennison, 2007) – see section 4.9.

3.3.4 c.1900-1955

Snapshots of occupation of Thicket Priory estate from 1881-1911 censuses show that Joseph John Jefferson was not in residence on any of the census dates 1881-1911. The designed landscape, described as ‘The Park’ on 1910 OS maps, was not developed significantly during his ownership (1880-1928). John Alexander Dunnington-Jefferson, who inherited Thicket Priory estate in 1928, was in residence at Thorganby Hall prior to 1939, again suggesting limited further development of the designed landscape. On the 1939 register, Thicket Priory house was shown as vacant, but a gardener was resident in the gardener’s cottage. The OS map of 1952 shows an estate with very little change since 1908. The pair of lodges at the northwestern corner are no longer depicted and there may have been changes to cultivation within the walled garden, but essentially the gardens and parkland remained the same as the early 1900s.

3.3.4 1955 onwards

In 1955 Thicket Priory house along with 23 acres (9.3. ha), comprising the main avenue, pleasure gardens, lake and walled garden, became a Carmelite Monastery. Some buildings were added around the house but there seemed little change to the gardens and lake. The walled garden continued to be used as a productive garden. The remaining estate, just under 200 acres (80.9 ha), was sold in 1964 with most of the parkland returning to farmland. However, most of the woodland belt, tree clumps and the plantation related to the ‘coniferium’ remain. In 2007 archaeological evaluations were undertaken within the former walled garden prior to building a new Carmelite monastery in 2008. A detailed archaeological assessment recorded surviving structures and earthworks (Richardson & Dennison 2007). Other excavations also recorded sub-surface deposits associated with the medieval priory buildings and later garden features (NYCC HER: MNY 25297-9; SNY 11835). The house, immediate pleasure gardens and lake were sold into private ownership in 2008.

Principal Building

Domestic / Residential

Hectares

88

Open to the public

Yes

Civil Parish

Thorganby (Selby)