Garden Tour: A Rich History is Revived at Eltham Palace
This classic English garden mixes medieval relics with 1930s style
When glamorous socialites Stephen and Virginia Courtauld moved into Eltham Palace in 1933, they set about giving the historic but dilapidated 15th century house a fashionable Art Deco revamp. The couple – both keen horticulturalists – took the same approach to their new home’s extensive 20 acre garden, which is now, along with the house, maintained by English Heritage.
Christopher Weddell, senior gardens advisor at English Heritage, shares some insights into the rich history and design of Eltham’s impressive gardens, in which you can still see features built when Henry VIII was living at the palace.
Christopher Weddell, senior gardens advisor at English Heritage, shares some insights into the rich history and design of Eltham’s impressive gardens, in which you can still see features built when Henry VIII was living at the palace.
When the Courtaulds moved to Eltham in the 1930s, they designed parts of the new garden around a number of relics from the medieval and Tudor buildings that had stood on the site, including the 15th century Grade 1 Listed Great Hall, seen above left.
While retaining these ancient elements, which include the medieval moat walls (pictured above) and buttresses, as well as remnants of the Tudor sewage system, the Courtaulds created a new layout and added several new fashionable features of the era. These included a number of outdoor ‘rooms’ – enclosed spaces surrounded by trees or shrubberies – and a rock garden.
‘Stephen was interested in Alpine plants,’ explains Christopher Weddell, senior gardens advisor at English Heritage, of the recently restored Rock Garden. ‘It was something that would very much remind him and his rock climbing friends of the plants they saw on their climbing adventures.’
‘Stephen was interested in Alpine plants,’ explains Christopher Weddell, senior gardens advisor at English Heritage, of the recently restored Rock Garden. ‘It was something that would very much remind him and his rock climbing friends of the plants they saw on their climbing adventures.’
The view across the turning circle at the back of the house reveals the Grade 1 listed Great Hall, on the right, which dates back to the 1470s. Next to it is the house built by the Courtaulds in the 1930s.
The tree is a lime. ‘We have photographs of this as a young tree in this position, planted in the Courtaulds’ time,’ says Weddell. ‘Here, we’re seeing a connection between the design of the house and the design of the garden,’ he continues. ‘The lime tree lines up with the waterfall cascade on the Rock Garden, which is on the other side of the house. There’s an axis of symmetry – if you had the front and back doors open at once, you’d see all the way through to the waterfall.’
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The tree is a lime. ‘We have photographs of this as a young tree in this position, planted in the Courtaulds’ time,’ says Weddell. ‘Here, we’re seeing a connection between the design of the house and the design of the garden,’ he continues. ‘The lime tree lines up with the waterfall cascade on the Rock Garden, which is on the other side of the house. There’s an axis of symmetry – if you had the front and back doors open at once, you’d see all the way through to the waterfall.’
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This wall and magnolia tree face the Rock Garden (see next image). ‘We know the Courtaulds grew magnolias, the largest of which is now a regenerating stump growing against the wall of the Great Hall, because it was potentially damaging the historic hall. The magnolia you can see was planted during The Royal Parks years, after the Courtaulds had left,’ says Weddell.
Additions from the Courtauld years – the era that English Heritage’s ongoing restoration aims to reflect – include an expansion of the moat, the Triangular Garden (a series of geometric beds possibly used for growing herbs, as it was close to the kitchens), and a sunken rose garden. ‘Virginia was very much into her roses,’ says Weddell. ‘She had a rose named after her when they moved out to Africa, and she bought her roses from Northern Ireland, from Sam McGredy in Portadown, one of the biggest, most fashionable rose suppliers of the day.’
The stylish couple also added a swimming pool, tennis courts and glasshouses for Stephen Courtauld’s orchids. ‘Stephen was very fond of orchids, one of which he named after Virginia,’ adds Weddell. ‘He won RHS awards for them.’ The glasshouses now form part of the visitor centre and café, though some are still in use by the garden team. The tennis courts are now a play area and, while the swimming pool was filled in during the 1960s, hedges still mark the area.
Additions from the Courtauld years – the era that English Heritage’s ongoing restoration aims to reflect – include an expansion of the moat, the Triangular Garden (a series of geometric beds possibly used for growing herbs, as it was close to the kitchens), and a sunken rose garden. ‘Virginia was very much into her roses,’ says Weddell. ‘She had a rose named after her when they moved out to Africa, and she bought her roses from Northern Ireland, from Sam McGredy in Portadown, one of the biggest, most fashionable rose suppliers of the day.’
The stylish couple also added a swimming pool, tennis courts and glasshouses for Stephen Courtauld’s orchids. ‘Stephen was very fond of orchids, one of which he named after Virginia,’ adds Weddell. ‘He won RHS awards for them.’ The glasshouses now form part of the visitor centre and café, though some are still in use by the garden team. The tennis courts are now a play area and, while the swimming pool was filled in during the 1960s, hedges still mark the area.
The Rock Garden was constructed from Westmorland limestone. ‘It’s now a protected stone,’ says Weddell, ‘because of the 1930s fashion for digging it up to create gardens like this.’
In this view of the Rock Garden, you can just see the foot of the aforementioned waterfall cascade on the right-hand side.
Nose around the house and you’ll find a book on rock gardens by Reginald Farrier on Stephen Courtauld’s bedside. ‘You can still find copies of this online,’ adds Weddell.
Nose around the house and you’ll find a book on rock gardens by Reginald Farrier on Stephen Courtauld’s bedside. ‘You can still find copies of this online,’ adds Weddell.
This is the Triangular Garden. ‘We were able to see the structure of the lattice brickwork from aerial photos taken during the Courtaulds’ time,’ explains Weddell. ‘It appears the position of the grass is original to the Courtaulds, too, but it was hard to see what else was planted there.’
With its proximity to the service wing and kitchens, English Heritage chose to go with herbs, presuming this could have been a kitchen garden. ‘We also thought aromatic herbs would help to preserve the geometry,’ adds Weddell.
With its proximity to the service wing and kitchens, English Heritage chose to go with herbs, presuming this could have been a kitchen garden. ‘We also thought aromatic herbs would help to preserve the geometry,’ adds Weddell.
From this view of the Triangular Garden, you can see climbing clematis and camelias along the walls. ‘This, again, reflects the Courtaulds’ interest in plants,’ says Weddell. ‘Rather than just planting matchy-matchy style, they wanted interest in the garden and seem to have had eclectic taste.’
Some parts of the moat, seen here, remain water-filled, while the south moat – filled with Isabelle Van Groeningen’s vastherbaceous border – are dry. Virginia Courtauld kept Patagonian black-necked swans on the moat.
Christopher Weddell says there’s cine film footage of the Courtaulds in this part of the garden, complete with cherry trees, as seen here. However, he says, the laurel bank, visible in the background, would have been added after the couple’s time, during the years when The Royal Parks used the gardens as a training school for apprentice gardeners. The 1930s garden is likely to have had less formal planting here, in the form of long grasses and mature trees.
Christopher Weddell says there’s cine film footage of the Courtaulds in this part of the garden, complete with cherry trees, as seen here. However, he says, the laurel bank, visible in the background, would have been added after the couple’s time, during the years when The Royal Parks used the gardens as a training school for apprentice gardeners. The 1930s garden is likely to have had less formal planting here, in the form of long grasses and mature trees.
Here you can see the garden ‘rooms’ – areas surrounded by trees, often with a little bench in them. They were very fashionable for gardens in the 1930s. ‘Today, they’re a bit overgrown,’ says Weddell. ‘We’re in the process of restoring them; we’ve recently reinstated grass either side of the path. The overgrown holly bushes are significantly larger than they would have been in the Courtaulds’ period, when I imagine they would have been much smaller and would have marked the end of the shrubbery forming the garden room walls.’
A longer view of the garden rooms reveals the structure. ‘In the foreground, you have topiary and hedges,’ explains Weddell. And the Van Groeningen border, freshly planted at the time the photographs were taken, is visible in front of the 100-year-old, neatly clipped beech hedges either side of the central path. On the left, you can see a glimpse of the border’s euphorbia; the colourful strip of planting also includes geraniums, delphiniums and lupins.
Another feature Weddell is looking forward to seeing restored here is the topiary that was so fashionable in the 1930s. The Courtaulds had designs including a topiary chicken, a bear standing on its hind legs, and a peacock. It’s my ambition to get these back,’ says Weddell.
Another feature Weddell is looking forward to seeing restored here is the topiary that was so fashionable in the 1930s. The Courtaulds had designs including a topiary chicken, a bear standing on its hind legs, and a peacock. It’s my ambition to get these back,’ says Weddell.
Visible here is a little more of the nascent herbaceous border, along with an interesting and very ancient detail: the gate visible on the right is a remnant of what was the sewage system of Henry VIII’s palace. This connects the now dry moat with the southern lawn.
In the background is the orangery, featuring a statue the Courtaulds had transported to Eltham from their London home (see following image).
In the background is the orangery, featuring a statue the Courtaulds had transported to Eltham from their London home (see following image).
The statue was commissioned in 1930 and titled St George. It’s by Alfred Hardiman (1891-1949) and originally featured a bronze gilded shield and sword, but the finish has worn off. The birds on the shield represent the birds of the British Commonwealth.
Below the statue is the sunken rose garden, where Weddell hopes to restore the topiary.
The pond once contained a replica of Andrea del Verrocchio’s sculpture, Boy With Fish, which Stephen Courtauld bought in Florence in 1925.
Out of shot here on the left are the garden rooms.
The pond once contained a replica of Andrea del Verrocchio’s sculpture, Boy With Fish, which Stephen Courtauld bought in Florence in 1925.
Out of shot here on the left are the garden rooms.
Wisteria twines itself around six columns, which were salvaged and repurposed here when the Bank of England, designed by Robert Taylor in the late 1700s, was demolished in around 1925.
The bridge over the south moat, which was rebuilt in the 1990s in the style of the Sealy and Paget design commissioned by the Courtaulds, rests on 16th century brick piers.
‘If you were to continue along this path,’ says Weddell, ‘you’d be walking along the same route Henry VIII would have taken as he entered the palace, through the deer park.’
TELL US…
What do you love about historical gardens – and which features do you most like here? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
‘If you were to continue along this path,’ says Weddell, ‘you’d be walking along the same route Henry VIII would have taken as he entered the palace, through the deer park.’
TELL US…
What do you love about historical gardens – and which features do you most like here? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
Who lived here Millionaire socialites Stephen and Virginia Courtauld (between 1933 and 1944)
Garden size 20 acres
Location Eltham, southeast London
Designer Most recently, Isabelle Van Groeningen, who created a vast herbaceous border measuring more than 3m deep and 90m long in the south moat area of the gardens as part of theContemporary Heritage Gardens scheme in 2000. The fashionable 1930s garden designer, Thomas Mawson, and the renowned Modernist architects, Seely and Paget, who worked on the house, also influenced the Courtaulds’ redesign.
That’s interesting The history of the site dates back to the 11th century. A succession of monarchs owned and renovated the property, and Henry VIII spent much of his childhood at the house, and hunting in the parkland surrounding its gardens.
Take a tour of Eltham Palace’s interiors