Westbury Court Gardens

On Wednesday we revisited Westbury Court Gardens in Westbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire, the only surviving 17th Century Dutch-style water garden in the UK.

The original garden is captured in this engraving by Johannes Kip, published circa 1707

Following the Bloodless Revolution of 1689, the Dutch Prince William and his wife Mary, daughter of the future King James II, had just been proclaimed joint sovereigns of Great Britain and the country had an appetite for all things Dutch.

The water gardens were created between 1696 and 1705 by English lawyer and politician, Maynard Colchester I, the eldest son of Westbury Court's owner, Sir Duncombe Colchester.  He designed the long canal, tall pavilion, circular pond & framework of walls.  Thousands of yew trees and holly bushes were planted, beginning the immaculate pattern of hedges and topiary. 

The long canal, the garden's centrepiece, measures 137 metres (449ft) with a Dutch-style red brick pavilion (currently undergoing restoration) at one end and wrought iron gates at the far end designed to extend the vista from the pavilion out to the surrounding countryside.

Inside the pavilion

A second red-brick building, a summer house built in 1702–04, overlooks a T-shaped canal running parallel to the main canal. Behind the summer house is a small walled garden crammed with cottage plants.

Designed to be productive as well as pleasant, tulips, crocuses and hyacinths were planted alongside vegetables and fruit trees. The canals were stocked with fish for the table and warrens built to ensure a constant supply of rabbit meat.

By the late 18th century, formal gardens had fallen out of fashion, replaced by the ‘natural’ landscape introduced by Capability Brown. In 1805 the Colchester family demolished their house at Westbury and moved to another residence in the Forest of Dean, but kept the garden maintained. A hundred years later, the family moved back after building what was to be their last house at Westbury. The water gardens enjoyed a revival and admiring articles appeared in Country Life magazine in both 1903 and 1908.

The garden faced destruction in 1960 when developers planned to build houses on it but the local council stepped in and purchased the land and in 1967, aided by an anonymous donation, the National Trust were able to buy the garden from them. It was in a poor state – the canals were silted up and the flower beds needed replanting, the tall pavilion had decayed and needed to be completely rebuilt.  

The National Trust began restoring Westbury Court to its original design, the first major garden renovation project of its kind. The garden is now restored to how it would have appeared at its best in 1720. Many of the plants are authentic to the period and style of the garden.

 

This ancient evergreen oak planted in the 17th century is the largest ever recorded, it is said to be the oldest in England.

 With no grand house, on-site cafe, gift shop, limited parking and just one toilet they don't attract crowds of tourists many of the grand houses do making Westbury Court Gardens a bit of a hidden gem.

 

After a picnic lunch eaten on a rustic bench in the orchard, we drove the 71 miles back to Walsall and spent a lazy afternoon in the sunshine.

See you soon!