Remains of late C17 formal gardens by George London, set in pleasure grounds and a landscape park of 1794-7 by Humphry Repton, altered by John Armstrong in 1799.
HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT
By the C14 Herriard was held by Fulk de Coudrey, whose descendants continued to own it until 1540, when Peter Cowdray died leaving three daughters. One of the daughters, Elizabeth, married Richard Paulet, youngest brother of Lord St John of Basing, subsequently first Marquess of Winchester. Richard Paulet acquired the shares of the other two sisters and the park and estate of Herriard became part of the vast estates of the Paulet family, centred on their seat at Basing. In the early C17 Herriard passed to Lucy Paulet who was married to Sir Thomas Jervoise, in which family it still remains.
At the end of the C17 the third Thomas Jervoise of Herriard commissioned John James (c 1673-1746) to build a new house, and George London (d 1714) to draw up a design for the surrounding gardens. London drew up a series of plans in 1699 (Architectural Hist 1985) and the gardens were laid out between 1699 and 1708. The trees (including large numbers of firs) and plants were supplied from the London and Wise nursery at Brompton, London between 1700 and 1707 (ibid). A sketch plan of the house and grounds by Thomas Jervoise of c 1705 shows that London¿s proposals were carried out (ibid).
The gardens were substantially remodelled in the late C18 following consultations with Humphry Repton (1752-1818). Repton was called in by George Purefoy Jervoise in 1793 and the work was started in 1794 and completed c 1797, with work on the walled garden starting in 1796. The work probably included the removal of the formal gardens laid out by London. The Red Book produced for Herriard has not been located but Repton's work there was illustrated in the Polite Repository in 1796 (Carter et al 1982). The pleasure grounds were altered by John Armstrong in 1799.
During the C19 and the first half of the C20, few major changes were made to Herriard. In 1959 Major F H T Jervoise died, and in 1961 his surviving brother also, both without heirs. The property passed to a cousin, John Loveys, who changed his name to Jervoise. Mr and Mrs John Loveys Jervoise took up residence at Herriard but in 1966 demolished the house and replaced it with the present one. Herriard Park remains (2000) in private ownership.
DESCRIPTION
LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING Herriard Park, c 470ha, is located 6km south of Basingstoke. The park is bounded by the A339 to the west, a minor road linking Preston Candover/Axford to the west with Weston Corbett to the east, to the south, and open farmland to the east and north. The north-east tip of the park adjoins a minor road in the village of Tunworth. The ground at Herriard Park slopes generally from the west towards the east, with the house and surrounding gardens, and Hen Wood to the north, standing on plateaux of higher land. There are good views to the south and east from the house and gardens and from the higher ground in the park. The boundaries are largely marked by fences.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES A lodge on the A339 on the west side of the park marks the start of a former drive, but this is no longer used and the main approach is now (2000) 100m to the south, immediately north of St Mary's church. From this point the drive leads north-east to join the old drive, and then turns east c 300m from the entrance to approach the north side of Herriard Park House. From the small entrance forecourt the drive continues to the north-east along a winding path through the park to a lodge in the far north-east tip of the park at Tunworth village. A further drive enters the park from the south and leads north for c 200m, past the kennels, and then north-east for c 500m to Park Farm. This drive then continues east across the park and the neighbouring farmland, eventually leading to Weston Corbett.
PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS The two and a half-storey stuccoed house by John James, dated 1704, was demolished in 1966. It was replaced in 1970 by a new house, by Sir Martyn Beckett, on the surviving podium. The late C20 house is brick built and asymmetrical. Attached to the south-west end is the surviving wing of the earlier house which includes the Laundry Cottages (listed grade II). Now in use partly as the estate office, the building is principally early C19 but built on an earlier structure.
The Stables (C18/early C19, listed grade II) lie c 100m west of Laundry Cottages and consist of two-storey ranges around a cobbled courtyard. The Stables are entered through an archway set in the symmetrical north front and are now (2000) used as offices. The timber-framed Home Farm Granary (early C19, listed grade II) lies c 20m south of the stables and is used as a workshop.
GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS The modern house is raised on the platform surviving from the C18 house, from which there are good views to the south over the park. Below the terrace is a level lawn with the earthwork remains of the formal gardens surviving in part to the south of the house. On the west side of the house is a paved area surrounded by stone balustrading supporting climbing plants, leading down to a grass lawn with a C20 sunken garden backed by hedges. A path leads westwards between this garden and the service range to the pleasure grounds laid out by Repton in the late C18. A walk meanders through large shrub groups to the south-west of the house, leading to a further shrubbery walk with exotic specimen trees and shrubs which circles the walled kitchen garden. A walk leads south-west from the walled garden through a Pinetum and along Church Walk, lined with Wellingtonias, to the church of St Mary (C13, restored and extended 1876, listed grade II*).
PARK The large landscape park is enclosed by tree belts and has clumps of trees which screen or highlight features. The park includes large areas of woodland mostly of pre C17 origin, including Hen Wood, Cowdray's Copse, Lowe's Row, Honeyleaze Copse, and Coombe Wood but most of the belts and clumps are likely to have been the work of Repton.
The parkland around the house and to the south is pasture with large clumps (largely oak and beech) and scattered trees, bounded by tree belts (largely beech, some replanted late C20). The parkland to the north of the house is now (2000) largely arable with scattered trees and small clumps (largely beech) and backed to the north by Hen Wood, through which runs the Avenue of silver fir. The Avenue was probably planted in the C17 and is shown on an estate map dated 1730 (Jervoise Collection). Repton preserved the Avenue but `advised the destruction of one half leaving the other as a magnificent specimen of the ancient style of gardening¿, and trimmed it back (Repton 1794). The eastern part of the park is now a mixture of arable and sheep walks, with areas of regenerated thorn scrub. The woodland at Herriard is now largely birch coppice, hazel coppice with oak, and conifers in Hen Wood, with hardwoods on the edge.
Park Farm (C18 and C19, listed grade II), a two-storey brick farmhouse, is situated in the park c 550m east of Herriard Park House. The associated timber-framed barn (C18, listed grade II) stands c 20m to the east of the farm, and two C19 timber-framed granaries (each listed grade II) stand c 10m to the west.
KITCHEN GARDEN The octagonal walled kitchen garden is situated c 100m south-west of Herriard Park House. The high brick walls were built in 1796/7 and enclose an area of c 2ha, including a smaller area to the north divided by a wall from the main area to the south. The northern area was a flower garden, with fruit and vegetable production confined to the southern area. The former glasshouses and potting sheds along both sides of the north wall have been developed (late C20) as offices. The remaining ground within the walls has been laid out as associated gardens (in the northern part) and a car park.
REFERENCES
H Repton, Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening (1794) E F Prosser, Select Illustrations of Hampshire (1833) D Stroud, Humphry Repton (1962), p 170 Country Life, 88 (1 July 1965), pp 18-22 N Pevsner and D Lloyd, The Buildings of England: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (1967), p 288 G Carter et al, Humphry Repton: Landscape Gardener 1752-1818 (1982), p 153 K Bilikowski, Historic Parks and Gardens (1983) Architectural History 28, (1985), pp 40-68
Maps OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1870-2 2nd edition published 1897 3rd edition published 1911 OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1871 3rd edition published 1910
Archival items Jervoise Collection (Hampshire Record Office)
Description written: September 2000 Register Inspector: CB Edited: February 2004