| Identification and description | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Uffington Park | ||||||||||||
| Location |
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| Localisation | Latitude: 52.654444 Longitude: -0.43906712 National Grid Reference: TF0568607445 Map: Download a full scale map (PDF) |
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| Overview | Heritage Category: Park and Garden Grade: II List Entry Number: 1470336 Date first listed: 16-Apr-2021 Statutory Address 1: Uffington Park, Main Road, Uffington, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 4SN |
The Uffington estate was purchased in 1673 from George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham
by the Hon Charles Bertie, the fifth and youngest son of the second Earl of Lindsey,
whose home was at Grimsthorpe. Bertie represented the nearby town of Stamford in Parliament
for thirty years and fought in two sea battles against the Dutch. There was already
a substantial house on the Uffington estate but Bertie built another house in the
classical style, and it was finished in 1688. The interiors were said to be splendid
with the staircase and its ceiling painted by Verrio. The park was mainly laid out
in this period, and there are contemporary tree roundels (rabbit reservoirs) still
in existence. The magnificent Grade II*-listed gate piers of around 1700 may have
been designed by John Lumley, if he designed the identical ones at Burley-on-the-Hill
in Rutland.
According to an article in Country Life (Dec 31 1904), the house was ‘altered, beautified,
adorned, and in part re-edified by [Bertie’s] descendants, additions being made to
it, and its terrace and gardens assumed new forms.’ During the time of George Bertie,
the 10th Earl of Lindsey (1814-1877), numerous improvements were carried out under
the direction of the Reverend Peter Pegus, Bertie’s reputedly unpleasant step-father,
and Samuel Gray, architect and landscape gardener of Camden New Town, London. Gray
came from a wealthy family of maltsters in Kingston upon Thames. The ‘Accounts for
the Improvements of the Residence and grounds about Uffington House’, drawn up by
Gray, are dated 28 January 1845. The improvements included the gate lodges, the terrace,
the dolphin fountain, a balustrade and a triumphal arch. Gray gave advice about the
garden and planting in the park, and he was probably involved in the construction
of the boundary wall that enclosed the park in the 1860s, extending from the village
to the River Gwash. The great drift of Wellingtonias in the park were planted soon
after the species was introduced in England in 1856. The stable and coach house building
was influenced by Palladio’s villas, and it accommodated racehorses, carriage horses
and coaches.
The park is shown on the first edition map of 1888, bounded by Main Road to the north
and east, and the disused Stamford Canal (also known as Welland Navigation) to the
south and west. The house and estate buildings are located in the north-eastern area
of the park, immediately south of the village of Uffington. The principal designed
features are the pleasure grounds and terrace to the south of the house from which
extends a long, straight avenue of trees to the west, terminating at the canal. The
map shows that the park had a good number of trees, mostly in the eastern part, and
an area of woodland called Spring Wood situated to the south-east, possibly planted
as a screen to the canal. (the text in red is to be deleted)
The Stamford Canal forming the southern boundary of Uffington Park dates to the C17.
The River Welland was navigable to Stamford during the Middle Ages but by the C16
it was seriously impeded by water mills. The consequent effect on commerce prompted
the civic authorities to petition their MPs and in 1571 a Canal Act was obtained.
Work seems not to have been carried out systematically until 1620 when the Act was
confirmed by James I and after decades of further delays, the canal finally seems
to have been completed in the 1660s. The canal was over 6.75 miles long, running from
just east of the weir at Hudd’s Mill in Stamford to just west of Market Deeping at
Tongue Head. There were 12 locks along its length, making it the longest locked canal
in the country when it was constructed and only the second post-Roman canal to have
been built in Britain. The extension of the Midland Railway to Stamford in 1846 and
the arrival of the Great Northern Railway in 1856 effectively finished the canal,
which by then was in poor condition. The last barge travelled up to Stamford in April
1863 and in 1865 the canal was auctioned.
In 1904 Uffington House was destroyed by a devastating fire, leaving only the outbuildings,
the ballroom and the orangery surviving, the latter an unusual mid-C19 example by
Samuel Gray. Country Life reported that ‘the tall yew hedges with statuary standing
clear-cut against them, and the venerable trees and beautiful garden effects’ had
also survived the fire. Uffington Park was requisitioned by the military during the
Second World War and several structures survive from this period. In 1979 planning
permission was regrettably granted to demolish the ballroom and orangery, and the
stone was used to repair the estate walls. The coach house has since been converted
for residential use. The estate was sold in 1993 and the current owners have undertaken
extensive works to restore features of the park. The original walks and rides in Spring
Wood have been cleared, and the oak avenue leading from the lodge (in the north-east
of the park) to the river (in the south-east) has been replanted.
Park laid out in the 1680s around the now demolished Uffington House with gardens
dating to the mid-C19 by Samuel Gray.
LOCATION, SETTING, LANDFORM, BOUNDARIES AND AREA
Uffington Park is situated about two miles east of Stamford on a level plateau that
slopes very gently south to the River Welland. The park is laid out on the south side
of the village of Uffington, bounded on the north and east by Main Road, and on the
south and west by the disused Stamford Canal. It covers an area of approximately 230
acres, including Spring Wood which slopes steeply down to the south.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES
The park is approached from the east between a pair of Grade II-listed, stone-built
gate lodges built around 1840 in the early Georgian style, possibly by Samuel Gray.
The drive then heads north-west to the site of the former Uffington House.
PRINCIPAL BUILDING
Uffington House was built in the classical style in 1688 and stood in the north-east
corner of the park. It was destroyed by fire in 1904. The footprint of the house,
which measured 110 by 55 ft, is grassed over but is still discernible.
The principal house is now the Grade II-listed converted coach house, designed around
1845 by Samuel Gray, an impressive U-shaped building in the Palladian style. It is
situated in the north-east corner of the park.
ORNAMENTAL GROUNDS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS
The pleasure grounds are predominantly laid out to the south and west of the site
of the house. A terrace runs the length of its south side terminating on the west
side in a Grade II-listed ashlar fountain and basin, of around 1845, in the form of
a dolphin head above a moulded semi-circular arch. The ramped side walls have flowery
scrolls and at the centre is a half-round basin with swept sides. On the east end
of the terrace is a Grade II-listed semi-circular headed archway, of the same date,
with imposts and a key block set in an ashlar wall with a cornice and flanking pilasters.
Steps from the terrace lead down to a broad lawned walk, aligned east-west. On the
east side is a Grade II-listed garden feature, of around 1845, in the form of a shaped
gable with moulded copings and an oval panel bearing the Bertie Arms surmounted by
a coronet in terracotta. It is flanked by side walls with eliptical piers. Attached
to this feature a low balustraded ashlar wall creates a border around the east and
south sides of the lawn, from which a view over the parkland is gained. Towards the
west side of the lawn is a Grade II-listed gate and piers, again dating to around
1845, which provides access from the gardens to the lime avenue extending westwards
through the park. The decorative wrought iron gate has twisted bottom verticals, lozenges
in the rails, and a central arabesque. To either side are square rusticated piers
with fluted faces, moulded bases and cornices, surmounted by terracotta urns. A short
way along the avenue is the ruin of a sunken, rubble stone building which may have
been a fernery.
Just to the east of the gate an approximately rectangular sunken bowling green is
laid out which is shown on the 1887 Ordnance Survey map. This may even have been created
in the late C17 when there was a fashion for bowling greens. To the north is a Grade
II-listed C17 dwelling called Uffington Manor which has a historic core dating to
around 1100 and an adjoining walled garden of red brick. The 1887 map shows it contained
several glasshouses but these have since been removed. To the north-east a tall yew
hedge avenue terminates in the magnificent Grade II*-listed gates on Main Road. The
dark foliage of the yews forms the backdrop to a series of classical sculptures on
tall pedestals. The avenue leads southwards to a square lawn with a broken circle
of yew hedges and lines of box balls, both planted by the current owners, and specimen
cedar trees probably planted in the C19.
To the east of the site of the house, there are several former outbuildings, including
a garden house built in 1821 and an impressive U-shaped stable and coach house building
(now residential), both listed at Grade II. A red brick building is the former cookhouse
used by the army in the Second World War. A circular brick-lined water tank and pump
house which pumped water from the well around the estate, shown on the 1887 OS map,
is situated to the west of the coach house, along with a Grade II-listed creamery
that originated as an C18 icehouse.
PARK
The principal feature of the park is the lime avenue, shown on the 1814 Ordnance Surveyor’s
drawing, that probably originated in the C17. It extends from the broad walk, terminating
at the border of the canal, and leading the eye westwards through the park in the
direction of Stamford and its several church steeples on the horizon. It is now a
double avenue, the outer line planted with much younger trees. The area of parkland
between the avenue and Main Road has been ploughed. A large area of woodland, called
Spring Wood, occupies the south-eastern part of the park and contains a late-C18 icehouse
and a C17 spring head, both listed at Grade II, along with rides and walks. The rest
of the park retains a good number of the mature trees that are depicted on the 1887
map, mostly in the eastern two thirds. A view over the Grade II*-registered Burghley
Park is obtained from the south-west edge of the park. The canal that forms the southern
border survives as a clear earthwork and towpath, and the canal bed is evolving as
a wildlife corridor.
It is believed that the earthworks in the western corner of the park may be the remains
of Newstead Priory but no archaeological investigations have been carried out or any
information found to shed light on this possibility.
This list entry was subject to a Minor Enhancement on 30 April 2021 to amend description
and add a reference to selected sources
Park laid out in the 1680s around the now demolished Uffington House with gardens dating to the mid-C19 by Samuel Gray.
This garden or other land is registered under the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 within the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens by Historic England for its special historic interest.
Uffington Park, laid out in the 1680s around the now demolished Uffington House with
gardens dating to the mid-C19 by Samuel Gray, is registered at Grade II for the following
principal reasons:
Historic interest:
* the formal design qualities of the two principal phases in the late C17 and mid-C19
complement each other and demonstrate the evolution in garden design over three centuries;
* the southern boundary is formed by the clear earthwork remains of the Stamford Canal,
which is of considerable historic interest as the second post-Roman canal constructed
in the country, retaining possibly the oldest surviving locks in Britain further along
its length.
Design interest:
* the mid-C19 gardens in the Italianate style emulated the prevailing taste of the
period with the sequence of terracing, steps, balustrading, arches and fountains forming
a geometric and architectural composition;
* the pleasure grounds and classical style garden buildings create an ensemble of
historical significance that demonstrates the distinctive aesthetic quality that could
be achieved in Victorian garden design.
Survival:
* the form and boundary of the late-C17 park is well-preserved, along with its straight
lime avenue and sunken bowling green, both fashionable features in the garden design
of the time;
* the layout of the mid-C19 gardens, which are given shape and structure by the finely
carved stone features in the classical style, remains perfectly legible despite the
unfortunate loss of the house.
Group value:
* it has strong group value with numerous listed ornamental garden features, along
with other listed buildings and structures on the estate, including the creamery,
icehouse, lodges, coach house and the exquisite Grade II*-listed gates of around 1700.
Books and journals
Harris, John, Pevsner, Nikolaus, Antram, Nicholas, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, (2002)
Leach, Terence, Pacey, Robert, Lost Lincolnshire Country Houses Vol. 1
Pacey, Robert, Lost Lincolnshire Country Houses Vol. 6
Sheehan, N. J, Uffington in the County of Lincolnshire, (2014)
Other
‘Uffington House, Stamford’, Country Life (December 31 1904), pp. 992-994