LOCATION, SETTING, LANDFORM, BOUNDARIES, AREA The site covers an area of 31 ha and is situated in a rural location south of the A417 at Hope under Dinmore, the road forming its current boundary. Its setting includes the land to the north of the road. This is the site of the former deer park which, during the C17, was laid out with a number of formal avenues and rides. Although some mature parkland trees survive in places, it has been partly built over by industrial units, and the majority of the remaining parkland has been ploughed since the early C19. The site's boundary to the south and west is formed by the River Lugg and to the east by a narrow stream, the Humber Brook. The north-east corner of the site is bounded by Hampton Green Farm and by the buildings of a former Saw Mill, now ruinous. Dinmore Hill situated to the south of the site, has been covered in dense woodland (Church Coppice and Ashen Grove) since the C19, and its steep northern slope forms a dramatic backdrop to the garden.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES The entrance to the site lies to the north along the A417. It is marked by a gatehouse with circular castellated towers introduced in 1997. From here an avenue, planted in the late 1990s, leads to a small bridge over a ha ha both introduced in the late 1990s, to a turning circle at the north front of Hampton Court. At the start of the avenue (at the north), a branch runs off, curving in a south-westerly direction to the visitor car park north-west of Hampton Court and the walled gardens, before continuing to Hampton Green Farm.
PRINCIPAL BUILDING Hampton Court (listed at Grade I), stands just off-centre in the eastern half of the garden. It is built in sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings and has castellated parapets. Its quadrangular plan reflects the original C15 layout, with a later service range to the west, also with a quadrangular plan thus creating two courtyards. Extending from the latter's north-west corner is Hampton Court Estate Cottages, including former stables and servants' quarters largely of C19 date.
The north front of Hampton Court consists of 1:3:1:3:1 bays composed of a large central gatehouse with flanking three-bay ranges terminating in small square towers. The windows are cusped lancets with either square heads with hoodmoulds or four centre arches. The C15 chapel adjoins the east end of the north elevation. The south elevation, largely remodelled in the C18, includes Paxton's conservatory of 1846. It is built against the south elevation of the service range to the west. The tall single storey building, built in matching stone ashlar, has a rectangular plan. Its walls consist of a continuous row of full-height four-light lancet windows with a castellated parapet above. After the loss of its roof in the 1970s, it was converted into an indoor swimming pool in the 1980s. In 1997 it became a cafe.
GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS The gardens at Hampton Court lie to the south, east and west of the house and to the south and west are separated from the park by a late C18 or early C19 dry-stone ha ha. The ha ha to the north of Hampton Court dates from the late 1990s (see above under ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES). The East Lawn has a double avenue planted in the late 1990s. The South and West Lawn have a number of single mature trees dating from the late C18 and/or early C19, including pines and Cedars of Lebanon, which are marked on the first edition Ordnance Survey 1:2500 published in 1889. The West Lawn is bounded to the north by a mature topiary hedge which screens a mixed border laid out along the full length of the garden wall.
PARK The current park lies to the north, south and south-west of Hampton Court, separated from the gardens by a ha ha (see above). The parkland to the north of Hampton Court (south of the A417), is scattered with mature trees, with the A417 road screened by a narrow tree belt. In its north-east corner is a crescent shaped lake created in the late 1990s from a much smaller, triangular shaped lake shown on the OS map of 1889. The park to the south and south-west of Hampton Court contains a number of mature oak trees, probably dating from the late C18 or early C19. A track runs through the southern park from the ha ha to a late C20 bridge, replacing an earlier bridge called Lawn Bridge. It crosses the River Lugg giving access to Dinmore Hill. Set into the ha ha, circa 9m to the south-west of the house, is a brick-arched structure. This may be the entrance to a former ice house, although no evidence for this could be found. The parkland to the south of Hampton Court, bounded by the River Lugg, is probably the site of the formal basin that formed part of the C17 gardens. This area has been liable to flooding at least since the late C19.
KITCHEN GARDEN The former kitchen garden consists of a large double walled garden covering an area of 2.4 ha. It stands within the garden immediately to the north-west of the house. Its walls are 2.5m in height and constructed in brick with flat stone coping with the main entrance in the south wall. Outside the walled garden, at the north-west corner, stands a two-storey head-gardener's house. Built against the exterior of the north garden wall is a row of small gardeners' cottages and potting sheds. In the far north-west corner of the garden stands a group of green houses, probably dating from the early C20: two are free standing (by Messenger & Co) and two are built as lean-tos. The walled gardens were first introduced by Viscount Malden in the late C18, and further improved in the C19 by the Arkwright family. The formal water garden with two pavilions in the southern garden, and the maze with castellated tower west of the walled gardens, were introduced in the late 1990s.