Landscape park designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in the mid-C18.
LOCATION, SETTING, LANDFORM, BOUNDARIES AND AREA
Wakefield Lodge is located in the south of Northamptonshire, on the boundary with Buckinghamshire, west of the Roman road Watling Street. It lies about two miles west of the village of Potterspury, on a slight hill in a clearing within the ancient Royal Forest of Whittlewood. The boundary along the north side runs along the inner edge of Smalladine Copes, Say’s Copse and Bear’s Copse before turning southwards along the inner edge of Lady Copse and West Waterslade Copse. It then follows Towcester Drive to take in the walled garden and the path lined with trees to West Lodge. The eastern boundary skirts around the inner edge of Redmoor Copse and Hill Copse, and the southern boundary follows the inner edge of East Ashalls Copse, West Ashalls Copse and Briary Wood.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES
The principal approach is a continuation of the road leading westwards from Potterspury and is marked by the C19 West Lodge. This is a single-storey lodge constructed of squared and coursed rubble stone with a roof covering of fish-scale tiles. It has a cross-gabled roof and canted bay windows. The long avenue is lined by various trees, including horse chestnut, lime and oaks, and runs westwards to the house. It then continues westwards as a recently planted tree-lined avenue through a wide path in Briary Wood to the road. Secondary roads come in from the north-west along Towcester Drive to the Dairy Farm, and from the south along Deanshanger Drive to the stable block.
PRINCIPAL BUILDING
Wakefield Lodge (Grade II* listed), built in 1747 to the designs of William Kent in the Palladian style, is situated in the south-east part of the park overlooking the lake to the north. It is constructed of limestone ashlar with a low-pitched, slate-clad roof and has three storeys and five window bays. The front has a recessed centre with a three-bay portico of Tuscan columns, and the end bays are raised by a half-storey. The two outer bays have Venetian windows and the upper floor has tripartite lunette windows.
To the south-east, the mid-C18 stable block (Grade II* listed) is constructed of red brick with a hipped slate-clad roof. It has a double-pile plan and is fifteen bays wide with a central three-bay pediment. There is an oval shaped carriage circle to the north of the stable block.
FORMAL GARDENS
In front of the house there is a symmetrical, semi-circular ha-ha, of probable C19 date, which is constructed of stone with some later repairs. A rectangular lawn is laid out to the west side of the house which is separated by a row of pleached limes (of recent date) from the two small lawns lined by yew hedges at the rear of the house.
PARK
One of the principal features of the park is the sinuous lake, known as the Great Pond, situated to the north of the house, which feeds into a smaller lake on the east side. There is a large expanse of parkland between the house and lake which retains some trees, and beyond this the area known as Wakefield Lawn has been cultivated as arable land, interspersed with some parkland trees. One of the key vistas is northwards from the house, over the lake, to the opening between Bear’s Copse and Lady Copse. On the north-west side of the house, an area of woodland called The Pheasantry is criss-crossed by pathways. In the north-west area of the park is located a stone building called Wakefield Little Lodge which is referred to as The Kennels on the 1884 OS map. The mid-C19 Dairy Farm and other estate buildings are situated to the north of the smaller lake.
KITCHEN GARDEN
To the east of the Dairy Farm there is a rectangular, four-acre, mid-C19 walled kitchen garden built of red brick laid in English bond with saddleback coping. It has wide opposing entrances on the north and south sides, the latter has a segmental brick arch but the former has been knocked through. A two-storey, two-bay gardener’s cottage with a hipped roof and wide corbelled eaves is built into the north-east corner (in the late C19). The brick plinth and metal frame of a long, lean-to glasshouse survives on the inner side of the heated north wall on the west end. On the outer side of the north wall there are two long lean-to ranges of bothies and sheds. These are in a dilapidated state but retain some features including built-in cupboards, fireplaces and plank and batten doors. The kitchen garden is no longer in production and is overgrown.