Parkland and gardens of Greatford Hall, constructed around 1610 on the site of a medieval manor house, developed in the early C17, C18, and early C20, with commercial watercress beds added around 1930.
LOCATION, SETTING, LANDFORM, BOUNDARIES AND AREA The village of Greatford is located approximately 4 miles north-east of Stamford, and four miles north-west of Market Deeping. The landform is relatively flat, as is typical of south Lincolnshire, gently rising in elevation north-west of the village. The village settlement mainly lies north and south of Main Street, which runs on an east-west axis. At the west end of the village and north of Main Street, an irregularly-shaped rectangular-plan island is bounded on all four sides by the West Glen River. Flowing from the west, the river divides at the south-west corner of the island, flowing north and east around the west and north sides of the island, and east and north along the south and east sides of the island, before both courses converge at the north-east corner and flow north-east through Greatford village. The island contains the medieval parish church of St Thomas A Becket in its north-east corner (listed at Grade I), Greatford Hall (Grade II) and its former barn (Grade II*) and stables (Grade II) at its centre, and formal gardens south, west and north of the hall. The south course of the river is canalised, and runs roughly parallel with Main Street, having a narrow section of planting, clipped box hedging, and a water-filled drain between the river and road. Along the line of the hedge, a stone wall was constructed south of the hall, measuring approximately 100m in length, and is stepped in front of the hall for privacy. To the west of the island, commercial watercress beds were added around 1930, and are bounded to the east, south and west by the West Glen River, and to the north by a drain which runs southwest to northeast. The southwest corner has a sinuous stone boundary wall, with decorative dogtooth ornament to the coping, and piers with foliated Prince of Wales capitals. The current gardens, comprising the formal gardens of the hall and the former watercress beds, measure approximately 12 hectares in total. South of the hall and Main Street is a large area of parkland measuring approximately 18 hectares reaching south toward Barholm.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES The island on which Greatford Hall and the parish church stand, is accessed near its south-east corner from Main Street by way of a small late C18 stone bridge (listed at Grade II). From the bridge, the road splits in two to turn immediately west past an early-C16 aisled barn (Grade II*) to the front of Greatford Hall, or continues north to the parish church where it turns west to provide access to the service yards of the hall, to the north of the late-C17 stables (Grade II). The main entrance south of the C16 barn has C20 metal gates flanked by square-plan gate piers with pyramidal caps, rusticated to the exterior, and ashlar stone walls which extend south to meet the river. Within the gates, a brick-lined slipway provides access to the river south-east of the hall. South-west of the hall, two entrances from Main Street were introduced in the mid-C20: a pedestrian gated entrance at the south-west corner of the formal gardens, enlarged as a vehicular entrance around 2000; and a vehicular entrance at the south-west corner of the former watercress beds. Each of these two entrances has a small flat concrete bridge spanning the water-filled ditch, with stone staddle bollards, square-plan rusticated-stone gate piers, and metal gates. Northeast of the hall and river, a service route now known as Greatford Gardens was introduced in the mid-C20 running east-west, providing access from Carlby Road to the north-east corner of the former watercress beds. PRINCIPAL BUILDING Greatford Hall was constructed around 1610, likely replacing an earlier manor house. The hall was destroyed by fire in 1922, and was substantially rebuilt between 1925 and 1930, with restoration works led by architects Darcy Braddell FRIBA and Humphry Deane. The hall was listed at Grade II in 1952.
ORNAMENTAL GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS The gardens must be considered in two categories: the formal gardens of the hall within the island; and the gardens to the west of the island and south of the watercress beds. On the island, the hall overlooks fine lawns to the river to the south and west, with mature trees including a large Cedrus Libani or cedar of Lebanon to the south-west of the hall, believed to have been planted in the late C18. From the cedar a path leads south-west, with a rectangular-plan rose garden to the north-west side of the path with a crazy-paved border. Northwest of the hall is a former kitchen garden, constructed in 1733, now containing a tennis court and pool. From the southwest corner of the kitchen garden, a rectangular-plan rose garden extends southwest, with a central wrought-iron sculpture on a stone capital flanked by three rectangular-plan rose beds either side, and crazy-paved paths. North of the hall, a number of features were introduced between 1925 and 1930: the courtyard formed by the wings of the building is paved and contains a central pool with a shouldered surround, featuring the carved kneeling figure of a nude woman on its south side; a central crazy-paved path leads north through a lawn to a swimming pool, which was cut into the north stretch of the river, and is surrounded by silver birch and willow trees. The island is connected to the land to the south, west and north, and three smaller islands, by a series of triangular and flat bridges. These include five bridges spanning the south stretch of river and connecting two islands, one spanning the west stretch, one connecting a small island in the north-west corner, and five spanning the water channels north of the hall. Erected around 1930 to the designs of the owner Major Cuthbert Fitzwilliams, the names of the bridges include the ‘Bridge of Sighs’ ‘Bridge of Mottoes’, ‘Clixby’s Bridge’ (after Fitzwilliams’ son Clixby), and ‘Granny’s Bridge’. South-west of the island and to the south of the watercress beds are a series of ornamental gardens designed by and including sculptural ornament by Major Fitzwilliams. At the east end is a small lawn with spade-ended crazy-paved paths, from which crazy-paved paths lead west toward a lavender garden and south-west through a rockery and series of steps to a Peter Pan pool, which features a bronze figure at its centre. The rectangular-plan lavender garden is a multi-stepped formal garden with square, rectangular and circular beds of planting along the north half, the central bed of which features a large crown-shaped planter carved by Major Fitzwilliams (most likely in 1937 to celebrate the coronation of King George VI). The garden is bounded and divided by coursed stone walls, with piers bearing foliated Prince of Wales capitals. The southeast side of the lavender garden features a sunken rectangular-plan pool with a highly-carved south wall, featuring the busts of figures within an ogee-arched arcade. The summer house on the southwest side is a small rectangular-plan building with a red-clay pantile roof, gabled to the north and south, with rubble stone walls, open to the garden to the north. From the west side of the lavender garden, a crazy-paved path leads west, with a rectangular-plan lawn to the north and south. Throughout the ornamental gardens and pleasure grounds are numerous examples of ornamental sculpture by Major Fitzwilliams and the Greatford Garden Company, including garden benches, garden settees, tables, well heads, columns, and bird feeders, to name but a few.
KITCHEN GARDEN AND OTHER PRODUCTIVE GARDEN AREAS To the north-west of the hall is a rectangular-plan kitchen garden, constructed in 1733 and measuring approximately 0.3 acres in area (not listed). The red brick walls are laid in English bond, with shallow buttresses and stone coping; the north wall was rebuilt in the late C20 or early C21, and the south wall appears to have been demolished in the C20. Historic photographs and mapping indicate the former presence of glasshouses in the centre of the kitchen garden, however these were removed and replaced by a tennis court and swimming pool in the late C20 or early C21. A single-storey building in the south-west corner of the kitchen garden was either remodelled or rebuilt around 1930, with a crow-stepped east gable and decorative hood mouldings; the south elevation of the building was entirely glazed in the late C20 or early C21. West of the island, a pocket of land is bounded by the West Glen River to the east, south and west, and a drain to the north, and was adapted for use as commercial watercress beds around 1930. The beds were laid out over approximately 15 acres, running on a southwest to northeast axis, with water being drawn up from natural artesian springs to a penstock at the west end, from where it gently flowed through the bed to the channel at the east end. The artesian springs also provided water to the decorative Peter Pan pool and rockery stream to the south of the watercress beds.
PARKLAND South of Main Street, a large area of parkland, now pasture, stretches south toward Barholm and measures approximately 18 hectares in area. The parkland was recorded on the six-inch Ordnance Survey map published in 1887, and it retains significant and mature park trees, including singleton lime trees, horse chestnut and conifer grove. Aerial photography shows the possible survival of prehistoric enclosures and trackway as cropmarks, and extensive medieval ridge and furrow as cropmarks and earthworks of adjoining blocks of parallel linear features. The Greatford Cut was introduced diagonally across the parkland in the 1970s to facilitate waterwork improvements for the development of Peterborough new town and industry.
OTHER BUILDINGS Greatford Hall and its gardens stand on an island, accessed from Main Street by a late C18 stone bridge (listed at Grade II). Also on this island and to the north-east of Greatford Hall stands the parish church of St Thomas A Becket, built in the CII, with alterations in the early and late C13, C14, C17, and restored around 1854 (listed at Grade I). To the east of Greatford Hall is an L-plan complex of buildings, comprising an early-C16 aisled barn, altered in the C20 (listed at Grade II*), and stables of Greatford Hall, constructed in 1698, and altered and extended in the C20 (listed at Grade II). A small number of single-storey service buildings, built in the early- to mid-C20, are dotted around the west and north sides of the site (not listed).