Buscot Park - Grounds

Grounds

The house is set within a large park, of over 100 acres (0.40 km2), containing woodland, lakes and formal gardens. Creation of the park began in 1782. In the early 20th century, the landscape architect Harold Peto worked at Buscot. Water gardens had become popular in the late 19th century, following the introduction of exotic water-loving plants and the first illustrated gardening magazines Thus, Peto was commissioned to design a water garden. The result was an "Alhambra-like" series of rills and fountains, linking the house to the distant 20-acre (81,000 m2) lake. Despite its woodland setting leading to an informal lake, the water garden is formal in its concept, in direct contrast to the still popular picturesque movement which perhaps reached its zenith just a few years earlier at Cragside, Northumberland. This was because Peto was influenced by the architect Reginald Blomfield, a disciple of Sir Charles Barry who was responsible for many of the great Italianate houses and formal terraced gardens of the 19th century. Peto also designed a large entrance court to the mansion, with massive gate piers, intended to create an impressive approach to the house.

Before the north front of the house is a formal lawned parterre with a bronze fountain depicting Mercury. Leading from the immediate vicinity of the house are a series of woodland avenues which lead to smaller gardens; in the form of roundels these gardens include a citrus garden, a rose garden and a swinging garden. Other woodland vistas lead to various eye catching garden statues, including a monumental urn containing the relics of the 2nd Lord Faringdon.

The vast walled kitchen garden has been replanted over the last 20 years by the present Lord Faringdon, to represent the four seasons, divided into quarters by pleached hornbeams and Judas trees, each section of the garden represents a different season. A novel feature, set on a prominence above the garden is a faux waterfall, a modern sculpture which from a distance creates a convincing optical illusion of a torrential waterfall.

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