Sunday 12 January 2014

Fixtures and fittings



This may seem like an odd picture for a blog but I wanted to illustrate some of the original fixtures and fittings which we are lucky enough to have in our garden. This is the traditional Leicestershire capped wall that runs up one side of the garden.



 Most of the decorative elements of the walls and fences are this slate blue coloured brick which I particularly like. About a third of the way up the garden the wall gives way to a fence with pillars.

This picture shows some of the old ( possibly original) timber, but much of that is rotted now so we are gradually replacing this. Can you see how the wood is set into more beautiful curved slate coloured bricks at the bottom of each panel? All these are still in place and of course we are preserving these as the footing for the new fence panels.

Almost all we know about this garden is what we have deduced from what we have found in it. Just a few people from the village remember it from a while ago, but I think it has not looked the way it was originally planned and built for many years. We know the house was built for a successful local business family, who wanted to demonstrate their prosperity through the fabric of their house. Logic suggests they had the same aspirations for their garden and it was certainly designed with great care and I should imagine no little expense. The fixtures and fittings we are slowly putting back in place indicate this at every turn.

That's it for today - my mind is on fences as we are hoping to have four more panels replaced this week. Much more on the Victorian legacy of our garden to come!

3 comments:

  1. How lovely to have a Victorian wall in your garden. Were there many interesting plants there when you took it over?

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    1. No, hardly any unfortunately. It was very overgrown and run over with things like perennial sweet pea. Typically though it has a yew tree and a lilac which I understand no self respecting Victorian garden would be without!

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  2. Thanks for your recent visit and comment on my blog Judy :) A walled garden - I'm green with envy! I've not heard of a Leicestershire capped wall before and am intrigued. I was born in Peterborough which you probably know is famous for its bricks. Look forward to seeing more of your garden as the year unfolds.

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