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1741

 

Prideaux Place from the East from Edmond’s drawing 1741

 

The drawing of the East front, from and including the formal garden in the now Deer Park, was obviously made after returning from his European Grand Tour in 1741 and being so well pleased by its grandeur and prospect he took and pressed pencil to paper. There are signs of the Wilderness garden around the small building on the left, together with a formal garden around the Obelisk. It is not clear that the building on the left is the same pyramidally roofed building as is seen in other drawings and the oil painting. The outer section of the Bakehouse is now in evidence, on the right of the drawing. The Gate house is in evidence, though mis-interpreted as an alteration to the house front until now.

In the foreground are formal gardens on, what is now, the Deer Park. These formal gardens led on to the original Long Acre, used by Edmond for his deer. In dry weather, the layout of the gardens can be seen in the grass.

 

 

South Elevation of Prideaux Place by Edmond Prideaux

 

The South elevation ( on which Edmond shows the parterre anglais ) except for the important observation that all windows are vertical, that graphic representation of trees and shrubs is identical to his view of the East front ( 1741 ), the castellated wall with the gate, dividing the Terrace from the East front exists, as on the gouache, could have been the elevation as prior to 1727, prior to his alterations, but it is more likely that this is dated 1741. The real difference is in the high wall, with steps leading up along a higher wall ( Note base of old tower [ refer to my page “The Library and the Tithe Barn” ] behind, which was incorporated into the Library ). It may be that this wall was an extension to the wall of the Terrace to the Wilderness garden ( made 1734, according to Edmond's own drawing ) or even part of it. It is unfortunate that there is little to offer any idea of scale, though position is reasonably certain, as shown in the Garden Restoration Scheme. However, the steps leading up to the Terrace should be of the order of 10 to 12 inches - there are 11 treads. On the subject of the Wilderness Garden, reference could also be made to Edmond's drawing of the Wilderness at Raynham, this may give an idea of the scale Edmond had in mind.

 

Certainly, now, after a lot of examination of the site walls, the tree positions, levels, etc., I have calculated the position of the Wilderness garden and the Bowling Green, to which Edmond refers in his drawings.

 

 

Raymond Forward

 

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