Eastcote House Gardens is an area of public parkland in

Eastcote Eastcote is a suburban area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in northwest London. In the Middle Ages, Eastcote was one of the three areas that made up the parish of Ruislip, under the name of Ascot. The name came from its position to the e ...

, within the

London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county ...

. The site covers and incorporates the walled garden,

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

and coach house of Eastcote House. The house was demolished in 1964 by the then

Ruislip-Northwood Urban District Council Ruislip-Northwood was an urban district in west Middlesex, England, from 1904 to 1965. From its inception Ruislip-Northwood fell within the Metropolitan Police District and from 1933 it was part of the London Passenger Transport Area. The urban ...

(RNUDC), one of the predecessors of the London Borough of Hillingdon which was formed the following year. At the public's request, the garden and outbuildings were retained and are now maintained by a group of volunteers, the Friends of Eastcote House Gardens, in partnership with the local authority. Eastcote House was one of three largest in Eastcote, together with

Highgrove House Highgrove House is the family residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. It lies southwest of Tetbury in Gloucestershire, England. Built in the late 18th century, Highgrove and its estate were owned by various families until it was ...

and Haydon Hall. All came to be owned by the RNUDC, but only Highgrove House remains in its original form; Haydon Hall was demolished in 1967 by the RNUDC's successor. The coach house, dovecote, and garden walls received

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

status on 6 September 1974. Ecological surveys have found fifty types of trees in the gardens, and numerous species of birds, mammals and insects have been recorded. The gardens received the

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

in September 2011 following an earlier inspection.

History

Eastcote House

Eastcote House is first recorded in 1507, when it was known as "Hopkyttes", under the ownership of the Walleston family. In 1525, Ralph Hawtrey married Winifred Walleston, and they made Hopkyttes their marital home, renaming it Eastcote House. The house was extended by either Ralph Hawtrey or his son John, and the brick exterior added. The original timber framework was not revealed again until the house was demolished. John Hawtrey built the dovecote without applying for the required licence. After his death in 1593, his nephew Ralph Hawtrey applied retrospectively, and the licence was granted. During the 18th century, the dovecote was substantially rebuilt, leaving only the original first few rows of bricks. The Hawtrey family, later the Hawtrey-Deanes, continued to live in the house until Francis Deane moved to East View in Uxbridge in 1878. Eastcote House was then let to tenants and parts of the estate sold for housing developments. The Ruislip-Northwood Urban District Council purchased the house and grounds, totalling , in 1931 after it became endangered by the proposed new housing development by the builders Comben & Wakeling. Eastcote House became a public building for the use of the Scouts, Guides, Women's Institute and a welfare clinic, though under the ownership of the council, the condition of the house deteriorated. In 1962 the house was declared unsafe, and it was demolished two years later after the council ruled there were no features of the house worth retaining.Bowlt 1994, p.31 The Eastcote Billiards Club began using the coach house in 1938. The club's lease of the building expired in 2005, but the club remained in residence, rent-free. In 2013, the club had moved to nearby Haydon Hall.

Gardens

The narrow bricks in the garden walls have been dated to around the 17th century. The walled garden would originally have been used predominantly for growing fruit, vegetables, and herbs for the household's consumption, as well as flowers to exhibit at shows and for pleasure. The walled garden, coach house, and dovecote were retained at the public's request when the house was demolished. On 6 September 1974, the garden walls and remaining buildings were awarded Grade II listed status. The herb garden was planted across the four centre beds in 1977 to celebrate the

Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the Silver jubilee, 25th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was celebrated with large-scale parties and parades throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth o ...

. These included ''

Artemisia Artemisia may refer to: People * Artemisia I of Caria (fl. 480 BC), queen of Halicarnassus under the First Persian Empire, naval commander during the second Persian invasion of Greece * Artemisia II of Caria (died 350 BC), queen of Caria under th ...

'',

catmint Catmint usually refers to: * the genus ''Anisomeles'' * the garden plant ''Nepeta'' × ''faassenii'' It may also refer to * ''Anisomeles indica'' * ''Anisomeles malabarica'', Malabar catmint * the plant genus ''Nepeta'' ** ''Nepeta cataria'', catn ...

, ''

Santolina ''Santolina'' is a genus of plants in the chamomile tribe within the sunflower family, primarily from the western Mediterranean region. They are small evergreen shrubs growing tall. The leaves are simple and minute in some species, or pinnate ...

'' and curry plants. To keep the plants within the beds, each was lined by

box A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...

in 1983. The eastern wall was rebuilt in 1981, at which point the northern wall was reduced by seven layers of brick. An area of

topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...

with seven specimens was planted in 1983 with box, behind the coach house.

Lilac ''Syringa'' is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering plant, flowering woody plants in the olive family or Oleaceae called lilacs. These lilacs are native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and wid ...

s, weeping cherries and

hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species ...

were planted in 1984 along the garden wall near the coach house. A pergola covered with

laburnum ''Laburnum'', sometimes called golden chain or golden rain, is a genus of two species of small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are '' Laburnum anagyroides''—common laburnum and '' Laburnum alpinum''— ...

and

wisteria ''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and north o ...

was introduced in 1986 leading to the entrance into the walled garden. Between 1986 and 1988, two iron gates and a sundial were added. In the 1990s, the orchard near the walled garden was supplemented by black mulberry,

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

and

quince The quince (; ''Cydonia oblonga'') is the sole member of the genus ''Cydonia'' in the Malinae subtribe (which also contains apples and pears, among other fruits) of the Rosaceae family (biology), family. It is a deciduous tree that bears hard ...

trees.

A footbridge crossing the

River Pinn The Pinn is a suburban, outer west London river. It has dendritic headwaters, the furthest is considered its sourcein Harrow Weald. Its confluence with Frays River makes it a tributary of the Colne. It is one of three principal rivers wholly ...

and leading to Long Meadow was replaced in 2007; the original had been built in 1977. In 2008, the Friends of Eastcote House Gardens was formed to care for the gardens and ensure they remain protected. The group received a £24,000 grant from the

Big Lottery Fund The National Lottery Community Fund, legally named the Big Lottery Fund, is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery for "good causes". Since 2004 it has awarded over £9 billion to ...

for the replanting of the gardens, which went ahead in April 2010. The Mayor of Hillingdon officially reopened the gardens on 17 July 2010. A survey completed in November 2009 found 50 types of trees in the gardens. Bats were found in the coach house during an ecological survey, but were not believed to be roosting there long-term. Species of birds observed in the gardens have included

song thrush The song thrush (''Turdus philomelos'') is a Thrush (bird), thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic. It has brown upper-parts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has three recognised subspecies. Its distinctive Birdsong, song, ...

jay A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...

wren Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...

, robin,

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

and

tawny owl The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is commonly found in woodlands across Europe to western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. It is a stocky, medium-sized owl, whose underparts are pale with dark streaks, an ...

. Mammals regularly observed include

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introducti ...

grey squirrel The eastern gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis''), also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodi ...

s and

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

es. Butterflies including the

holly blue The holly blue (''Celastrina argiolus'') Retrieved April 20, 2018. is a butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family and is native to the Palearctic. The holly blue has pale silver-blue wings spotted with pale ivory dots. Seitz des ...

and

painted lady ''Vanessa cardui'' is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan. Description File:Vanessa cardui MHNT CUT 2013 3 14 Pontfaverger-Moronvilliers Dos. ...

have been recorded. Hillingdon Council provided a £150,000 grant in September 2010 for the restoration of the buildings. In April 2011, the council joined with the Friends to seek funding of up to £1 million from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

, to support restoration work. It is planned that the coach house could be converted into a tea room. The gardens received the

in 2011 following an earlier inspection. The flag was raised in a ceremony on 14 September 2011.

References

Citations Bibliography * Bowlt, Eileen. M. (1994) ''Ruislip Past''. London: Historical Publications * Bowlt, Eileen. M. (2007) ''Around Ruislip, Eastcote, Northwood, Ickenham & Harefield''. Stroud: Sutton Publishing * Ruislip, Northwood and Eastcote Local History Society. (1984) ''Eastcote: a pictorial history''.

External links

Eastcote House Gardens volunteers
- London Borough of Hillingdon {{coord, 51, 35, 12, N, 0, 24, 8, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hillingdon Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hillingdon Eastcote British country houses destroyed in the 20th century