Kilver Court is a historic house and gardens in

Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in the Mendip District of Somerset, England, some south-west of Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. Mendip District Council is based t ...

in the English county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. The

River Sheppey The River Sheppey has its source in a group of springs west of the village of Doulting, near Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England. It flows through the wetlands to the north of the Polden Hills and ultimately joins the River Brue. Route From ...

powered textile mills and it later became a factory, the headquarters of the

Showerings Babycham () is the trade name of a light (6% ABV), sparkling perry invented by Francis Showering, a brewer in Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England. The name was owned by Accolade Wines until December 2021 when it was bought back into the Showe ...

brewing business (later part of

Allied Domecq Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard. They ...

), and then the headquarters of a leather-goods manufacturer,

Mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

. It is now used as a shopping centre.

History

Numbers 26, 26B and 27 Kilver street was a country house built around 1650 and since converted into offices and shops. They form a Grade II

listed building 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 ...

. It was originally owned by the Whiting family which included Richard Whiting, who used it as their country house close to the mills used in woollen manufacturing, later converting to silk throwers and then

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

production The 19th century

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 ...

, known as the "Round House" and its adjacent gate piers and gates are also listed. Over the course of the 20th century the site has been a factory, the headquarters of the

brewing business (later part of

), and then the headquarters of a leather-goods manufacturer,

. It has been used as a venue for the

Shepton Mallet Digital Arts Festival The Shepton Mallet Digital Arts Festival (also known as the Shepton Digi Fest) is a British annual public arts festival and creative industry showcase based in the Somerset town of Shepton Mallet at venues including Kilver Court. The Festival ...

Gardens

The gardens are overlooked by the disused Charlton Viaduct as it crosses the

. They were laid out in the 1880s by Ernest Jardine, the Member of Parliament for East Somerset, 1910 to 1918, for his lace workers. He used the old mill ponds as boating lakes; and also built a pub and schoolhouse. They became known as Jardine’s Park and included fruit and vegetable plots which provided food for the workers. The current layout is a reproduction of a 1960s

Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the ''Great Spring Show'',Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural ...

medal winning garden designed by George Whitelegg and includes a

rockery A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small A ...

and

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...

. The area adjacent to the river includes

hosta ''Hosta'' (, syn. ''Funkia'') is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies and occasionally by the Japanese name gibōshi. Hostas are widely cultivated as shade-tolerant foliage plants. The genus is currently placed in the fa ...

s, day lilies and candelabra primulas.

Shopping

In 2010 the buildings were converted into a designer outlet by

Roger Saul Roger John Saul (born July 1950) is a British businessman, the founder of the Mulberry (company), Mulberry fashion label. Early life and education Roger John Saul was born in July 1950, in Lottisham, Somerset. His father worked for C. & J. Clar ...

the founder of

. The stores include: Mulberry, L.K.Bennett and

Whistles Whistling without the use of an artificial whistle is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The a ...

. Following the challenges of Covid-19, Saul decided in 2021 to sell the business, and Kilver Court was bought by the Showerings family which had originally owned the site.

References

External links

Kilver Court Designer Village
{{Shopping centres in Southwest England Companies based in Somerset Shopping centres in Somerset Grade II listed buildings in Mendip District Gardens in Somerset