The Courts Garden is an English country garden in

Holt Holt or holte may refer to: Natural world *Holt (den), an otter den * Holt, an area of woodland Places Australia * Holt, Australian Capital Territory * Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...

, near Trowbridge,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England. The garden has been in the ownership of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

since 1943 and is Grade II listed.

History

The house known as The Courts, which was built and incorporated earlier fabric, was the home of a wealthy clothier from nearby Bradford-on-Avon, at the time a prosperous wool town. The Courts served as the village law court where cloth weavers could settle their disputes. Around 1797, it was bought by John Davis and it remained in his family until 1900. Davis likely built the cloth mill which was next to the house. Following the decline of the wool trade in the area, his grandson demolished the mill around 1888. In 1900, The Courts was bought by architect Sir George Hastings. He altered the house and laid out the garden which covered part of the site of the former mill, using the existing stream to create a water garden and various ponds and canals. In 1909, Hastings built a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

-style conservatory and introduced a collection of garden ornaments brought from

Ranelagh House Ranelagh Gardens (; alternative spellings include Ranelegh and Ranleigh, the latter reflecting the English pronunciation) were public pleasure gardens located in Chelsea, then just outside London, England, in the 18th century. History The Ran ...

in Barnes, London. In 1910, The Courts was bought by the Misses Barclay and Trim, and in 1921 by Major

Thomas Clarence Edward Goff Thomas Clarence Edward Goff JP DL (28 May 1867 – 13 March 1949) was an Anglo-Irish landowner, farmer, and politician who was a great-grandson of King William IV. Early life Goff was born in London on 28 May 1867. He was the son of Thomas ...

and his wife, Lady Cecile (a daughter of Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster). Lady Cecile, strongly influenced by

Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...

, was a keen gardener and she created various 'garden rooms' surrounded by clipped

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew (''Taxus br ...

s and box hedges, similar in style and layout to the contemporary gardens at Hidcote in Gloucestershire and

Great Dixter Great Dixter is a house in Northiam, East Sussex, England. It was built in 1910–12 by architect Edwin Lutyens, who combined an existing mid-15th century house on the site with a similar structure brought from Benenden, Kent, together with his o ...

in East Sussex. The gardens feature an

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

, working vegetable garden and orchard, a

Sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...

Lawn, and a folly temple. While owned by the Goffs, Queen Mary visited the family at Holt. The house was designated as

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 ...

in 1962, and in 1987 the garden was listed at Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

National Trust ownership

The Goffs donated the whole property to the

in 1943. Their daughter, Moyra Goff, retained a life tenancy and lived in the main house until her death in 1990.

Gallery

Entrance to The Courts Garden (geograph 6135990).jpg, Entrance to The Courts Garden The Courts House from the Entrance Gate - geograph.org.uk - 1009724.jpg, The Courts House from the Entrance Gate Greenhouse, The Courts - geograph.org.uk - 1334745.jpg, The greenhouse Kitchen Garden in The Courts Garden - geograph.org.uk - 1009706.jpg, The kitchen gardens The Courts Garden, Holt 06.jpg, The Lily pond and dye pool Steps and garden ornaments, Courts Gardens, Holt, Wiltshire (geograph 3455148).jpg, Steps and garden ornaments

References

External links

*
The Courts Garden information at the National Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Courts

Gardens in Wiltshire A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

National Trust properties in Wiltshire Grade II listed parks and gardens in Wiltshire