The Gardens at Fota

Historical Development of the Walled Gardens

Image courtesy of Photographic Unit, Dept of Environment, Heritage and Local Government OBAIR 18

Image courtesy of the Irish Architectural Archive

In 1825 John Smith Barry had extensive landscaping works carried out to create Fota Island Demesne in Cork. The Demense included parkland areas, plantations, and elaborate walled and formal gardens, to the north and east of the newly enlarged Fota House. Four separate walled gardens, covering approximately 5 acres, were in evidence on the 1841 Ordnance Survey. This map is interesting as it shows a building, possibly an earlier conservatory, forming the fourth side of the walled garden nearest the house The Pleasure Gardens. A long rectangular garden was in use as an orchard and the other three gardens had highly decorative formal layouts.

The arboretum commenced by John's son, James Hugh Smith Barry, around 1847 extended right up to the walled gardens, incorporating the area of the earlier formal garden by 1862-70. A number of additional glasshouses, vineries and frame yards had been added to the northern-most section of the walled gardens to ensure a continuous supply of exotic fruits vegetables and flowers for the house and formal garden displays. Walled gardens of the period were generally more decorative nearer the house and more productive further away.

Gardening skills were highly valued and a head gardener’s house had been built in the corner of the walled orchard by this time.

From around 1863 Arthur Hugh Smith Barry (later Lord Barrymore ) continued his father's work planting the arboretum with native and exotic species, and developed new features

in the gardens, including significant developments to the walled Pleasure Gardens. He also built a new classicalstyle Orangery (recently restored by the OPW) on an axis with the house and new terraces, steps and paths connecting to the south and east sides of the house.

Arthur Hugh removed the old conservatory from the south side of the Pleasure Gardens and replaced it with a high yew hedge with new ornamental gates and stone piers, which were erected in 1890 in memory of his first wife, Lady Mary Smith Barry. These gates formed the new entrance to the Pleasure Gardens on the main central garden axis leading to the classical temple on the south wall and ornamental pond in the centre of the garden, which can all still be seen today.

By 1898 the garden had been divided into two compartments by a further yew hedge. On one side were a number of stone steps leading to two sunken areas, one a formal rose garden; directly behind this was a formal cordyline garden. On the other side of the garden the yew hedge was extended to form two further compartments; one was for a tennis court and the other became the site of what was originally called the Italian Garden. An article in Irish Garden Magazine of 1914 refers to a sunken Italian Garden across from the rose garden with paved paths and a fine 15th-century Italian well-head as a centre piece,apparently brought back from Italy by Lady Barrymore in 1910.

However, the accompanying

photograph with this article, though an extremely useful view of the Pleasure Gardens did not include a view of the Italian Garden, of which no trace appeared to have survived Major and Mrs Bell (a daughter of Arthur Hugh Smith Barry) came to live at Fota in1937 after it had gone through a period of neglect, and set about restoring the gardens. Mrs Bell carried on the family tradition of adding to the planting in the gardens and arboretum. The walls to the gardens remained intact, and the gardens were generally used productively for fruit and vegetables. The glasshouses however deteriorated further. The Cordyline garden was grassed over and by the 1950's the Rose garden had been reduced in scale . The Pleasure Garden to the east of the house retained their yew hedge compartments until after the estate was sold in 1975 to University College Cork.

In the 1980s Fota House, arboretum and about a hundred acres of parkland passed to the Fota Trust and because of the importance of the plant collection,the arboretum and gardens were later brought into state care in the mid-1990s under Park Superintendent Cormac Foley.

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RESTORATION PROPOSALS FOR THE PLEASURE GARDENS The research and historical assessment carried out in the 1990s led to the preparation of Restoration Proposals for the Pleasure Gardens. The proposed restoration plan for the Pleasure Gardens is based on the late19th and early 20th century Ordnance Survey maps which indicated the main path layouts and compartments of the garden, and on early 20th century articles and photographs and recollections of retired gardeners for details of the gardens.

From our research it emerged that the early 20th century Pleasure Gardens of one and a half acres consisted of four distinct areas: 1.

2.

3.

4.

The The The The

Sunken Italian Garden Formal Rose Garden Formal Cordyline Garden Former Tennis Court Area

Despite the loss of significant features, including the large yew hedges, perimeter paths, and detail layouts, the basic elements of the gardens remained, including the pond, the

temple, the sunken areas of the former Rose and cordyline gardens with their stone steps and a number of mature cordylines. However, there was still little concrete information on the sunken Italian garden until discussions with two retired gardeners ( Billy Power and Jim Forrest), whose descriptions led to the uncovering of the remains of the original sunken Italian garden.

1. Sunken Italian Garden The remains of the low rectangular brick walls and steps just under the grass sods were in poor condition and had subsided due to a lack of proper foundations. A section of squared limestone paving was uncovered in the excavations and this was probably part of the original paving, of which no other trace remained. The old Italian well-head had been relocated in a different part of the garden but a number of statuary figures, including four putti figures representing the four Seasons were retained by Mrs Bell.

The remains of an old stone bench seat was also uncovered under the perimeter yew hedge. It is proposed to restoring this garden by carefully dismantling and re-constructing the brick walls and steps with new foundations and new paving and by restoring as many detail features as possible.

2. Formal Rose Garden A key photograph from 1914 Irish Garden Magazine indicates a detailed geometric parterre-style rose garden with small, mainly rectangular, beds, filled with roses and featuring a OBAIR 20

terracotta-style rope edging. Two sets of stone steps lead down into the sunken area from the perimeter paths.

Evidence on the ground in dry weather indicated a central large oval and four satellite circles around it. We have interpreted the existing and former evidence and indicated a restoration layout for the rose garden which appears very close to the original layout.

3. Formal Cordyline Garden This garden also features in the 1914 photograph with a formal layout of cordylines, many of which survive today. The path layout is not discernible. However, from the location of the existing four sets of stone steps and remaining cordylines, we have indicated a possible layout with the sundial in the centre. In the Irish Garden Magazine there was also a description of bedding plants used, including verbenas Venosa, V. Miss Willmott, Begonias, Worthianas and Cannas among the well-established Cordylines australis.

4. Former Tennis Court It is proposed that this area becomes an ornamental nut or fruit tree garden, using dwarf varieties to recreate the oval-shaped area indicated on the Ordnance Survey map of 1841, to reflect the historical character and to commission a new sculpture as a modern focal point.

The overall restoration proposal was agreed in principle and a cost plan was prepared. However, because of

budget constraints it was decided to carry out the work in phases. Phase I was to include the re-construction of the sunken Italian garden and the restoration of the stone steps and main paths around to the rose, cordyline and Italian gardens. The project commenced in mid-2002 and Phase I is complete.

THE RECONSTRUCTION PROCESS Phase 1-Sunken Italian Garden, Paths and Steps The historic nature of the gardens and conservation works to historic structures required the use of specialist conservation contractors and natural hydraulic lime mortars were used throughout. The standard of workmanship of the contractor, Joseph Costelloe, was high and the contract was completed on budget.

The reconstruction works to the Italian gardens involved recording, cleaning and dismantling existing brick walls, and steps, and salvaging bricks for reuse, the provision of new concrete foundations and rising walls and the reconstruction of brick walls and steps to replicate the original, using new and existing salvage imperial bricks. Walls were finished with a replica reconstituted stone capping and new stone paving and flower beds were laid within the brick walls.

The original brick walls, built of English garden wall bond, were only four bricks high under the capping with four opposing sets of brick steps leading down into to the garden, all of which

had to be reconstructed exactly. The original capping was an in-situ reconstituted stone composite capping with false joints to look like stone.

Existing broken sections of capping were analysed for colour and a number of trials were conducted to replicate the texture of the reconstituted stone mix. Great care was taken by the contractor to achieve the correct finish.

The reconstruction works included a possible layout of the lime stone paving and flower beds in the sunken area based on the position of known features. However, after the contract commenced it was fortunate that a copy of an old photograph of the sunken Italian garden c.1930 came to light, which indicated precisely the layout of flowerbeds, paving, the statuary and the planting of the garden.

This was incorporated into the restoration.

The existing 15th century stone wellhead and base were successfully relocated, without any damage from the left hand side of garden to new foundations in centre of the sunken Italian gardens.

involved using selected pit run local gravel sorted into large grade and finer grades and well compacted in layers, laid on original sub-bases uncovered, similar to the rest of the paths in the gardens, as advised by Garden Supervisor Paddy Walsh.

Landscaping works, including yew hedges (which were planted in advance), spring bedding plants and box topiary, were carried out by Paddy Walsh and Head Gardener David O Regan, directed by Cormac Foley.

Future Works Phase 2 will include restoration of the statuary figures in the centre of the garden and in the sunken Italian gardens, particularly the Four Seasons figures and selected garden features. including seating and decorative urns.

Further phases are likely to include the restoration of the Formal Rose Garden and the Formal Cordyline Gardens.

Project Team Elizabeth Morgan, Landscape Conservation Architect Francis Fay, Willie Sargent, Architectural Assistants

The repair and relaying of all the existing sets of stone steps to the rose and cordyline gardens was necessary because they had all subsided due to lack of adequate foundations.They were all surveyed and recorded, lightly cleaned and lifted and relaid, on new concrete foundations and re-bedded and repaired.

Aidan Quinn, Quantity Surveyor

The restoration of the main paths to the rose and cordyline gardens

Joseph Costelloe Contractor

Stephen Monks, Project Management Services Gabriel Gleeson, Heritage Services Cormac Foley, Park Superintendent, Heritage Services

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