Kirby Hall and its gardens

Plans for garden-restoration by English Heritage at Kirby Hall provided the opportunity to increase the understanding of the site by combining the consolidation of its physical remains with a detailed archaeological examination. The results from investigation carried out between 1987–94 contribute important evidence for the development of the series of formal gardens from Elizabethan origins towards an apogee in the late seventeenth century, when they enjoyed the reputation of being among the finest gardens in England. The creation of the Great Garden and its terraces caused a major transformation of scene at around the beginning of the seventeenth century. Preparatory clearance and other earthmoving involved the demolition of part of the old village of Kirby, though some remains became incorporated in the new West Terrace and a mount preserved part of the site of the former church and associated graveyard. Alterations and later remodelling attest changes in gardening fashion, culminating towards the end of the century when surrounding walls were pulled down, architectural features were moved, and the West Terrace was given the appearance of a grass-covered bank. At the same time the adjacent garden floor was relaid with designs picked out in cutwork. A range of contemporary documents corroborates the impression of an increase in gardening activity and elsewhere the results of other excavation, allied with widespread geophysical prospection and other analytical non-destructive field survey, provide evidence of further garden-areas, different usage, and the overall landscape effect. In addition, a series of lost structural features associated with the Elizabethan and later house has been identified. The scale of investigation and its results arguably place the research at Kirby Hall in the vanguard of Garden Archaeology as a particular discipline, and it is therefore opportune to review the value of such types of investigation

Archaeology · Excavation · Geography · Mount · Terrace (agriculture · Archaeological Research and Protection · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Engineering · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History

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