Since 2022, one corner of the Sir John Vabrugh designed Echo has been held aloft only by means of a nylon strap. This was attached during urgent maintenance work when the dilapidated condition of the cornice was first raised as a concern. At the same time, the brambles and other weeds whose roots were penetrating the mortar joints were cleared off. However, it’s taken a considerable time for the Council conservators to return.
The Echo takes on the appearance of a sentry box with the restorers scaffolding and palisades erected.
Last month we had the first reports that the long-promised scaffolding was being erected, along with a palisade protecting it from any abuse or vandalism. The whole structure took on a formidable appearance while contractors worked to re-mortar and repair the stonework. At the same time, some of the overhanging trees that were threatening to knock down the decorative urns were also trimmed back.
Hopefully, perhaps even by now, the work will be finished and the building revealed again to the public.
The Echo in 1927. Philip Napier Miles enjoyed a rustic garden style that saw him allow plants to spring up out of the building’s stonework and steps. The two chairs inside are hollowed out from fallen tree trunks!
The issues of invasive cherry laurel are well known; outcompeting native species, leaching toxins into the soil, and contributing to soil erosion, are just three reasons that many hundreds of hours of volunteer work have been devoted to its removal. Whilst it was once maintained as a decorative landscaping plant, it’s now run wild and is having a seriously detrimental impact on the woodland and the soil.
the cherry laurel regrowth long the mid-18th Century pleasure walk
The last two working parties this year returned to the area on the north-east side of the Echo path, sections of the estate we originally felled laurel in around nine years ago. Whilst much was poisoned by the Council in the wake of our work, the areas closer to Kings Weston house weren’t treated and have more quickly regrown. This was the target of March’s working party.
With a good team of volunteers, we carried on the surgical removal of the laurel whilst leaving the native species that have begun to recolonise the area. Starting from the twin ponds, work progressed downhill throughout the day though, sadly, we didn’t manage to clear as far as the boundary with the house; this was left for a few volunteers to clear away later.
The area behind the two ponds before and after volunteer work. Many native bulbs were planted here in the autumn of 2014, many of which had been hidden.
In the process of opening the area back up many of the saplings and native bulbs planted in the area have been revealed. In February we found the snowdrops lost beneath the laurel growth, and last month the bluebells and miniature daffodils were rediscovered, now better able to reach the sun! Eventually, when the laurel toxins have eventually leached out of the soil and the forest floor has matured further, it will ensure that rainwater run-off from the slope will be more effectively captured.
the view from the pleasure walk along the garden edge looking towards the main Echo path and the lawns beyond.
