We were delighted to discover the recent planting of four new lime trees on the estate. These have been planted by the Council tree team and replace some of the lost trees on the historic avenue leading to the house.
This avenue was first planted at the turn of the 18th Century by Sir Robert Southwell and his son Edward. The limes are recorded as young trees in two of the many avenues leading from the house in the well-known engraving of the park from about 1710. From then on, they remain a constant feature of the park through history , surviving the de-formalisation of the grounds in the mid-Eighteenth Century. In the last decade several have succumbed to disease.
The new trees, one on the south side of the avenue and three on the north, replicate the historic spacing and repair gaps that have gradually opened up. Along with the new avenue planted by KWAG in 2012, these go a long way to reinstating something of the formality of the original garden layout.
