Water features – Tudor Tuesdays

September 29 2020 | Garden History

The theme for this week’s #TudorTuesdays with Historic Houses is water features.

Hever Castle’s 125 acre estate is home to many different types of water features, some more modern than others.

The Tudor Garden which runs alongside the Yew Maze and bordering the outer moat of the Castle features a paved fountain garden with a profusion of Ballerina shrub roses.

The Italian Garden, built to house former owner William Waldorf Astor’s statuary and sculpture collection was inspired by the Italian Renaissance gardens filled with fountains, statues, grottoes and other water features.

The Nymph’s Fountain, Hever Castle’s very own Trevi Fountain was created in 1908. It overlooks the Hever Lake and the bowl contains two supporting female figures in white Pentelic marble.

The Pentelic marble was quarried near Athens. The crystals of this marble are somewhat larger than those in the white marble quarried from Carrara near Florence which was used by Michaelangelo in many of his greatest work. Pentelic marble therefore gives a less smooth surface than Carrara marble.

It was carved by William Silver Frith. Frith’s work can also be seen inside the Castle as well as the front of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Edward VII fountain in Whitechapel and at the Victoria Law Courts.

The popular Water Maze was created in 1997 by current owners the Guthrie family.

The goal is to navigate the stepping stones and reach the stone grotto in the centre without getting wet – but beware the hidden jets of water and tilting stepping stones that make this a serious challenge.

The Millennium Fountain was created on Sixteen Acre Island in 2000 to mark the new millennium.

Those visitors passing the fountain to enjoy a stroll around Hever Lake will be treated to other water features, including the weir and the waterfall.

The weir was originally built when the lake was constructed during the 1904-1908. The mechanical weir, designed to control the level of the water in the lake, can be raised and lowered as necessary.

Ponds are very much a feature of the landscape in the lake area, often found in corners of fields and many created during the Medieval and Tudor periods when the Weald was the main iron producing region in Britain.

If you enjoyed this item on water features why not discover the previous #TudorTuesdays news items:

Orchards, topiary and mazes
Restoration
Great Halls
Book and libraries
Films and TV sets
Elizabeth I
Tudor Chapels
Tudor Windows
Tudor Tapestries
Tudor Chimneys
Tudor Panelling
Tudor Knot Gardens
Tudor Childhood
Tudor Dining Rooms
• Tudor Rose Gardens
Henry VII
Henry VIII
Mary I