Westbury Court Gardens

Started back in the late 1600's, Westbury Court is the oldest style garden we will visit in July. The Dutch influence was strong in this period of Royal and religious turmoil in England. After looking to France for all things cultural, the Protestant state of the Holland became the importer of cultural ideas. Long straight lines, canals, rows of trees, topiary and hedges are Dutch elements introduced to the English garden at the end of the seventeenth century.



"Westbury Court, Gloucestershire, has the last remaining Dutch-style water garden in Britain. Dating from the 18th century, it is very simple and serene. Evergreen hedges, topiary and perfectly straight canals of still water calm the soul. All the plants, even those in the vegetable garden, are 18th-century varieties to tie in the water garden. Small but perfectly formed." -- From Gardens Illustrated magazine



Kept small by lack of land, the Dutch created lots of variety in a small space. Their garden elements were funtional, canal were drainage ditches, rows of trees a windbreak. The new Protestant King lead the decline of the French formal parterre designs in England. Along with Hercules, Neptune is a political symbol of the William of Orange, the new King of England. At Westbury Court we will see a statue of Neptune, long canal, topiaries and satisfying vistas opening up.

"Westbury Court Garden was never a large garden, and what remains today is a skillful and delightful restoration of about two-thirds of the original site. In 1696, Maynard Colchester, a local squire, who had recently the good fortune to marry the daughter and heiress of a wealthy City mercer; started the garden; which was continued and enlarged by his nephew. Following William of Orange’s Glorious Revolution in 1688, England was in almost constant warfare with France for a generation; and the Dutch style in gardens became popular for a whole series of political and fashionable reasons." -- Westbury Court Garden – A Dutch Survivor by Richard Jackson