Saltram House, Plymouth, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

An 18th century garden and parkland landscape developed from the mid 18th century, with advice on garden structures from Lord Grantham, and from about 1770 with advice from the landscape designer Nathaniel Richmond.

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Saltram lies about 2 kilometres south-west of Plympton and about 2 kilometres east of Plymouth, on the east bank of the Laira or River Plym some 1.5 kilometres north of Plymstock. The site occupies about 180 hectares and comprises some 15 hectares of gardens around the House, and about 130 hectares of parkland, woods and agricultural land. Bounded to the north-west by the Laira and to the north by fences and hedges separating the site from 20th century houses and sewage works, similar late-20th century fences enclose the south-western boundary which adjoins Chelson Meadow. The latter was reclaimed from the Laira by the first Earl in 1806 for use as a race course. Since the mid 20th century it has been used as a land-fill site and is not included in the registered site. To the south and south-east a soft boundary is formed by agricultural land enclosed by hedges and ornamental plantations including Sellar Acres and Pomplhett Plantation, the latter being bounded to the south by disused 20th century quarry workings. Hardwick Wood and further parkland to the north-east, bisected by the cutting accommodating the late-20th century A38 dual carriageway, are bounded by late-20th century housing. Generally, the site slopes west to the Laira from high ground at Hardwick Wood, and in the 18th and 19th century significant vistas were created from the House, the Castle and the wider park to the river and Plymouth. Some of these views were recorded in a series of late 18th century paintings by William Tomkins (d 1792). A further important vista was created from Saltram house to the Arch at Boringdon in 1783. The Arch (not included in the registered area but Listed Grade II* and part of Scheduled Monument 33780), stands about 2 kilometres north-north-east of the house, and was built for Lord Boringdon to a design by Robert Adam (1728-1792). It served as an eye-catcher from Saltram House and provided a sudden and dramatic view of Saltram when approached from the north via the former drive that led from Boringdon House. The Arch is constructed in brick, stone and stucco, flanked by paired pilasters, it has single storey screen walls to each side and a single storey lodge (now ruinous) attached to the rear. The Arch stands within a plantation laid out in the late 18th century and retains several mature trees.

REFERENCES

G Lipscombe, A Journey into Cornwall (1799), pp 320-322

D C Webb, Observations and Remarks (1812), p 75

Gardeners' Chronicle, ii (1903), pp 413-414

Country Life, 59 (23 January 1926), pp 124-133; (30 January 1926), pp 160-170; 141 (27 April 1967), pp 998-1001; (4 May 1967), pp 1160-1164

Lady Rockley, Historic Gardens of England (1938), pp 166-167

Saltram, guidebook (National Trust 1975)

D Jacques, Georgian Gardens The Reign of Nature (1983), p 85

Saltram, guidebook (National Trust 1988)

B Cherry and N Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Devon (1989), pp 710-714

K Fretwell, Saltram Park and Garden Survey (National Trust 1990/91)

Saltram House Garden Guide, (National Trust 1993)

C Morris (ed), The Illustrated Journeys of Celia Fiennes 1685 - c 1712 (1995 edn), pp 200-201.

T Gray, The Garden History of Devon An Illustrated Guide to Sources (1995), pp 196-199.

Saltram, guidebook (National Trust 1998)

Saltram, guidebook (National Trust 2005)

Maps

B Donn, A Map of the County of Devon, 1765

Tithe map for Plympton St Mary parish, 1840

OS Surveyor's drawing, 1784-1786

OS Old Series 1" to 1 mile, published 1809

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1869, published 1886

Illustrations

W Tomkins, A view north-west across the park at Saltram, 1770; The amphitheatre and Laira, 1770; The River Plym and Saltram Wood (1771); Two views of Mount Edgcumbe and Plymouth Sound from Saltram (late C18), oil paintings (National Trust).

J Swete, Saltram from the east, 1797, watercolour (Devon Record Office: 654M/F13/53).

W Angus, Seats of Nobility and Gentry in Great Britain and Wales (1787), pl. 21.

J Britton and E W Brayley, The Beauties of England and Wales 4, (1809).

P Rogers, two views of Saltram: from the south-west and from the north-east, c 1813 (National Trust).

R Ackerman, Repository 6, (1825), pl. 1.

W W Gendall, Views of Country Seats ... II, (1830), p 41.

Archival items

Family and Estate accounts, late C18 and early C19 (69, V1(4) and V5(10), (West Devon Record Office)

Parker and Robinson correspondence, late C18 (430), (West Devon Record Office)

Parker correspondence, late C18 and early C19 (1259), (West Devon Record Office)

Morley Papers including correspondence and Journals of third Earl, late C18 and late C19 (Add MSS 48218-48301), (British Library)

Planting diaries 1886-1894, and two others to 1921 (National Trust, Saltram House)

Robert Adam's designs for Saltram and Boringdon are held at the Sir John Soane Museum and include the following: vol 46:171 (Castle in cottage style); vol 49:62 (Boringdon arch); vol 51:90 (Stag Lodge); vol 51:91 (Stag Lodge).

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

The Mayhowe family owned Saltram Wood, a quay and other buildings in the 16th century. These were sold in about 1614 to Sir James Bagg, Controller of Customs and MP for Plymouth, and by 1638 there was a 'great mansion house' and gardens at Saltram (guidebook 1998). In 1660 the estate was given by Parliament to Henry Hatsell, and at the Restoration it passed to Sir George Carteret.

Celia Fiennes described Saltram in 1698 as a 'very large house...[which] look'd very finely in a thicket of trees like a grove' (Morris 1995). It was sold in 1712 to George Parker who owned an estate at Boringdon about 1.5 kilometres north-east. On his death in 1743 the estate went to John Parker (1703-1768), and his wife, Lady Catherine Poulett. By the late 1740s Saltram was the Parkers' principal residence, and in 1749 Lady Catherine's brother, second Earl Poulett of Hinton House, Somerset, brought Charles Hamilton of Painshill, Surrey to Saltram. Hamilton may have advised on the landscape (Fretwell 1990/1991). The mid 18th century landscape appears to have been limited to the gardens and pleasure grounds, as Donn does not indicate a park on his county map (1765).

John Parker II, created Lord Boringdon in 1784, succeeded in 1768, and with his wife, Theresa Robinson, made significant changes. Robert Adam (1728-1792) was commissioned to make alterations to the house (1768), while from about 1770 improvements were made to the garden and the park was developed under the supervision of Nathaniel Richmond (1724-1784) who received payments in 1770 and 1772-1774. Richmond, who also worked for Theresa's Parker's brother at Stanmer Park, Sussex, produced plans for plantations, designs for the Castle (unexecuted), and plans for the Orangery (modified). Other improvements in the 1770s included a new kitchen garden (1771), and construction of the Castle (1773) to designs by Thomas Robinson (later Lord Grantham), Theresa Parker's brother.

Agricultural improvement was regarded as part of the landscape improvement. A triumphal arch at Boringdon (Robert Adam 1783) acted as an eyecatcher from Saltram. Some of these developments are recorded in a series of paintings by William Tomkins (1770-1771), and on the Ordnance Survey surveyor's drawing (1784- 1786) (Fretwell 1990/91), which also shows that the disposition of the garden and central areas of the park was established by that date.

John Parker II died in 1788 and was succeeded by his son, who was still a minor. Saltram was let to Lord Lansdowne, and later to King George III. From the mid 1790s the park was extended, new plantations formed, and a new eastern approach with associated lodges built. Chelson Meadow south-west of the park was reclaimed from the Laira in 1806-1807. These schemes, shown on the Tithe map of 1840, meant that John Parker III, created Earl of Morley in 1815, left considerable debts at his death in 1840.

Saltram was let for twenty-three years and little was done to the grounds until the third Earl returned with his wife, Margaret, daughter of R S Holford of Westonbirt, Gloucestershire in 1884. In 1903 the Gardeners' Chronicle noted significant improvements in the garden, which had been reclaimed from a 'wilderness of laurels' and planted with rare trees and shrubs, some obtained from Westonbirt, and others from A G Mitford of Batsford, Gloucestershire. Under the fourth Earl (succeeded 1905, d 1951), and the fifth Earl (d 1962), few changes were made, except for removing the late 19th century formal garden below the west front (1956-1957).

In 1957 the House, garden and part of the park were acquired by Her Majesty's Treasury in lieu of death duties, and were passed to the National Trust, which undertook restoration of the garden buildings between 1957 and 1960. In 1970 the A38 dual carriageway was constructed through the park east of the House, and Plymouth City Council acquired Chelson Meadow, converting it into a rubbish tip. The former kitchen garden, which remained outside the National Trust property, was developed for housing in about 1984. Storm damage in 1990 led the National Trust to commission an historical survey of the site which has been used to inform recent management.