The Gardens

The following extracts are from:

Broomfield:An Illustrated History of the House and Garden - Steven Brindle, Southgate District Civic Trust, 1994

Enfield Council would like to thank Steven Brindle and the Trust for their co-operation in allowing this material to be used on the Broomfield House website.

Garden Layout

There is no clear documentary evidence about the layout of the gardens of Broomfield. The strong probability, however, is that the basic layout surviving today is a Baroque water-garden of the early 18th century, which is something very rare and remarkable.


The earliest evidence for the garden layout is Rocque's map of Middlesex of 1754. Although this map is tiny in scale, it clearly shows the shape of the lanes around the site, the house itself, the three ponds which still exist and rectangular shapes for three lawns or parterres beyond the ponds. It shows the avenue of trees opposite the west front and another long-vanished avenue going to the north east (where the running track is now), with another feature, probably a kind of canal, running almost due north from the house. This proves that all these features existed by 1754.

The brick walls and piers which surround the gardens are mostly of the early 18th century and we know that the Jackson family were spending money on the house in this period (for instance on Lanscroon's murals, dated 1726). Furthermore, the general shape and layout of the garden seem to fit in with a date of c.1700 - 20

Water Gardens

Water-gardens were created in large numbers around the houses of the gentry and squirearchy in England in this period. They tended to be enclosed by walls and gates; everything would usually be defined by straight lines with parterres divided up by paths. There would often be large ponds and canals frequently used to provide a supply of fish. Fruit trees would be espaliered against the south-facing walls and flowers and shrubs would be grown in tubs and pots. Order and neatness were everything.

Very few of these gardens survive in anything like their original condition;

Gardens by their nature are vulnerable and transitory and most formal layouts were swept away in the craze for landscape gardening in the later 18th century. However, literally hundreds of these formal gardens can be seen in the engravings of fine houses made in the late 17th and early 18th centuries by Leonard Knyff, Kip, Badeslade and others. The best surviving example in England and the closest equivalent to Broomfield is probably Westbury Court in Gloucestershire of 1696 - 1705.

Garden Walls

The garden walls have been much patched but all of those to the west of the house seem to be of a piece - that is of the early 18th century. It may be that there were ornaments, such as stone balls, standing on the piers. There would certainly have been gates in the middle, possibly fine wrought-iron gates. Maps seem to show the wall continuing around the north side of the north pond in a kind of semi-circular shape. The garden wall to the east of the house seems to embody some older brickwork - 16th or 17th century

Entrance

The fine brick archway over the main entrance is an especially interesting feature. From the outside, this splendid four-centred arch looks like Tudor work - 16th century. On the inside, one can see that it has been expanded in the early 18th century, with brick piers supporting a wooden pediment and imposing new gates. On the gates is an interesting early 18th century iron bell-pull, in the form of a grinning mask. Another feature undoubtedly of the early 18th century is the pretty little summerhouse against the garden wall to the east of the main house, with its wooden Ionic columns. This, happily, has recently been restored.

Away to the north, there was a long pond or canal; this may have played a role in supplying the ponds in front of the house with water but it seems to have been filled in early in the 20th century; the round boating pond, of course, is relatively new, having been laid out by Southgate Urban District Council.