Painshill Park, Surrey

A view of the serpentine lake in Painshill Park from the Gothic Temple

An entry on Painshill Park is perhaps a slight cheat in some ways on the general 'Missing Storeys' concept. The aim of this blog is to shed light on histories that have been lost. Painshill however, is an example of the amazing restoration work that can be achieved to revive a lost history and thus seemed worthy of commentary. Painshill is an eighteenth century park landscaped by Charles Hamilton between 1738 and 1773. Hamilton was the the fourteenth child and youngest of the nine sons of James Hamilton, 6th earl of Abercorn (c.1661-1734) and his wife, Elizabeth (1667/8–1754), daughter of Sir Robert Reading, first baronet, of Dublin.  

Although he was born into an aristocratic family, the number of siblings meant he did not benefit significantly from his fathers fortune and thus did not acquire the income necessary to secure the acquisition of a country estate. When his father died in 1734, Hamilton was in need of money and through his sister Lady Archibald Hamilton, the prince's mistress, gained a position in the household of Frederick, prince of Wales. When he was dismissed three years later, his friend Henry Fox (later first Baron Holland) provided him with a secret pension of £1200 a year as compensation.

Unable to acquire an estate, Hamilton began to acquire land that was considered desolate and near the River Mole. Horace Walpole described the site as a 'cursed hill'. However, Hamilton seems to have been undeterred by the lands condition and set about carrying out extensive landscaping to create a park to match those of the great country seats.

View from the grotto island towards the Gothic Temple

An eighteenth century visitor to Painshill could be forgiven for thinking they were on the grounds of an impressive country house like Houghton, Holkham or Blenheim. Hamilton's landscape possessed all the necessary qualities expected from such a landscape. By 1737, the  geometric garden designs which had been imitated from the Gardens of Versailles and proven so popular in the early eighteenth century had fallen out of favour. These gardens were considered to be unnatural and prohibiting nature from flourishing in its true form and beauty. Landscape designers such as William Kent and Charles Bridgman encouraged the notion of what was considered more natural gardens, less geometrical and with an emphasis on variety which stimulated the imagination and senses. The range of garden features at Painshill indicate that Hamilton too, perceived this to be of the utmost importance and thus introduced a Gothic Temple, a ruined abbey, a temple to Bacchus, god of wine, the Turkish tent, a Chinese bridge and the Crystal Grotto.

In 1773, Hamilton was faced with having to repay a large loan from Henry Fox, payment of which was settled through the sale of the magnificent park he had created. Painshill subsequently passed through various ownerships until the Second World War after which the land was sold off in pieces to pay for taxes. The grounds fell into decay and the architectural structures were subject to vandalism and neglect.

Restoration of these features and the landscape has been ongoing since 1981, when the Painshill Park Trust was formed. A year earlier, the local council had managed to purchase 158 acres of the 250 acre landscape and when the trust was set up, further grants of £25,000 from Surrey County Council and £45,000 from the Countryside Commission were obtained and the ambitious restoration work was able to begin. For copyright reasons, I am unable to share before and after views, however you can find detailed information and see images on the Parks & Gardens UK website.

The Gothic Temple

Visitors to Painshill are provided with a map which marks out the route designed by Hamilton for visitors to follow during the eighteenth century. The first architectural feature you come across when following these historic footsteps, is the Gothic Temple. Although it looks like stone from a distance, the Gothic temple was in fact constructed of timber with five sides paneled to direct the visitors gaze towards the serpentine lake below (see first image) and the Sabine statue.

                               

The interior timber paneling of the Gothic Temple

View of the Gothic Temple from the Sabine statue

The Sabine statue

Other restored works on the site include the Ruined Abbey, the Five Arch Bridge and the Turkish Tent, a site designed by Hamilton to allow visitors to rest, overlook the serpentine lake and contemplate the landscape they had seen. This notion was one which was imperative to the more natural landscapes that were adopted later in the eighteenth century. Reflecting on a landscape was perceived to be a noble pursuit which meant that an individual was well educated and understood the mythological and symbolic qualities of the landscape and its architecture.

The Turkish Tent

View of the Serpentine lake and the five arch bridge from the Turkish tent

Beyond the Turkish Tent, lies the site of where Hamilton's Temple of Bacchus, once stood. This was perhaps a celebration of the vineyards Hamilton had planted at Painshill, near the Gothic Temple, and which were described by the French Ambassador as comparable to "un vrai Champagne". In 1754, Richard Pocock also commented on Hamilton's vineyards stating; 'There are ten acres of vineyard here in two places, the grape gently press'd makes an excellent champaign, and pressed out, and left on the husk, produces a very good Burgundy; five or six hogsheads have been made in a year, and it sells at the inns here at 7s 6d a bottle.' Restoration work has yet to be carried out on the Bacchus Temple but no doubt it will be a significant addition to the revived eighteenth-century landscape. 

The site where the Temple of Bacchus once stood. Watch this space!

The ruined Abbey

All the features in the park deserve detailed commentary but I have chosen to focus on the Crystal Grotto which was reopened to the public in June 2013. This decision has been made based on my own personal preference and desire to not make too long winded a blog entry, and secondly, because my current research work is trying to reconstruct an understanding of how the grotto at Wanstead may have appeared. Painshill's crystal grotto is so far, the closest physical example I have found.

You can reach the grotto by proceeding down the winding path from the Gothic Temple. The path leads you through a garden, over the Chinese bridge and onto an island in the serpentine lake. Grottoes were designed as intermediate structures in a landscape. Given the rise of more natural landscapes, it seemed appropriate to introduce structures in the landscape that encapsulated the union of man made art and nature. These ideas were expressed as early as 1709, in the 3rd Earl Shaftsbury's essay in The Moralists in which he states that "the rude rocks, the mossy caverns, the irregular unwrought grottos and broken falls of water, with all the horrid graces of the wilderness itself" as more representative of nature than "the formal mockery of princely gardens". The design of the grotto was intended to appear as if it had risen from the ground and it certainly feels that way as you walk along the winding path and approach the grotto. 

Grotto Island

Construction of the crystal grotto began in 1760 and took over several years. It was built by Joseph Lane to a design by Hamilton. Grottoes were inspired by the Italian Renaissance Gardens which Englishmen visited whilst on the Grand Tour. Hamilton, made two Grand Tours, the first in 1725-27 in which he traveled to Rome, Padua, Venice and Verona. The second tour was made between 1732 and 1735. The influence of these tours is explicit throughout the Painshill landscape. Grottoes were designed much like cabinets of curiosity, and were full of minerals, crystals, shells and petrified rocks. But from the outside they were structures of intrigue intended to encourage the eighteenth century visitor to explore, to stimulate their imagination and awaken their senses. The grotto sprawls out across two islands in the lake and whilst it may have looked like a natural form, it was in fact structured with brick walls and covered with oolite limestone. 

Approaching the grotto entrance, my niece already exploring inside!

Hamilton designed two entrances and exits for his grotto. One was for the use of mortals, and the other for the ancient gods and goddesses. We of course, entered via the mortal entrance, a discreet and narrow opening by the lake. 

Beneath the grotto bridge, facing the opposite island

Entrance tunnel of the crystal grotto

The entrance takes you into a dark, narrow chamber covered in crystal , calcite, gypsum, quartz, fluorite and other minerals and stones. Passing through this passage you reach the main chamber. The roof of the main chamber collapsed in the 1950's and thus the grotto interior was subject to significant damage. Restoration of the grotto began during the 1980's when it was cleared of vegetation, surveyed and excavated. In 1988, conservation work began on the entrance tunnel (pictured below), the rock bridge (pictured above) and the main chamber. The roof of the main chamber was reconstructed in 1992 using steel frames to support the brick work. It was not until the Heritage Lottery Fund provided Painshill Trust with a grant in 2011 that restoration of the crystal interior began. 

The main chamber of the crystal grotto

William Gilpin's description in 1765 of the grotto as a 'whimsical little object, procured at great expense', seems to poorly represent the impressive design of the grotto's main chamber. Standing in the main chamber today, it is hard to be critical of Hamilton's design and the extensive restoration work that has been carried out . Reference to visitor descriptions by the likes of Arthur Young and the illustrations made by Elias Martin in 1777 have proved essential in reconstructing the grotto. It is often the case with lost histories, that whilst the physical structure may be missing or damaged, one can frequently find a wealth of evidence in the form of contemporary accounts, newspaper articles and artworks to piece together what once stood on the site. The restoration of the crystal grotto at Painshill demonstrates just how fruitful the results of such research can be. 

The main chamber

In order to restore the stalactites which hang from the ceiling, wooden cones were constructed. These were then covered in limestone mortor and then emblazoned with crystal fragments. The openings of the grotto which allow the natural daylight to enter hit these crystal stalactites and give a glittering effect, making it the magical environment Hamilton envisioned. In each corner of the main chamber are small fountains. Prior to advanced hydraulic engineering, Hamilton employed a gardener who, when aware that Hamilton and his guests were approaching the grotto would have to pump the water into the grotto to create the effect of a natural stream running through the chamber.

The restored crystal stalactites which adorn the grotto ceiling

Exiting from the grotto is via the God's entrance to the grotto. This leads you back outside onto a view of the Serpentine lake. I found the visit to Painshill grotto inspiring and wondered if such restoration work could ever be achieved on the grotto at Wanstead. Even if this may not ever be possible, the Painshill grotto gave me a valuable insight into how these popular structures were likely to have appeared to eighteenth century visitors. The restoration work carried out by the Painshill Trust has effectively demonstrated that some lost histories can indeed be restored to their original glory and I sincerely hope that such work inspires others to consider the possibilities of similar revivals.

View of Painshill Park at dusk.

You can find out more about the Herritage Lottery Fund restoration work at Painshill here.

See here for further information about the park and its visiting hours.

Further reading:

John Dixon Hunt, The Italian Renaissance Garden in the English Imagination: 1600-1750, (London, 1986).

Diana Balmori, ‘Architecture, Landscape and the Intermediate Structure: Eighteenth Century Experiments in Mediation’, Journal of Society of Architectural Historians, Vol 50, No.1, (Mar., 1991), pp. 38-56.

Alison Hodges, 'Painshill, Cobham, Surrey: The Grotto', Garden History, Vol.3, No.2, (Spring, 1975), pp.23-28.

Alison Hodges, 'Painshill Park, Cobham, Surrey (1700-1800): Notes for a History of the Landscape Garden of Charles Hamilton', Garden History, Vol.2, No.1 (Autumn, 1973), pp.39-68.

Max Nicholson, 'Hamilton, Charles (bap. 1704, d.1786)', rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http:www.oxforddnd.com/view/article/37504, accessed 5 Nov 2014].