Parterre Gardens, Witley Court, Great Witley, Worcestershire

The gardens at Witley Court, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, were created by William A. Nesfield in 1854-60 for Lord Ward. These comprise two large gardens with parterres and foundations, constructed on the east and south sides of the house by Samuel Daukes, and replacing the former open landscaping around the house according to a design by George Repton. In 1937 the house caught fire and was never rebuilt, and later in the century both the house and garden were stripped of some architectural details before coming inot public ownership.

The programme of archaeological investigation carried out by OA within the parterre gardens, as reported in this document, Volume I, and supported by a Technical supplement, Volume II, between may 2002 and March 2003, was undertaken on behalf of english Heritage as part of their garden restorations programme at Witley Court which has been devleoped as an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).