Lyme Park Nursery Gardens, Cheshire. Archaeological Evaluation

The Lancaster University Archaeological Unit was commissioned by the National Trust to
undertake an archaeological evaluation of the former nursery garden at Lyme Park,
Cheshire, in advance of a proposed car park development. The archaeological evaluation
consisted of a documentary study, a topographic survey and the excavation of two trial
trenches.
The documentary study was undertaken by National Trust staff and was assimilated with
the results of the topographic survey and trial trenching programme. It identified that the
area was first used as a nursery around 1850 and by 1870 was relatively well established.
By 1922 the nursery garden contained a malmaison house, two cucumber houses and a
melon house. The final layout of the garden was recorded in a plan of 1947 (fig 3), which
showed a grid of uniformly square beds served by paths and flanked by greenhouses and
cold frames. During the 1970's the area was planted with swede to use for deer feed.