Month: April 2016

Deepdene Garden renovations begin – the Grotto

On By deepdenetrailIn NewsLeave a comment

The exciting renovations at Deepdene Gardens began last month.

Universal Stone expert stonemasons have made great steps already in works on the key architectural features of the Deepdene Gardens – especially the Grotto.

The Grotto – background

The Grotto at the top of the Gardens began life as a failed tunnel into the hill ordered by then owner of the Deepdene, Charles Howard in the 17th century. The intention was to tunnel through the hill to the far side to enjoy the views; however the sandy soil led to a collapse. Howard kept the entranceway and turned it instead into a Grotto with flint lined archways.

In Thomas Hope’s time this simple Grotto was extravagantly restyled. The flint was covered with brick and render interiors with small alcoves for statues, a decorative balustrade was erected above the vault and a statue of the Egyptian God Seti took pride of place.

In WWII the decorative area was repurposed probably as an ammunition store. The statues had been sold years before and the military installed new interior walls and frontage to contain their supplies.

grotto 1
Interior of Grotto, Jan 2016. Photography with thanks to Alex Lyons.
grotto 2
Exterior of Grotto, Jan 2016. Photography with thanks to Alex Lyons

The Grotto – repairs

Universal Stone began work to return the Grotto to how it looked in Thomas Hope’s time by first recovering the broken remains of the stone balustrade.

grotto 3
Recovered stone balustrade

This remaining stone will be repaired and integrated into a replacement that will once again line the top of the vaulted Grotto. The vault itself was completely uncovered for assessment giving us a glimpse at the original structure.

grotto 4
The exposed vault of the Grotto

Leaf litter was dug away from the exterior allowing us to see the extent of original walls and identify how far the balustrade extended to.

The WWII brick work has been recorded and carefully removed from the inside and from the entrance recreating the classic view of the Grotto as it was in Hope’s garden.

grotto 5
The exposed interior of Hope’s Grotto.

The remaining stone is being sensitively repaired and we will keep as much of the 19th century fabric as possible.

The main structural work will be complete by the end of June and the garden renovations will be ready for visitors in September – we can’t wait!

Children’s ‘My dream garden’ art competition launched

On By deepdenetrailIn Events, NewsLeave a comment

Design your own Dream Garden

This week we launched our children’s art competition ‘My Dream Garden’ in partnership with Junior Youth Voice. We have challenged the young people of Mole Valley to help us celebrate the opening of The Deepdene Trail in Dorking on 10th September by designing their own Dream Garden.

There have been gardens in Deepdene for over 300 years and each owner dreamt up their own new styles for the garden. One famous owner, Thomas Hope, added a Temple and statues of Egyptian Gods and lions. We look forward to seeing what exciting new designs our competitors come up with.

 

 

Judging, Winners & Prizes

Entries will be judged by a panel including representatives from Youth Voice, Mole Valley District council and a local artist.

There will be 3 winners chosen from each age group: 4-7yrs, 8-11yrs and 12-16yrs.

A special prize will be given to the School who sends in the most entries.

All 9 winners and a representative from the winning school will be invited to attend the Grand Opening of The Deepdene Trail on 10th September 2016 at Deepdene Gardens to receive their prizes.

Individual prizes have been sponsored by Dorking Decorative Arts Society as part of the 2016 Heritage Open Days celebration (www.heritageopendays.org.uk ). The 9 winning individual entries will also go on display at Dorking Halls from the 10th of September . They will also be featured online at www.deepdenetrail.co.uk .

How to enter

Do you know a budding artist? Then encourage them to draw/paint/create a collage or create on their computer their own Dream Garden design on an A4 or A3 sheet of paper.

Post or drop off the entry to:

My Dream Garden: The Deepdene Trail, Mole Valley District Council, Pippbrook, Reigate Road, Dorking, Rh4 1SJ Or email it to: thedeepdenetrail@molevalley.gov.uk

All entries must be received by 7th June 2016, please only enter one drawing.

Don’t forget to fill in your details: NAME, AGE, SCHOOL, ADDRESS, EMAIL, PHONE

For full T’s & C’s see our website http://www.deepdenetrail.co.uk or contact us at thedeepdenetrail@molevalley.gov.uk

This competition is run by The Deepdene Trail in partnership with Junior Youth Voice and Youth Voice. The Deepdene Trail is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.kids art1