Glenfall House (also known as Gutterfall)

The terrace walls are very slightly inclined and have great square vertical pillars every 4.5 meters (15 feet) along their length.

From the flagged west terrace by the house, steps descend to a lawn, once used as a tennis court, and this terrace has a double flight of angled steps down a drop of 2.3 meters (7 feet, 6 inches) to the rose garden. Within the arms of the steps is an ornamental pool with shelled fountain in its back wall and an arched recess with a keystone similar in design to that of the grotto, but with a drip stone rather than a dated plaque.

Unfortunately, the rose garden lost its symmetry by the introduction of a hard tennis court in 1935 (confirmed by Lawrence Mitchell). The tennis court has a pergola of wisteria along the length of the terrace walling, with square pillars coinciding with those in the wall but smaller in cross section. The wooden beams which span the walkway are inadequate and the size of the original beams can be appreciated from the cavities on the pillars and in the wall. It is along the length of this pergola that the surprise of the grotto suddenly appears, and beyond the walkway is a quiet lawn canopied by a central cedar planted around 1872. Over the walls, at either end of the terrace, ridge and furrowed meadow, Home Ground and White Fields slope away to the Ham Brook. The ridges have probably survived because of ancient oaks and chestnuts that have handicapped modern ploughing.

Returning to the rose garden at the North end of the terrace there is a paved area which used to be capped by Laburnum - according to Lawrence Mitchell - and from a seat in this position a view of the cedar could have been reflected in water, if this had been the intention, before the tennis court was constructed.

The water garden is made secluded by great arms of yew hedging which have over grown themselves and their domed features have become more conical. They now block vistas, one from the seat looking south to the cedar and the other from the house looking west down the flights of steps. It is possible that two more domed sections were intended to completely frame the water garden where these two vistas cross.

The third terrace is only 5.5 meters (18 feet) wide. At one time it had circular beds dotted along its length but it could have been designed for more ambitious planting or possibly for archery. From this narrow terrace semi-circular steps lead down to the orchard. A pair of blue cedars grace the area (planted around 1872) and two weeping willows of comparable age are becoming wind damaged. On the north side of these is a gate leading out into the meadow and a ha-ha completely surrounds the orchard.

A balanced view of the house is seen from the orchard. Trees have matured and screen the lawns on the south side where probably the Willis family extended the garden as shown by differences in the OS map of 1882 and 1921. Two paths lead up through a belt of Holly, Holm Oak and Lime and pockets of natural rocks shelter Rhododendron, Pieris, Hepatica and Cyclamen (a surprise within the Cotswold limestone). At the level of the Western lawn a Deodar, planted about 1866, is a focal point within a slight dell, and its interesting asymmetric branch helps to encompass the dell. On the south lawn a Liriodendron and more Limes give shelter to what must have been an even more secluded area when another great cedar was alive - only its severed trunk remains.

The south lawn is seen from the morning room and the large dining room which was once a ballroom and has a sprung floor. Its central door opens onto a paved terrace of modern stone and the original Cotswold stone semi-circular steps lead up to a sloping lawn. Three island beds of herbaceous plants are backed by a great yew hedge to the east and a holly hedge to the south and casually planted ornamental trees add to the interest and informality of this sloping land.

The kitchen garden is beyond the yew hedge to the east. It is completely askew and on the same slope as the south lawn. Beds have been cut askew giving a sense of symmetry within the enclosure. The brick wall to the east has courses parallel to the gradient of the hill rather than horizontal ones that are a sign of its age.

The driveway up to Glenfall House from its octagonal Regency Lodge, is through an avenue of stately small leafed limes, oaks and fern leafed beech. The drive then crosses directly over the Waterfall in the Glen, between coppices both up and down stream belonging to the local farmer. A dogleg in the drive beyond hides the house from view apart from glimpses of the north face between, a line of great boundary oaks, one planted around 1662. Amongst the shrubs up the drive are several rhododendrons possibly bedded in soil washed free of its lime by continued rainfall.

Plans

29/05/1890 & 14/05/1908 Particulars Auction of Estate on 29/05/1931 with Map and 14/05/1908 without map Gloucestershire Archives in D4858/3/1/1

23/03/1931 Particulars of Auction of Glenfall Farm Gloucestershire Archives in D2299/22157

Pictures

1826 View of Glenfall Cottage S Y Griffith, New Historical Description of Cheltenham Page 96

1830 View of the waterfall at Glenfall Henry Lamb, Views of Cheltenham and its Vicinity Drawn from Nature on Stone Selected Prints in Cheltenham Library basement

1844 View of the waterfall at Glenfall James Buckman, A Botanical Guide to the Environs of Cheltenham Frontspiece obtain from Local Studies Library in Cheltenham

1908 Includes photographs of waterfall, lodge, drive and house 14/05/1908 Estate Sale Particulars Gloucestershire Archives in D4858/3/1/1

April-June 1987 Photographs of Conservatory prior to Demolition In Cheltenham Borough Council's Listed Building Consent Gloucestershire Archives K/884/1/26 860/1

The following is from the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. For the most up-to-date Register entry, please visit the The National Heritage List for England (NHLE):

www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list

A regency villa with Picturesque park and pleasure ground dating from the early C19 and laid out in a steep-sided valley. The terraced gardens to the west were added in the 1920s, and attributed to Sidney Barnsley and Norman Jewson.

Details

A regency villa with Picturesque park and pleasure ground dating from the early C19 and laid out in a steep-sided valley. The terraced gardens to the west were added in the 1920s, and attributed to Sidney Barnsley and Norman Jewson.

LOCATION:

Glenfall House occupies an elevated position to the north of Charlton Kings, and two miles to the east of Cheltenham. The site offers far-reaching views west towards Gloucester and north-west to the Malverns.

ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES:

The main approach is from Glenfall Lodge (Grade II) on a sharp bend in Mill Lane, to the north-west of the house. Glenfall Lodge built in 1855 for the Molyneux family is a single-storey octagonal building with C20 additions and alterations. From the gates, also 1855 (with gate piers and walls, Grade II), the drive runs south-east through an avenue of small-leafed lime trees, oaks and fern-leafed beech to a stone bridge over the Ham Brook, with hazel coppices to either side. The drive then sweeps round to run south-west, hiding the house from view apart from glimpses of the north elevation through a line of oak tress, one planted in c1662. The evergreen shrubbery along the drive includes several rhododendrons. The drive was re-aligned in the 1810s to its present route, previously having commenced at a lodge (now demolished) by the brook, from where it led directly south to the house. This line survives as an earthwork. There was also a south drive which ran from the road to the south of the estate up to the house.

PRINCIPAL BUILDING:

Glenfall House (Grade II), mid-C18, rebuilt in 1799-1808 for Charles Higgs in the cottage ornee style. Extended and remodelled in 1830-40. The south wing was added in 1929. The house is constructed of brick with ashlar dressings; the brick has been rendered and painted white. It is of two storeys with a raised parapet and three stacks with cornices. The entrance (north) façade is arranged as eight bays. The two bays to the left-hand end are set forward and have Doric pilasters to the corners and a pediment. The entrance is towards the right-hand end and set within a 1920s doorcase beneath an acanthus modillion cornice with a broken triangular pediment above. The garden (west) façade is arranged as six bays. The ground floor projects forward and has a central canted bay, and is surmounted by a stone balustrade to the first-floor veranda. Between the first-floor windows are Doric pilasters. The east return of the south elevation has a C19 bow window to the first floor. Two, full-height bow windows with pilaster mullions flank the three window range with a balcony to the central first-floor window. Separated from the east elevation by a courtyard, the former stables and coach house have been converted to accommodation.

GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS:

The gardens lie to the west and south of Glenfall House and make full use of the views, particularly those out to the west. The C19 gardens were simple, divided from the park by a fence. Towards the end of the C19 they were extended westwards, then, in the 1920s, during Arthur Mitchell's ownership, the garden area was again reworked and extended to create the terraced gardens.

A decorative iron gate, known as the Tulip Gate and attributed to the Arts and Crafts architect Norman Jewson, is set in a yew hedge and provides access to the garden from the forecourt to the north of the house. At the north and south end of the upper flagstone terrace, paths lead down to the main terrace through rockeries, whilst to the centre is a flight of stone steps. The main terrace is lawned and approximately picks up the line of the western limit of the original garden. It is supported by a dry stone wall built of Cotswold stone quarried on the estate and these walls, which are slightly inclined, have square pillars along their length. From the centre point of the wall a double flight of steps lead down to the rose garden, and within the arms of the steps on the terrace beneath is an ornamental, semi-circular pool which is fed by a scallop shell fountain on the back wall, which is set with an arched recess with keystone. To the south of this is an alcove or summerhouse set into an arched recess in the wall. Above the keystone is a datestone, inscribed ‘AM 1922'. To the south again, runs the wisteria walk, with a line of dry stone square pillars. The levelled ground is set out with yew hedging and a rose garden, the southern part in front of the wisteria walk having been used as a hard tennis court in the 1930s. To the centre of this terrace, to the west of the central rose garden, a flight of stone steps leads down to the broad walk, a grass walk separated from the orchard beyond by a low dry-stone wall built in the 1920s. The orchard was built out into the park, also in the 1920s, and bounded by a stone-faced ha-ha. Its laying out required re-routing the south drive to loop round the western end of the new enclosure. The pair of blue cedars, planted around 1872 have been felled, but the two weeping willows of comparable age survive.

Mitchell was responsible too for reworking and moving the boundary eastwards to create the south garden to complement the addition of the south wing. A central door from the south wing opens onto a paved terrace with Cotswold stone semi-circular steps leading up to the sloping south lawn, which includes three herbaceous beds, lime trees and a cedar planted in 1872, the other cedar has been felled. The lawn is screened from the ground to the east by a yew hedge, to the north end of which is a decorative iron gate, known as the Rose Gate. A holly hedge runs along the top of the retaining wall which forms the boundary between the south lawn and the field beyond.

During the early years of the C19 Edward Iggulden laid out a path through the hazel coppice which lined the steep-sided valley of the Ham Brook which runs east to west, approximately 100m to the north of the house. Treating these steep-sided valleys as a pleasure ground, he laid out a path through the Upper and Lower Glens, with views capitalising on the extensive horizons. Where the north drive bisects the valley, it crosses via a bridge over a waterfall. The waterfall became popular as a particularly romantic spot in the early C19, and was painted and described by visitors, despite a reduction in the volume of water over the fall from 1824 onwards as a result of extraction from the wells above by the Cheltenham Water Works Company. The form of the falls was presumably altered with the building of the bridge in the 1920s. The bridge which is constructed of Brownstone was severely damaged in 2007, and in 2008 the east side was rebuilt, as well as the top layers of the west side. A flight of steps to the west of the bridge leads down to the Lower Glen.

Further along the drive, on the sharp bend, a second set of stone steps leads down to a wooden bridge across the brook. This bridge, which is supported on the original stone pillars, replaces the 1920s timber bridge which was destroyed in 1994. Further upstream is a stone bridge carrying a date stone, ‘AM 1923'.

THE PARK:

Home Ground, the field to the north and west of the house, between the drive and the gardens, and the Ham Brook, was planted up by Iggulden to provide a small park, with a scattering of limes, oaks and horse chestnuts. There are also a number of grafted standard pear trees in this area. Gutter Herne and Mill Piece, to the west between the brook and Mill Lane, were acquired by Iggulden in 1819.

KITCHEN GARDEN:

The C19 kitchen garden lies to the east of the south garden. Its west wall was demolished in the early C20 to accommodate the extended south garden which is now separated from the remaining kitchen garden by the yew hedge. The kitchen garden is still bounded by walls to three of its sides. To the north of the kitchen garden are the C19 stables which have been converted to accommodation.

Reasons for Designation

The early-C19 Picturesque park and pleasure grounds and the early-C20 terraced gardens at Glenfall House, are included in the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Historic interest: as a good, representative example of both a Picturesque landscape and an Arts and Crafts garden;

* Intactness: they retain their layouts and reflect their original design and character;

* Architectural interest: the early-C20 terraced gardens are attributed to two of the most accomplished and prolific designers of the Arts and Crafts Movement, Sidney Barnsley and Norman Jewson, whose works are well-represented on the List;

* Group value: for their strong group value with Glenfall House (Grade II), Glenfall Lodge (Grade I), the Gate Piers, Gates and Walls to Glenfall House (Grade II).

Selected Sources

Books and journals

Greensted, M, Gimson and the Barnsleys, (1977), 197

Griffith, SY, Cheltenham, (1826), 97

Johnson, GP, Pictorial Cheltenham & Gloucestershire Guide, (1845), 77

Verey, D, Brooks, A, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire 2 The Vale and the Forest of Dean, (2002), 222

Websites

Parks and Gardens UK, accessed 14 April 2015 from https://www.parksandgardens.or...

Other

A Bryant, Map of the County of Gloucestershire from actual survey (1823-4)

Debois Landscape Survey Group, Glenfall House: A Survey of the landscape (1994)

Glenfall House Trust, Glenfall House: The growth of a garden over 200 years (2012)

I Taylor, Map of Gloucestershire (1777)

Norman Jewson Architect 1884-1975 (1987) exhibition catalogue

The Glenfall Estate (1890) plan accompanying sales particulars

The Glenfall Estate near Cheltenham (1908) from sales particulars