Lullingstone Park and Castle, Eynsford

Later 18th-century restyling, the planting of introduced tree species in the 19th century followed by the effects of two world wars and contemporary recreational requirements, have all made their mark on this area of Kentish countryside. It continues, in essence, as a beautiful park for public enjoyment.

The Visitor Centre at Kingfisher Bridge, Eynsford, has many leaflets on all aspects of park interest.

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 mid- to late 18th-century landscape park created from an earlier deer park. The park surrounds a 16th-century and later country house with informal pleasure grounds and gardens, parts of which overlie 17th- and 18th-century formal gardens.

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Lullingstone Castle stands 7km east of Orpington and 1 km south-west of the village of Eynsford. The c 300ha site is bounded largely by agricultural land, with Castle Road adjoining the site at the east end of the south boundary, Redman's Lane adjoining the site on the south boundary alongside Home Wood, and the A225 road bounding the eastern tip of the site. The park boundary is well marked, particularly to the north, west and south, by the remains of ditches and banks surviving from the park pale with service tracks (now footpaths) running alongside, and in places by C 19 iron park fencing, particularly on the south and west boundaries. The site occupies the valley of the River Darent which enters at the east end of the south boundary. The river runs for 1 km northwards, alongside the east side of the lake, then between the gardens and pleasure grounds, emerging at the east end of the north boundary. To the west two dry valleys run up towards a plateau of the North Downs in the west corner of the park. The setting is rural, with panoramic views from the eastern half of the park north and south along the Darent valley, and east to the steep valley side. The M25 runs parallel 100 to 200m west of the west boundary, and Lullingstone Roman Villa lies adjacent to the north boundary close to where the Darent leaves the site.

ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES

The former main approach during the C 19 and C20 enters from the A225, on the east side of the site, 350m north-east of the Castle at the east side of the park, giving direct access from Sevenoaks to the south and Eynsford to the north. To the north of the entrance stands a C 19 lodge, built in Picturesque style. From here the east drive extends south-west down the hillside, flanked by parkland to the east and the wooded pleasure grounds to the west. 125m south-east of the Castle the drive turns north-west, leading to a late C20 footbridge which crosses the course of the River Darent 75m from the Castle. The footbridge replaced an earlier bridge which carried the drive in the C 19. From here the drive continues north-west around the south front of the Castle, turning north to enter the lawned forecourt on the west front of the Castle at a turning circle, overlooked by the central front door. The forecourt is bounded on the north side by the kitchen garden wall, adjacent to which stands the medieval parish church of St Botolph, set in the forecourt lawn. The west side of the forecourt is bounded by a the gatehouse of c 1500, from which a yew hedge extends north to the southwest corner of the kitchen garden, and stables and other outbuildings lead south, turning east along the west side of the south boundary of the forecourt. The remainder of the south side is bounded by lawns which lead south to the lakeside. From the gatehouse a gravel drive leads east, linking it directly with the Castle.

The west drive enters the park off Parkgate Road adjacent to Park G ate House, 2.5km west of the Castle. From here the west drive curves east through the centre of the park, crossing the western plateau and descending via the bottom of the southern of the two dry valleys into the Darent Valley, overlooked by Summerhouse Knoll to the south, and the site of the former obelisk to the north. The west drive arrives at the gatehouse on the west side of the forecourt.

A third, north drive enters off Lullingstone Lane, 650m north of the Castle, adjacent to the remains of Lullingstone villa, giving access from Eynsford. From here the north drive extends south, alongside meadows leading down to the Darent to the east, bounded on the west side by estate houses including Lullingstone Park Farm and Lilac Cottage. The drive runs alongside the west wall of the kitchen garden to arrive at the gatehouse. The drive continues southwards from the gatehouse as a path which emerges 650m south-west of the Castle at Castle Road alongside the Lullingstone Park Visitor Centre.

The present drive system was apparently largely developed by the C 19. By 1769 (Andrews, Dury and Herbert) the west drive was in place. The present north drive and southern extension follow the course of the old public road as shown by Andrews, Dury and Herbert. This linked Eynsford with Shoreham to the south and was superseded by the turnpike road which now forms the A225. Castle Road was built to link the turnpike and the east end of Redman's Lane after the old road was closed in 1861. The east drive is first shown on the 1802 estate map.

PRINCIPAL BUILDING

Lullingstone Castle (C 16 and C18, listed grade II*) stands towards the east edge of the park, in the valley of the River Darent, and may occupy the site of an earlier manor house. The three-storey house is brick-built, its entrance front to the west, with kitchen and laundry blocks to the south, and the garden front to the north. The Castle enjoys extensive views west across the park and north and south along the Darent valley. The house as originally built was surrounded by a moat to the north, west and south, with a large inner gatehouse at the entrance to the moated forecourt (sketch, 1670-80, gone by the later C 18), but these features were removed in the mid C 18.

75m west-north-west of the Castle stands the massive gatehouse (1497, listed grade I). Built of red brick it is rectangular in plan with polygonal turrets attached to the west, outer face. The central gateway gives access to the forecourt from what was formerly the public road and from the west drive to the forecourt leading to the Castle. Some 50m west of the Castle stands the L-shaped stable block (C 16, altered C 19, listed grade II), now (2004) converted to a cottage.

30m north-west of the Castle stands the church of St Botolph (medieval with C18 decoration, listed grade I), set on the north side of the forecourt. It is built largely of knapped flint with a large early C 18 stuccoed south porch and west bell turret, and contains a collection of fine memorials to the Peche, Hart and Dyke families.

GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS

The gardens and pleasure grounds enclose the house to the north, east and south, and are divided into two main sections: the gardens to the west of the River Darent and the pleasure grounds to the east, leading up the hillside towards the A225.

The gardens are laid largely to informal lawn, extending north, south and eastwards from the Castle. At the north-west corner of the Castle stands a group of three mature Cedars of Lebanon, linking the north side of the forecourt and the church with the north lawn. The west side of the north lawn is bounded by the kitchen garden. To the east the lawns are bounded by the river, and the north end is bounded by paddocks running parallel to the river. The south lawn leads down to the lake. In the C 17 and mid C 18 (sketch, 1670-80; oil painting, mid C 18) the north lawn contained the main garden compartments, divided into two formal, walled lawns of unequal size reached across the moat from the north front via a small footbridge, with a summerhouse at the south-east corner close to the Castle. The lawns were surrounded by gravel paths and lines of trees, and some of the walls were planted with fruit trees. To the south of the Castle were two narrow lawns which may have been bowling greens.

East of the River Darent lie the wooded pleasure grounds. These are now (2004) reached via the footbridge on the east drive, but formerly a bridge further downstream linked the pleasure grounds with the north lawn. The footings of this bridge survive, together with a brick pier on the east side, and may be the successor to the bridge shown in the mid C 18 oil painting. A path runs northwards alongside the river at the west edge of the pleasure grounds. From here the ground rises steeply eastwards towards the A225, planted with mature trees of mixed species including beech and London plane. This slope enjoys long views across the park to the west. An C 18 brick and flint ice house (listed grade II) is set into the hillside part way up the slope, c 125m east of the Castle. The walls of an C 18 flint bath house (listed grade II) stand c 150m further north, between the path and the river. The bath house is rectangular in plan, with an apsidal north end. It is now roofless but appears to have been of a single storey, and retains a rectangular plunge pool at the centre of the floor.

South of the Castle lies a lake, the northern tip formed in the later C 18, which was extended southwards to its present size by gravel workings in the mid C20. It is enclosed by a band of woodland. Long views extend southwards across the lake along the valley beyond. In 1769 (Andrews, Dury and Herbert) this was given over to a rectangular area of parkland completely enclosed by the River Darent and a subsidiary arm, but by 1802 (estate map) the oval lake had been formed at the north end. On the upper slope to the east of the lake are the remains of the rectangular Victorian ice skating rink shown on 1907 OS.

PARK

The park extends west from the gardens and pleasure grounds and is overlooked by the west front of the Castle. It is laid largely to woodland and pasture. For a detailed description of its history see Pittman (1983). A golf course occupies much of the open land, and a late C20 club house stands close to the west boundary on the high plateau which occupies this end of the park. The park contains many copses and single trees, including veteran oak pollards, with extensive woodland along much of the south boundary. Panoramic views extend from the north and south boundaries along the Darent, and east along the two dry valleys over the river to the hillside beyond (outside the area here registered).

The park is dominated by the two valleys rising westwards from River Darent valley, divided by a central shoulder of land which extends out into the river valley from the plateau at the west side of the park. A deer-keeper's lodge and a deer house formerly stood on this central shoulder (Pittman). Towards the east end of the hillside north of the northern valley lies the site of the former obelisk (late C18, gone), depicted on the 1802 estate map, and marked on the 1870 OS, which stood in a prominent position 850m north-west of the Castle. Summerhouse Knoll stands clkm south, in view of the site of the obelisk, 650m south-west of the Castle, on the southern valley side. An earth mound remains at the site of the summerhouse, planted with a mature Scots pine, but there is no visible sign of the summerhouse, which was shown on the Andrews, Dury and Herbert map of 1769 and the 1802 estate map, but does not appear on the 1870 OS.

The landscape park was laid out over the former medieval deer park in the mid- to late C 18 by Sir Thomas Dyke and his son Sir John Dixon Dyke, incorporating many earlier woodland features including many ancient oak and hornbeam pollards and wood pasture, and retaining much of the medieval ditch and bank.

KITCHEN GARDEN

The kitchen garden lies 30m north-west of the Castle. It is enclosed and divided into two unequal sections, to the north and south, by brick and flint walls (C 17-C 19, listed grade II), and entered off the north drive via a double gateway in the west wall. The larger area, to the south, is an irregular quadrangle. It contains the remains of the herb garden designed by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde for Zoe, Lady Hart Dyke in 1946. Although many of the beds have been grassed over, leaving a central pattern of beds, the beds and paths are still visible as earthworks in the lawn. The second area comprises a former slip garden to the north which incorporated a frameyard and other glasshouses (OS 1870), with an orangery at the east end, overlooking the north lawn. The orangery is now (2004) converted to a domestic residence. An C 18 octagonal brick dovecote (listed grade II) stands at the east end of this area, beyond the orangery, overlooking the north lawn.

The larger, southern area of the kitchen garden is shown laid out as an orchard in the late C 17 (drawing, 1670-80), enclosed by a perimeter path but otherwise undivided from the north lawn to the east. The 1802 estate map shows it at approximately its present extent, including the slips area to the north, the orangery overlooking the north lawn and the dovecote, but does not provide any internal detail. By the late C 19 the south-west corner had been cut off the kitchen garden to form part of the forecourt.

REFERENCES

Lambarde, The Perambulation of Kent (1570)

E Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent (1797)

Country Life 34, (1 November 1913), pp602-08); 125 (23 April 1959), p 900; 174 (21 April 1983), pp 1045, 1048

John Harris, The Artist and the Country House (1979), p82

Susan Pittman, Lullingstone Park, The Evolution of a Mediaeval Deer Park (1983)

Transactions of the Kent Field Club, 9, part 3, (1984), pp 129-142

Lullingstone Castle (guide leaflet, no date, 1990s)

Maps

Philip Symondson, Plan of Kent, 1596

Andrews, Dury and Herbert, Topographical Map of the County of Kent, 1769

John Gudsell, Estate map, Lullingstone Park (1802) (private collection)

Ordnance Surveyor's Drawing (1798)

OS 6" to 1 mile: lst edition surveyed 1865-68, published 1870; 3rd edition published 1907

Illustrations

Lullingstone Castle, Kent, view of the Castle, church and gatehouse, (pen and wash drawing, no date, around 1670-80, illustrated in Harris))

Samuel Buck, The North-West View of Lullingstone-Castle in the County of Kent (engraving, no date, mid-18th century)

Lullingstone Castle from the north-east (oil painting, no date, early to mid-18th century, private collection, illustrated in Country Life 125 (23 April 1959), p 900)

Description written: February 2004

Register Inspector: SR