Sewerby Hall & Gardens

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE

Estate owners

The chief manorial estate at Sewerby was held in 1086 by the count of Mortain. It passed to the Paynel family and then to the archbishops of Canterbury from whom it was held by the Meynells. From the late-12th century the lords of Sewerby under the Meynells were a family that took its name from the village. Robert of Sewerby was lord of the manor of Sewerby in 1316. The family held the manor until 1450 when it passed through the female line until sold to Ralph Raysing in 1565. (Allison, VCH Yorks ER, II, 95)

Raysing in turn sold the manor to John Carliell in 1566. It remained with the Carliell family until 1714 when it was acquired by John Greame I, a Bridlington merchant, who was then tenanting the manor house. The Greame family owned Sewerby for 220 years. (Allison, VCH Yorks ER, II, 95)

The members of the family chiefly responsible for creating the present landscape were:

John Greame III , owner 1798-1841

Yarburgh Greame (Yarburgh Yarburgh from 1852), owner 1841-56

Sewerby Hall and 411 acres were sold by Yarburgh Lloyd Greame to Bridlington Corporation in 1934. With local government reorganisation the house and parkland passed to the Borough of North Wolds (later Borough of East Yorkshire) in 1974, and the East Riding of Yorkshire Unitary Authority in 1996. (Allison, VCH Yorks ER, II, 95)

Early history of the site

There was a park, possibly a small deer park, associated with the manor house at Sewerby in 1377. (Neave, Medieval Parks, 50) The house built or rebuilt by John Carliell soon after 1566, on the site of the present Sewerby Hall, did not stand in extensive grounds. It was surrounded by the houses of the villagers with open arable fields to the north. The ridge and furrow of the open field strips can be seen in the golf course. The main village road ran immediately in front of the south side of the manor house.

The manor house is likely to have stood in the centre of the small village, with the village houses nearby. At some stage possibly in the late-17th century part of the village near the manor house was removed for in 1714 there is reference to ‘tofts or crofts where houses have formerly stood'. (ERALS, Deeds Registry E/ 194/337). They may have been cleared by John Greame I in preparation for building his new house.

Surprisingly there is no evidence that John Greame I (d. 1746) or his son John Greame II (d. 1798) made any attempt to landscape the setting of Sewerby Hall in the 18th century.

A pre-enclosure plan of 1802 (HHC, U DDLG/30/897) shows the limited area of land then owned by John Greame III (d. 1841) around Sewerby Hall, about 15.5 acres. Some 6 acres lay adjacent and to the north of the house, and 9.5 acres to the south of the house and the road running from the village eastwards.

The gardens were confined to an enclosed area, nearly 3 roods in size, to the east of the house and a small forecourt between the house and the village street. A rectangular area to the south-west of the house, shown with a pattern of paths and beds, appears to be a kitchen or ornamental garden.

Chronological history of the designed landscape

Early-mid 19th century parkland and plantations

It was not until the enclosure of the open fields to the north of the house between 1802 and 1811 that it was possible for John Greame III to landscape the setting of Sewerby Hall. During this period Greame managed to acquire, by purchase or exchange, all the old enclosures not already in his ownership to the south and east of the hall.

This land together with the two allotments from the open fields, comprising 28 acres to the north of the house, that he was awarded at enclosure gave Greame a large compact landholding of some 180 acres by 1811.

The enclosure award also provided for the closure of the former village road running immediately south of the hall, which was resited to the north (High Sewerby Road), and the closure of the northern section of the Leys road running north to Marton. The road from the east end of Sewerby village going north to Marton was straightened and formed the western boundary of the future parkland.

How much of the laying out of the grounds and planting was carried out by John Greame is uncertain. He extended the hall in 1808 and around 1830 and built a large stable block in two stages after 1808. Teesdale's plan, published 1828 but based on Greenwood's survey of 1817-18, shows a plantation on the west side of the park to the north of High Sewerby road. Bryant's plan of 1829 shows planting further south.

Two images of the hall from the south around 1830 show the house overlooking open pasture to the south with a buttressed brick retaining wall or ha-ha. There appears to be another wall to the south of the grazing land. The pasture is undulating suggesting the ridge and furrow of the open fields. There are groups of mature trees to the east and west of the house with smaller trees and bushes to the south east.

By 1840 the plantations covered some 13 acres; these were probably the boundary plantations to the north and west of the parkland as shown on a plan of around 1845.

Further planting was undertaken 1841-45, a total of 26 acres. This planting completed the boundary plantations as shown on the first Ordnance Survey map, surveyed 1851-2.

Mid 19th -century gardens

After completing the planting around the boundary of the parkland and the area to the east Yarburgh Yarburgh turned his attention to the grounds immediately adjacent the house.

A new layout for the drives to the hall was implemented. At the east end of the village street a pair of lodges flanking an entrance arch was built around 1845 and from there a drive led directly to the hall. A little further north on Church Lane another lodge was built alongside entrance gates that led to a series of drives which, as well as linking with the main drive, gave access to the stables and rear of the hall.

On the west side of the hall a classical archway was built, and on the east side a large greenhouse or conservatory. These were designed by H.F. Lockwood of Hull as were the lodges and the Italianate tower of 1847 on the stables.

A formal terrace was created to the south of the hall with a stone wall and balustrade taking the place of the brick ha-ha. Female statues of Ceres and Flora were placed at either end of the balustrade. The recently completed terrace was painted by the Revd O.W. Kilvington in 1850.

In the parkland to the north-east of the house Yarburgh built a large domed octagonal glass conservatory probably designed by H.F. Lockwood. A water-colour of 1847 by Kilvington shows the conservatory in an informal landscape backed by a plantation. To the south west of the conservatory there is depicted a small ornamental garden.

Probably soon after 1850 a formal garden was laid out to the south of the conservatory. It is shown on the 1891 Ordnance Survey map but not on that surveyed 1851-2, published 1854. A straight path leading from a seat at the south end to the conservatory at the north end is crossed at the middle by a straight path at a right-angle leading from a seat in the east to a statue in the middle. Trees, presumably monkey-puzzle, some of which survive, flanked the paths and plantations surrounded the formal garden. A formal terrace with stone wall and central steps fronted the conservatory.

In 1852 Yarburgh Greame inherited the Heslington estate and changed his surname to Yarburgh. The last four years of Yarburgh Yarburgh's life were spent on the restoration and extension of Heslington Hall and is likely that he paid less attention to Sewerby.

Last Greame owners 1856-1934

Map evidence suggests that there were no significant changes to the grounds at Sewerby in the late-19th to early-20th century. The only alterations appear to be in the layout of the walled kitchen garden. The circular planting design shown on the OS plan published in 1854 is replaced by 1890 with a pattern of straight paths dividing the garden into four quarters with a perimeter path. By 1890 there was a central shelter or greenhouse and along the north wall a series of glasshouses.

Surviving garden account books for 1856-62, 1876-89 and 1892-7 indicate the importance of walled and formal gardens at this time. (HHC, U DDLG/43/11, 13) There were six full-time gardeners and plants were acquired from Backhouse & Son of York, nurserymen and seeds from Carters and Suttons.

The octagonal conservatory in the formal garden was demolished and replaced by a smaller Classical summer house in 1923-4 designed by Brierley and Rutherford of York. (HHC, U DDLG/43/45)

Municipal ownership from 1934

After Bridlington Borough Council purchased Sewerby Hall and grounds in 1934 a number of changes were made including the removal of the centre of the balustrade to the south of the hall, replaced by steps, and the reduction of the Classical summer house in the formal garden to its present size.

By 1939 a 9-hole golf course had been laid out in the North Park with a putting green nearer the hall and part of the South Park was sacrificed for a bowling green and croquet lawn overlooking the sea. The walled garden was laid out as an Old English Garden with low box hedges and herbaceous plants and rare shrubs. (Bridlington Guide 1939)

Archery butts and outdoor rifle ranges were provided to the west of the hall ‘carefully placed on undulating land amidst trees, so that they do not mar the beauty of the scene'. (Sewerby House and Park, Bridlington (1947), 19) In the fold yard behind the Coach House an aviary was established which developed into a small zoo after World War 2.

The open wooded area immediately to the east of the St John's church and the North Lodge became a public car park with the trees steadily reduced and tarmac area increased.

By the 1960s there was a cricket ground in the South Park, between the bowling green and the cliff edge, and part of the area south of the drive to the east of the main entrance was fenced off as an animal enclosure.

Despite all these changes much of the layout and character of the early-19th-century parkland and Victorian gardens remain at Sewerby.

Detailed history contributed by Yorkshire Gardens Trust 07/11/2014

Type

Park

Purpose

Ornamental

Principal Building

Domestic / Residential

Hectares

41

Open to the public

Yes

Civil Parish

Bridlington