The Formal Gardens and Lowe Field
Detail from estate plan, c. 1730.
The general structure of the gardens laid out by Thomas Wentworth in the 18th century is still remarkably visible today in the gardens at Wentworth. Partly due to modifications to the planting as fashions and patterns of maintenance changed over the centuries, some of the refinement of the original design of the paths and views has been lost. Paths have become narrower and lost their subtlety of alignment, and the planting has become much taller, and in some areas more dense. The c. 1734 estate plan shows a clear hierarchy of paths, ranging from approximately 12 feet in the 'Union Jack' garden, to the Broad Avenue, which was approximately 60 feet wide.
Detail from RAF aerial photograph, 1948.
Two avenues of trees were once planted in Lowe (formerly Law) Field, and had at their intersection a small structure. The north-south avenue would have been at one time a principal axis for views and circulation from within the formal gardens, also extending to the Duke of Argyll Monument and Broom Royd Wood. This feature had disappeared by the 19th century, most likely when William Wentworth remodelled the estate and many such formal features were removed outside the gardens.
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Detail from aerial photograph, 2002.
