| Title: |
Buildings Recording And Investigation at Stoneleigh Abbey River Landscape Wawickshire |
| Series: |
Oxford Archaeological Unit unpublished report series
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| Downloads: |
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oxfordar1-511707_193673.pdf (6 MB)
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Download
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| Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
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| DOI |
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| Publication Type: |
Report (in Series)
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| Abstract: |
The current recording project has utilised three principal survey techniques: a photographic record, a drawn record and a descriptive textual record.
The photographic record comprised archivally stable black and white prints as well as images taken with a digital camera. The photographs included general views of the structures, specific features of interest and images showing the general setting or context of the features.
The drawn record included scaled drawings of principal areas and features or interest. It particularly concentrated on structures which were being removed in the project.
The descriptive survey comprised making general notes to help explain and interpret the structures in terms of their structure, construction, use, evolution and alteration.
The recording was undertaken both prior to the start of the main conservation works as well as during it in the form of a watching brief. Notes were also made and photographs taken after the completion of the conservation work as one of the aims of the project was to provide an archive record of the conservation programme itself. Recording of a number of individual ex-situ stones dredged out of the pool beneath the West Park Weir was also undertaken. Stoneleigh Abbey is a site with a wealth of heritage interest from its history as an early Cistercian monastery converted to a country house in the post-medieval period, to its architectural significance and its collection of nationally important buildings. Among the key interests however is its magnificent landscape which is particularly associated with the great landscape gardener Humphry Repton who established a design framework for the grounds in the early 19th century and much of his proposals were either implemented directly under his control or subsequently by others using his ideas. The gardens were also enhanced in the mid 19th century by another eminent landscape designer, WA Nesfield and in the 20th century by Percy Cane.
One of the central focuses of Repton's proposals was the area to the south of the house and particularly the river landscape as the Avon passes the Abbey. The previous meandering streams and narrow channels were replaced by a larger lake for boating and to provide a reflection of the house when viewed from the woodland to the south.
In the 20th century this river landscape suffered extensively through lack of maintenance leading to catastrophic failure of key structures and in recent decades it has become a pale shadow of its historic form.
A major project to restore this element of the landscape has recently been undertaken with the conservation or reconstruction of a number of features or structures which together form this centrepeice of Repton's landscape. These structures have included the West Park Weir, the Island Weir, the Gazebo Bridge and the Abbey Mill Bridge.
The collapsing (or partially collapsed) condition of some of these structures meant that it was necessary for many areas to be extensively rebuilt, using stonework to match the original, rather than merely being conserved with a light touch. This is particularly due to the tremendous force of the river that they will have to withstand and the fact that they will be functional structures, acting exactly as they did in the 19th century. The work has not just conserved the individual structures but also the landscape and the setting for the abbey itself.
A programme of archaeological recording has been undertaken during the conservation work and this has enhanced our understanding of these features. The work at the West Park Weir has helped us to understand the evolution of this structure, which existed in 1749 but which appears to have had many phases of rebuilding including the construction of a long retaining wall dating from 1883. |
| Author: |
Jonathan Gill
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| Publisher: |
Oxford Archaeology
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| Year of Publication: |
2013
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| Locations: |
| District: |
Warwick |
| Country: |
England |
| Parish: |
Stoneleigh |
| County: |
Warwickshire |
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Grid Reference: 431739, 271119 (Easting, Northing)
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| Identifiers: |
| OASIS Id: |
oxfordar1-511707 |
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| Created Date: |
10 Mar 2023 |
