by
Work commission by the National Trust (West Mercia Region)
Figure 1: showing the location of Tatton Park and the Orangery
The Gardens Archaeology Project were requested to sample soils formerly sealed beneath the floor of the Orangery at Tatton Park, Chesire, in December 1992. The purpose of this work was to try to recover seed, and other information pertaining to horticultural use in the past.
Tatton Park is one of the finest country mansions in the north-west, standing in a 405 hectare (1,000 acre) deer park. The name derives from Tata's 'tun' or farm, probably after the personal name of a former Anglo-Saxon settler (Ekwall 1960, 461). The present house site replaced an earlier one occupied by the medieval old hall, which stands about a kilometre to the west at the head of Tatton Mere.
During its later history, the estate was associated with some of the finest architects and landscape designers of the time, but it was not without its share of controversy. Humphrey Repton produced one of his famous Red Books for the park, but not all of his recommendations were followed. His suggestion that the milestones in the neighbourhood should bear the family crest provoked a satirical response from Richard Payne Knight, and was later parodied by Thomas Love Peacock in his novel, 'Headlong Hall'. Lewis Wyatt worked on the house in the early nineteenth century, adding the Orangery in 1818 (Goode and Lancaster 1986, 551). The Italianate terraces were added by Paxton in the 1850s, and in 1910 the Japanese Garden, considered by many the finest of its kind in England, was laid out.
The original Orangery contained a number of earth beds in the floor, known as the 'plunging pits'. These were partly covered over in the later nineteenth century by a stone floor, but their extent can be seen on a plan by Wyatt, dated 1818 (copy provided by Jeremy Milln).
The house and park are now administered by Chesire County Council in conjunction with the National Trust, and is open to the public. Work started recently on the restoration of the Orangery.
Two one metre square sampling pits were dug into dark soils underlying the former floor of the Orangery. These soils were covered by a layer of reddish-brown (5YR 4/4) loamy sand up to 0.15m thick. These were thought to have acted as a bedding for the late nineteenth-century stone floor. Once this had been excavated, the top 0.1m of the dark sandy loam underneath was removed to ensure that the sampled soils were not contaminated by the covering layer.
Two five litre samples were taken from each plunging pit for sieving to recover botanical, and other environmental, information. Research elsewhere has indicated that there is a high expectancy of survival of botanical materials from garden soils as a result of past soil enhancement practices creating micro-environments sympathetic to preservation that may not have been present in the parent soils (Currie 1990, 9-11).
For soil analysis, 2-3 grm. samples were taken in screw-top plastic tubes. These were sent to a laboratory recommended by the Ancient Monuments Laboratory (English Heritage) for testing for pH, Calcium, Magnesium and inorganic Phosphate. The three latter elements are considered to be those most likely to be indicators of artificial enhancement. Tests on other garden sites in the UK have been successful in identifying evidence for horticultural practices (Currie 1990; 1992, 186-89; Currie and Locock 1991, 84-87).
From the western plunging pit (trench 1), two 2-3 grm samples were taken for soil analysis. One sample was taken from the eastern plunging pit (trench 2), and a further sample was taken from the sub-soils in the kitchen garden outside of the Orangery as a control, at a depth of about 0.25m.
This was dug in the western plunging pit, in an area previously covered by the late nineteenth-century stone floor. Once the upper 0.1m of dark loam was removed, the soil was found to be a fairly uniform black colour (5YR 2.5/1). It contained moderate quantities of broken earthenware flowerpots, as would be expected in a plunging pit, as well as occasional charcoal flecks. Only one small feature was noted in the soil, a rectangular cut about 0.1m wide that was partly covered by the western baulk of the test pit. This was considered to be a small post-hole, purpose unknown.
As with trench 1 the top 0.1m of the dark loam under the former floor was taken out to remove any potentially contaminated soils. The soils underneath were found to be much more disturbed than in trench 1, and contained moderate quantities of building debris, in the form of stone and brick, as well as ceramic flowerpot. A lens of greyish clay soil was encountered in the south-west corner of trench. A stone edge was also found on the north edge of the test pit, extending the full length of the excavation.
5.1.1 Soil analysis
| Sample no. | Trench no. | Inorganic: mg/kg or parts per million (ppm) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pH | PO4 | Ca | Mg | ||
| TE/2 | 1 | 8.82 | 244 | 2719 | 1210 |
| TE/3 | 1 | 8.03 | 243 | 5453 | 1288 |
| TE/5 | 2 | 7.98 | 203 | 1267 | 1501 |
| TE/6 | Control | 6.78 | 1052 | 2163 | 1997 |
5.1.2 Discussion of the soil analysis
The soil analysis did not prove particularly useful in this instance. Comparison with similar sandy loams from elsewhere in the Midlands show that all the above samples had high calcium and magnesium readings, indicating past enhancement in these elements. This was reflected in the high pHs.
Although the results indicate probable past enhancement of the parent soils, the analyses failed to give much information beyond this. Two factors require some comment, nevertheless. Firstly, the analyses for inorganic phosphate was surprisingly low for the samples taken from the former plunging pits. This is unusual, and can not be readily explained, especially when compared with the much higher reading for the control sample taken from garden subsoil outside of the Orangery. It is possible that some leaching has occurred, but this does not correspond to samples from other Midland sites, where leaching was found to be negligible (Currie and Locock 1991).
The second point of note is the generally higher readings obtained from the control. This was taken from sub-soils from a plant bed in the adjacent Kitchen Garden. The analyses show that this was a mistake, as these soils have a continuous history of enhancement by the site's gardeners. It was thought that by taking samples from the sub-soil, this would not have been significantly affected by surface activity. The analyses show that this is probably not the case. For more exact comparison, a control sample should have been taken from an area away from the more heavily treated areas of the garden. A heavy frost on the day of sampling made a suitable site of this kind difficult to find.
The exceptionally high reading for calcium in sample TE/3 may be the result of contamination from mortar attached to building debris present in the soil.
5.2 Environmental sampling
The seeds found within the two samples taken were disappointing in that none are likely to have been plants cultivated in the Orangery. However, the presence of seeds, mainly from damp habitats is, in itself, of interest, as this suggests the origins of the soils within the plunging pits. The results of this sampling can be found in the accompanying report from the environmentalist (see attached).
Plunging is a horticultural technique whereby plants are retained in an earthenware pot, and placed into a plant bed. The pots are often covered by the earth of the bed to disguise the nature of the planting. Such techniques were particularly popular in formal gardens of the seventeenth and early eighteenth century, whereby a display of exotic plants was kept in greenhouses or orangeries until just before the arrival of important guests. The plants were then brought out, and 'plunged' in a prepared bed, in order to give the impression of a permanent display. The length of time the plants were kept out would rely on their delicacy. Some would need to be returned to shelter the same evening, whereas others could remain outdoors for longer, and only be returned at the onset of harser weather in the autumn.
Horace Walpole, writing in the later eighteenth century, gives an example of a garden laid out almost entirely in potted plants in France as an example of bad taste. However, it is not certain, from his description, if the technique used here is real 'plunging' or a similar method whereby the garden was laid out with potted plants, but with no attempt to bury the pot in the earth.
'In the garden of Marshal de Biron at Paris, consisting of fourteen acres, every walk is buttoned on each side by lines of flower pots, which succeed in their seasons. When I saw it, there were nine thousand pots of Asters or la Reine Marguerite.' (Wornum 1876, 70).
It is not known how common plunging pits were in orangeries, but those at Tatton are the first indoor types the author has encountered. The practice was normally reserved for outdoor display, and it may have been more normal for potted plants to be left as they were on the stone floor of most orangeries or greenhouses. It is possible that earth pits for potted plants were more common in the early nineteenth century than has previously been realised, and that the practice of giving orangeries a more solid floor derives from a later period. Most of the orangeries looked at by the author appear to have had stone, brick or tile floors from the outset, as at Castle Bromwich (Locock and Currie 1991, 21), but the subject has been little researched, and further study may be necessary.
The differences in internal disturbance in the two sampled layers could be localised. It would be expected that, during their lifetime, plunging pits would be dug over many times to remove the potted plants 'plunged' into them. This practice would also account for the numerous pieces of broken flowerpot encountered in both trenches. The stone edge recovered in trench 2 might represent the original edge of the plunging pit.
The presence of seeds favouring damp habitats within the sampled soils suggests that this may have been the origin of the material. There are a number of lakes and ponds within the park. It was a long-established tradition to drain ponds down from time to time to remove silt to prevent them silting up (Currie 1988, 273-74). It has long been recognised that pond silts make the very fertile soils. It was common practice, in the medieval period, that when ponds were drained down, a crop of cereal would be grown on the resulting silt before the ponds were refilled. This practice is recorded a number of times in the accounts of the medieval bishops of Winchester. For example, in 1252 sixty acres were sown with corn on the bed of the dry Alresford Pond in Hampshire after it had been drained (in LX acris bladi sarclandis xviiid hoc anno propter fractionem vivarii) (HRO Eccl. 159291A).
The fertility of such soil must have been well known to gardeners, and it is possible that the soils in the plunging pits originally came from the drained bed of one of the estate ponds. Such soil would have become available at regular intervals as ponds were drained for repairs and other necessary management tasks. The author has had the silts from a possible late seventeenth-century pond at Southwick Park, Hampshire, tested to ensure their fertility prior to having it spread around in a former orchard adjacent. These proved to be soils of the highest quality, and confirmed the good sense of this historical practice.
The sampling for seed within the plunging pits in the Tatton Orangery may appear to be disappointing on first impressions. However, the fact that the pits did contain preserved seed is worthy of note, even if they tell us nothing about the plants grown, as this indicates that preservation is possible.
The choice of site to excavate was made at random, there being no surface clues to go by, as the soils were sealed beneath a layer of reddish sand. By chance, the excavation site in trench 2 proved to heavily disturbed, and this did not auger well for the success of the sample.
The soils themselves were shown to have originally come from a damp site. It is suspected that the gardeners had collected the fertile silts from the bottom of one of the estate ponds that may have been drained contemporaneously for repairs or other management tasks.
Sampling apart, the features themselves are of considerable interest as part of the study of orangeries. Plunging pits of this nature do not appear to be common. Although further research is necessary to determine if they are as rare as they initially seem, it is possible that they are worthy of more detailed excavation to elaborate on the details of how they were used. Initial investigations indicate that the pits contained a number of additional features within them.
Original source in the Hampshire Record Office (HRO):
HRO Eccl. 159291A, Pipe Roll of the bishop of Winchester for the year 1252-53.
Original source in print:
H. Walpole, Anecdotes of painting in England, 3 vols., edited by R N Wornum, (1876, London).
Secondary sources:
C K Currie, 'Medieval fishponds in Hampshire', in M Aston (ed.), Medieval fish, fisheries and fishponds in England, British Archaeological Reports, British Series 182 (1988, Oxford), 267-89.
C K Currie, 'The role of environmental sampling in the interpretation of historic gardens', West Midlands Archaeology, 33 (1990), 8-13.
C K Currie, 'The restoration of historic gardens: the role of archaeology', L Macinnes and C Wickham-Jones (eds.), All natural things. Archaeology and the green debate, (1992, Oxford) Oxbow monograph 21, 181-89.
C K Currie and M Locock, 'An evaluation of archaeological techniques used at Castle Bromwich Hall, 1989-90', Garden History, 19.1 (1991), 77-99.
E. Ekwall, The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names, (4th ed., 1960, Oxford).
P Goode and M Lancaster (eds.), The Oxford companion to gardens, (1986, Oxford).
M Locock and C K Currie, 'Castle Bromwich Hall, Excavations directed by P. Twigg, 1985-8: a summary of the results.', West Midlands Archaeology, 34 (1991), 19-26.