Al

t
COMPONENTS OF THE
SELF-SUFFICIENT ESTATE
Compiled by
HELENE GAMMACK
April 2009
Revised October 2009
Components of the Self Sufficient Estate

1. Introduction
2. Bees
3. Dairy
4. Deer Parks
5. Dovecotes
6. Fishponds
7. Fruit
8. Game and the Sporting Gun
9. Herbs and the Still room
10. Home Farm
11. Hop Garden and Brew House
12. Ice House
13. Kitchen Gardens
14. Orangeries
15. Orchards
16. Poultry Yards
17. Rabbit Warrens
18. Vegetables
19. Allotments
INTRODUCTION
Daniel Defoe defined the English Gentleman in 1728 as having venison
perhaps in his park, sufficient for his own table at least, and rabbits in his own
warren adjoining, pigeons from a dove-house in the yard, fish in his own ponds
or in some small river adjoining and within his own royalty, and milk with all the
needful addenda to his kitchen, which a small dairy of four or five cows yields to
him. This, together with fruit and vegetables grown in the gardens and parks of
the land owning classes enabled an almost total degree of self sufficiency in the
English country estate, certainly up until the 19th century when many products
became commercially available, and ornamental gardening and plant collecting
became the status symbols once dominated by exotic fruit and deer parks.
Together with the need for food, the notion of self-sufficiency became linked
with pleasure and sport: the deer park provided quarry for the hunt, and later
the shoot; fish ponds not only provided fish for the table but were also used for
fishing and sailing. The challenge of producing ever more exotic fruit became a
passion among many noblemen, including the diplomat Sir William Temple who
wrote in 1685 a treatise Upon the Gardens of Epicurus extolling the sensual
pleasures of his fruit garden. By contrast the puritanical notions of selfsufficiency, identified in the ideologies of orchard cultivation, had its roots in
religion and nature. For the peasants and cottagers, growing their own food was
a means of survival, and in a time when the country was predominantly rural
many had enough land to grow a few vegetables, keep a pig or two, and graze
some sheep or cattle on common land.
Many books were written on the self-sufficient estate. The Norfolk landowner,
Roger North wrote in the early 1700s about gardens, building and fishponds,
having been inspired by the self-sufficient estate at Badminton, and based on
his own personal experiences. His contemporary, John Evelyn, wrote
passionately about roots, vegetables, herbs and fruits. Of the early treatises
some of the most influential were The Profitable Art of Gardening written by
Thomas Hill in 1574, William Lawsons A New Orchard and Garden of 1618 and
Stephen Switzer The Practical Kitchen Gardener published in 1727.
The 20th century saw a dramatic decline in home produced food due in part to
urbanisation and industrialisation, together with the increasing population, and
the centralisation of food production and distribution. By the beginning of the
21st century it has been predicted that the present situation is not sustainable
and once again people are looking to grow their own food, for pleasure and
profit and it is evident that there is much to be learnt from the experiences of
the self-sufficient estate of past centuries.
BEE KEEPING
Bee keeping has been closely connected with gardening for centuries for a
variety of reasons; originally beeswax and honey were the most profitable
garden products, wax was sold to make church candles, and honey was used
as a sweetener before the introduction of sugar, and for its medicinal qualities.
Honey was also valuable as a preservative, and when fermented, was used to
produce mead, an alcoholic drink. Bees were also appreciated as vital
pollinators in gardens and orchards. Bee keeping was not the prerogative of any
one section of society and evidence of bee keeping can be found in great
estates, farmsteads and cottages alike. In 1908 Beatrix Potter illustrated the
bee boles at her Cumbrian farm in The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck.
The Romans sowed herbs such as thyme, rosemary, savory and marjoram for
their bees, or placed hives near to flowering plants such as asphodel, narcissi,
lilies, gillyflowers, roses, violets, larkspur and best of all saffron, which the bees
loved, and which made the best honey. From the medieval period, bee boles, a
Scots term meaning a recess in a wall, were most frequently situated in orchard
or garden walls, but can occasionally be found in the outside walls of houses.
Early forms of hives were called skeps, made of straw and placed within the
boles for protection. A series of bee boles still exists at Packwood House in
Warwickshire. Larger recesses were called bee alcoves, housing more than one
skep, and these are found almost exclusively in the houses of the gentry. The
skeps could also be placed in rows on stands or shelves within a bee shelter, or
within a bee house, a large structure holding up to thirteen hives, usually dating
from the 19th century, a preserved example of which can be found at Attingham
Park in Shropshire. The ornamental as well as practical aspect of beekeeping
appealed to the Victorians, borne out by the decorative apiaries and bee walls
that were a common feature of the nineteenth century kitchen garden.
Before the 18th century little was understood about the internal workings of bee
hives and harvesting honey from a skep was costly and wasteful since the only
way was to remove the bees and cut the comb away from the skep, usually
resulting in the death of the colony. However in the 18th century Francis Huber,
a blind Swiss scientist, studied the internal biology of honey bees and their
colonies, recognising the importance of internal spacing between the wax
combs. However, it was not until the mid 19th century that the modern hive was
developed by the Reverend L.L. Langstroth in the United States. Making
practical use of Hubers studies, he developed rectangular frames which hung
downwards clear of the sides of the hives, allowing for their easy removal to
harvest the honey. This system was introduced to Britain in1862 and remains
the basis for the modern hive in use today.
Recipe
Mead
Put 5 gallons of water into a saucepan, and add one lemon, cut in slices, a little
dried ginger-root, and 1 gallon of honey. Mix them thoroughly and boil for thirty
minutes, taking care to remove all the scum as it rises, and during the time it is
boiling 1oz. of hops must be added. Take the pan from the fire, and when the
contents are lukewarm add a little yeast; pour it into a cask, and in a little less
than a month it will be ready for use.
(From The Encyclopedia of Practical Cookery, Edited by Theodore Francis Garrett, L. Upcott
Gill, c1880. www.thorshof.org/zmead.htm)
Some Bee Features at National Trust Properties

Attingham Park, Shropshire Wooden Bee House
Erddig, Wrexham Bee hives, honey for sale
Greys Court, Oxfordshire Bee boles in garden wall
Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire Bee Boles
Moseley Old Hall, West Midlands Bee bole in wall
Packwood House, West Midlands Bee boles in raised walk at edge of garden
Images
Bee Bole, Quebec House (NTPL 75912)
Collecting Nectar (NTPL 148832)
Bees in comb (NTPL 140588)
Jars of honey (NTPL 156617)
Bibliography
Bee Boles and Bee Houses, A.M Foster (Shire publications Ltd., 1988)
The Art of Dining, Sara Paston-Williams (National Trust Enterprises Ltd,1999)
THE DAIRY
From the middle ages, the dairy was an important component of the self
sufficient estate, attached either to the kitchens, or the estate farm. In smaller
establishments, a cow could be rented from the local farmer for milking. The
milk from the dairy would provide the household with cream, cheese, butter, and
with the advent of icehouses, a variety of cold desserts, most notably ice cream.
Until the 18th century, dairy work was a seasonal business as most cattle were
slaughtered in the autumn due to lack of winter fodder. However, it was not
considered unpleasant work, and followed a routine: first the cows were milked,
then the milk taken to the dairy to be separated. Cleanliness was of paramount
importance and the dairy would be fitted out simply with easy to clean surfaces,
usually marble or tiles, a particularly ornamental example being the dairy at
Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire which is decorated with Dutch Delft tiles.
Wooden utensils and earthenware pans were used rather than metal which
could spoil the milk. Occasionally a fountain was installed, providing running
water while helping to maintain a cool temperature.
Spending time in the dairy became a fashionable pastime for ladies. In 1832 the
German traveller Prince Puckler-Muskau wrote to his wife The dairy is one of
the principle decorations of an English park, and stands by itself quite away
from the cow-house. it is generally an elegant pavilion, adorned with fountains,
marble walls, and rare and beautiful porcelain; and its vessels, large and small
filled with the most exquisite milk and its products in all their varieties.
The romantic notion of the dairy is reinforced by the union of Sir Harry
Fetherstonhaugh, of Uppark, West Sussex. Still unmarried at the age of
seventy, Sir Harry, on passing the dairy, heard the sound of a girl singing. He
found out it was the dairy maids helper Mary Ann Bullock, who later took over
the dairy when Sir Harrys visits became more frequent. Finally he asked her to
marry him, which left her speechless. Sir Harry is reputed to have continued:
Dont answer me now, but if you will have me, cut a slice out of the leg of
mutton that is coming up for my dinner today, which she duly did. At the age of
twenty one Mary Ann was sent to Paris to be educated and in September 1825
was married to Sir Harry, fifty years her senior. The Uppark dairy survives and
is one of the best examples of a decorative dairy in possession of the National
Trust, built in 1785 but redesigned by Humphrey Repton in 1812, in which
stained glass windows filter the light, with black and white marble on the floor
and decorative tiles line the walls. At Shugborough, in Staffordshire, the original
banqueting house was transformed into the dairy when the lake was drained
after the great flood of 1795 which destroyed many of the park buildings and
heralded the transformation of the ornamental park into an agricultural estate.
Recipe
To make clotted cream
Take the nights milk and put it into a broad earthenware pan and in the morning
set over a slow fire, letting it stand there from morning till night, suffering it not to
boil, only heat. Then take off the fire and set it in some place to cool all night
and next morning dish off your cream and it will be very thick.
Some Dairies at National Trust Properties

Ardress House, Co Armagh
Barrington Court, Somerset Buttery
Berrington Hall, Herefordshire 19th century
Bradley Manor, Devon 15th century buttery
Calke Abbey, Derbyshire 1780
Castle Ward, Co Down
Ham House, Surrey 18th century
Lanhydrock, Cornwall 1880s cooling apparatus
Llanerchaeron, Ceredigion
Mount Stewart, Co Down
Plas Newydd, Gwynedd Now a tea room
Shugborough, Staffs 4 Winds Dairy
Uppark, Sussex 18th century
Wimpole Home Farm, Cambridgeshire
Images
Shugborough (NTPL 53184)
Dairy, Dyrham (NTPL 96314)
Dairy, Ham (NTPL 90399)
Cheese (NTPL 128415)
Bibliography
Behind the Scenes, Domestic Arrangements in Historic Houses, Christine
Hardyment (National Trust Enterprises Ltd, 1997)
The Art of Dining, Sara Paston-Williams (National Trust Enterprises Ltd, 1999)
DEER PARKS
Deer Parks were the living larders of the aristocracy and landed gentry, providing
not only meat and fish but also timber and sport. They have been part of the British
landscape since at least the Saxon period, and the name of Dyrham Park in
Gloucestershire is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for a deer park. Originally
hunting deer was a royal prerogative, and the first parks were owned by the king
and his nobles, later cascading down through the hierarchy. Eventually it became
possible for the minor gentry to obtain the required license to impark thereby
acquiring the ultimate status symbol of the landowning classes.
Most medieval parks were about 200 acres in size, the boundary being defined by
a ditch and bank topped with an oak pale, one of the major expenses of park
ownership, therefore most parks were oval in shape to economize on the cost of
the paling. It was not uncommon for parish boundaries to be displaced to conform
to the shape, creating resentment in the communities whose homes were
destroyed to make way for the parks. A lodge, often ornamental in design, would
house the park keeper, and sometimes doubled up as a viewing tower. The most
suitable species of deer to keep in the parks were fallow deer, being easier to tame
than the native red or roe deer, and were raised for both sport and food.
Historically venison was regarded as a prestigious part of the aristocratic diet and
was packed in barrels, salted, and sent to the king or other feudal magnates.
The early 17th century saw a gradual decline in parks due to the economic
pressures of their upkeep. Many parks were turned over to more profitable cattle
and sheep, and during the English Civil War parks were ransacked as a protest
against the privileged landowners. However, by the 18th century the park reemerged as a primarily ornamental and sporting landscape around the house,
while still evoking the qualities of status and ancestry to a new elite. However, as in
previous centuries, poaching still existed and incurred heavy penalties, as
illustrated by Lord Cobhams treatment of two poachers at Stowe where, in 1748,
two young men were caught poaching in his deer park. According to local tradition,
the wives of the men begged for their husbands' lives. Lord Cobham, now 80
years old, appeared moved to tears and promised that their husbands would be
returned to them by a certain day what he omitted to say was that it would be
their corpses laid on a cart that would be delivered to their cottage doors. Cobham
celebrated the occasion by placing statues of the dead men in his park, a deer
across their shoulders!
Recipe
Roast Venison
After you have washed your venison clear from the blood, stick it with cloves on
the outside and kard it with mutton larde or porke larde, but mutton is the best.
Then spit it and rost it by a socking [slow] fire. Take vinegar, bread crums and the
gravy which comes from the venison and boyle them in a dishe, then season it with
sugar, cinamon, ginger and salt, and serve the venison upon the sauce
Erddig MS 1203, c.1685
(From The Art of Dining, Sara Paston-Williams)
Some Deer Parks at National Trust Properties

Attingham Park, Shropshire
Belton House, Lincolnshire
Calke Abbey, Derbyshire
Charlecote Park, Warwickshire
Crom, Co Fermanagh
Dinefwr, Carmarthenshire
Dunham Massey, Cheshire
Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire Deer Park in existence since Saxon times
Ickworth, Suffolk
Knole, Kent
Lyme Park, Cheshire The Cage hunting tower
Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire
Petworth, West Sussex
Studley Royal, Yorkshire
Tatton Park, Cheshire
Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire
Images
Death of a buck, detail of painting at Lyme Park (NTPL 28515)
Detail of deer park at Lyme Park (NTPL 63864)
Lyme Park Hunting Tower (NTPL 165664)
Deer (NTPL 141977)
Bibliography
Parkland, Graham Harvey (The National Trust Enterprises Ltd, 2002)
The English Country Estate, James Martin Robinson (Century in association with
The National Trust, 1988)
Hardyment (National Trust, Enterprises Ltd, 1997)
DOVECOTES
The history of keeping pigeons goes back at least four thousand years,
probably originating in the Middle East. Dovecotes are the buildings in which
they were kept, sometimes referred to as pigeon houses, columbaria or
culverhouses, (culver being the Anglo-Saxon for pigeon). The birds had many
uses; the down and feathers were used to fill pillows, and the dung from the
dovecotes was not only a highly rated fertilizer, but was also used in the tanning
industry and in the manufacture of gunpowder. However it was for their flesh
and eggs, particularly in winter when meat was scarce, that they were
particularly valued. In 1600 Oliver de Serres wrote in his book on agriculture
that no man need ever have an ill-provisioned house if there be but attached to
it a dovecot, a warren and a fishpond wherein meat may be found as readily at
hand as if it were stored in a larder.
In the middle ages the building of a dovecote was a feudal privilege restricted to
barons, abbots and lords of the manor. On average a dovecote housed about
400 birds, although some contained up to 6,000. By the late 17th century there
were an estimated 26,000 dovecotes in Britain, more than anywhere else in the
world; they were however unpopular with farmers who complained that their
crops were ravaged by the birds. It was calculated that the grain eaten by their
250,000 occupants could have provided bread for 100,000 people.
The building styles range from simple dome shaped stone structures such as
the dovecote at Cotehele in Cornwall, to elaborate half timbered buildings as
seen at Hawford in Worcestershire. Later examples, such as the 18th century
dovecote at Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk, often conformed to an octagonal shape.
The ornamental guise of the buildings reinforced their role as a status symbol.
Generally they stood alone in the landscape to be easily distinguishable to the
returning flocks, yet close enough to the house to deter hawks that would prey
on the pigeons. Some were sited within the deer park as part of the living larder,
and, as a reliable supply of water was essential, many were sited near
fishponds. Occasionally dovecotes were combined with other buildings: for
example at Downhill, Northern Ireland the dovecote forms the upper half of the
ice house, and at Calke Abbey in Derbyshire and Belton House in Lincolnshire
the dovecote forms the second storey of the stable.
By the 18th century, improved winter fodder made it possible to stagger the
slaughter of cattle, sheep and pigs for year round consumption, resulting in the
decline of large scale pigeon keeping. However dovecotes continued to be built
as ornamental features in the landscape, and today the birds descendants flock
freely in the parks and cities regarded more as a nuisance than a delicacy.
Recipe
Casseroled Pigeon with herbs and spices
4 pigeons (oven ready), 12 large garlic cloves, 4 teaspoons chopped fresh
thyme, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, salt and freshly milled black
pepper, dripping for frying, half pint chicken stock, juice of half a lemon, large
pinch of ground ginger, pinch of saffron strands, half teaspoon ground
cinnamon, fresh herbs to garnish.
Stuff each pigeon with 3 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon thyme and half teaspoon
parsley, season with salt and pepper, then brown the pigeons in the dripping in
a casserole. Pour over the stock, add lemon juice, ginger, saffron and
cinnamon. Cover with a lid and cook in the centre of a moderate oven (180C,
350F, gas mark 4) for 1-1.5 hours until tender. Serve on a slice of wholemeal
toast, garnish with the fresh herbs. Serves 4.
Adapted from a recipe in the Forme of Cury, c.1300 (Behind the Scenes, Christine Hardyment)
Some Dovecotes at National Trust Properties

Antony House, Cornwall
Bateman's, East Sussex
Benthall Hall,Shropshire
Blaise Hamlet, Bristol
Bruton, Somerset Impressive ruin of a 16th century dovecote
Chartwell, Kent
Chastleton House, Oxfordshire Lower half provides shelter for cattle
Claremont, Surrey A summerhouse converted back to a dovehouse
Cliveden, Berkshire Decorative dovecote in the grounds
Cotehele, Cornwall Early round stone dovecote
Downhill Castle, Northern Ireland Dovecote forms upper half of ice house
Dunster Castle, Somerset An early, possibly Norman, circular dovecote
Erddig, Clwyd
Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk 18th century hexagonal dovecote
Gunby Hall, Lincolnshire
Hawford, Worcestershire
Kinwarton, Warwickshire
Little Moreton Hall
Morville Hall, Shropshire
Mount Stewart, Northern Ireland
Nymans, West Sussex
Speke Hall, Liverpool
Snowshill Manor, Worcestershire
Springhill, Northern Ireland
Stoke sub Hamdon Priory, Somerset
Winchenford, Worcestershire
Willington, Bedfordshire Unusual, resembling Scottish and French dovecotes
Images Antony(3159), Nymans(171329), Chastleton (58357), Tattersall (94325)
Bibliography
Dovecotes by Peter and Jean Hansell (Shire Publications Ltd, 1988)
Hardyment (National Trust Enterprises Ltd, 1997)
FISH PONDS
From the early Middle Ages most manorial and particularly monastic
establishments had fish ponds for the provision of food, since before the
reformation in 1530 the Christian diet was to always eat fish on Fridays. In 1496
Dame Juliana Barnes wrote the Boke of St Albans, a treatise on fishing, which
included recipes for fish dishes, soups, stocks and preserves. Fish ponds and
stew ponds became a significant part of the self sufficient estate and much was
written about their construction and maintenance, and the husbandry of fish
keeping. Large establishments would have chains of fish ponds linked by
sluices, in which fish were bred; evidence of these can still be seen at
Baddesley Clinton in the West Midlands. Stew ponds, where the fish were
fattened and purged of muddy water before being taken to the kitchen, were
situated close to the house.
Despite a gradual decline in the use of fish ponds in the post medieval period,
they continued to be valued for their profitable and ornamental use well into the
18th century. In 1713, Roger North states In his Discourse of fish and Fishponds
that the stews should be near the house where the fish can be taken with little
trouble, fenced from robbers and where they will also be 'an ornament to the
walks', reinforcing the notion that before the revised aesthetics of the eighteenth
century, the combination of 'beauty and use' was a prevalent consideration of
the self sufficient estate.
Fish ponds were generally between four and six acres in size. By the 18th
century many were transformed into naturalistic lakes to complement the
landscape prevalent at the time. This usually involved the softening of the hard
rectangular outline such as at Canons Ashby in Northamptonshire and Felbrigg
in Norfolk, where the original ponds were enlarged into an ornamental lake in
the 1750s. At Kedleston in Derbyshire, Robert Adam designed the Fishing
Room in 1770-2, ornamented with stone carvings and still life paintings of fish
and seascapes, its ornamental qualities supported by its functions as boat
house, picnic room and cold bath. At Wallington in Northumberland, the
fishponds had an unusual siding to divert the water in winter to a shallow pool
where ice could be collected for the nearby icehouse.
The fish most suitable for fish ponds were carp, bream, tench, roach, dace,
perch, pike and trout, and it was customary to flavour the fish with plants that
grew in the ponds in which they lived, for example watercress for perch, and
thyme for trout. With improved refrigeration techniques in the 19th and 20th
centuries, ocean fish became more available and most fish ponds were
inevitably filled in.
Recipe
Sauce for pike
Put in a stewpan a little ham cut fine, a few shalots, and a little parsley, thyme,
and a few peppercorns, a blade of mace, and a little stock. Put it on a very slow
fire till it comes to a fine glaze. Put in some good stock. Let it boil and take off all
the fat. Strain it and make it a proper consistency for sauce. Season it with a
very little cayenne, lemon juice, and a dash of sherry.
(From Christina Fairfax-Lucy's 1911 recipe book, Charlecote Park)
Some Fish Ponds at National Trust Properties

Baddesley Clinton, West Midlands Evidence of chains of medieval fishpond
Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire Original medieval fishpond
Horton Court, Gloucestershire Archaeological remains of Fishponds
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire Lake and Fishing Pavilion
Images
Fishing Pavilion, Kedleston (NTPL2625)
Fishing scene, detail, Upton House (NTPL 12995)
Fish display, Overbecks (NTPL 159865)
Painting, detail (NTPL 73645)
Bibliography
Parkland, Graham Harvey, (The National Trust Enterprises Ltd, 2002)
The English Country Estate, James Martin Robinson, (Century in association
with The National Trust, 1988)
Hardyment, (National Trust Enterprises Ltd, 1997)
The Art of Dining, Sara Paston-Williams, (National Trust Enterprises Ltd, 1999)
FRUIT
The cultivation of fruit has been a significant aspect of gardening, not only in
Britain but throughout the world. Thomas Tusser in his Five Hundreth Pointes
of Good Husbandrie, written in 1590, lists 27 different fruit trees and bushes
including medieval favourites such as a wide range of apples, medlars, pears,
quinces, plums, damsons and bullaces, cherries, grapes, strawberries,
mulberries, bilberries and gooseberries, as well as newer introductions such
as apricots and melons.
Generally apples and pears were grown in orchards, grapes for wine making
in vineyards, cherries, apricots and peaches would be grown along the walls
in the garden, and dwarf fruiting trees in compartments of the garden. The
wide variety of fruit grown was an indication of status and wealth, and the
manipulation of fruit trees in the 17th century garden by training and grafting
paid homage to mans control over nature. On visiting Coleshill in Wiltshire in
the late 17th century, Celia Fiennes noted the fruit trees displayed in the
formal gardens which had: 'many steps and tarresses and gravel walkes with
all sorts of dwarfe trees, fruit trees with standing apricock and flower trees,
abundance of garden roome and filled with all sorts of things improved for
pleasure and use; conveying the ornamental and prestigious value of fruit
in the formal garden.
In the 18th century, specific fruit gardens were planted with an 'upper' crop,
such as apples, pears, cherries, plums and walnuts, beneath which they
planted a 'lower' crop of raspberries, gooseberries, currants and strawberries.
Vines and passionfruit were occasionally grown as swags between the trees.
In the 18th and 19th centuries glasshouses were developed not only to force
fruit for year round availability, but also to grow tender and exotic varieties
such as grapes, peaches, oranges and, most prestigious of all, the pineapple.
Viola Bankes recalled the fruit grown in the glasshouses at Kingston Lacey in
the early 20th century: yellow guavas and melons trained to grow upright on
the walls. There were all kinds of berries in mouth watering profusion, even
huge, sweet strawberries in February, as well as both red and white
raspberries, red and green gooseberries and purple loganberries.
Fruit would be enjoyed fresh as part of the dessert but was also candied,
made into ices and other desserts, or cooked with savoury dishes especially
game. In the 18th century, the wealthy began to spend the 'season' in London,
so fruit and other produce would be sent to their town address, carefully
packaged to ensure they arrived in perfect condition.
Recipe
'Raspbery Creame
Take a quart of Creame put it to boyle. Beat the whites of 3 Eggs well, and
when it hath boyled well, put in your Eggs with a leaf of Mace and a slice of
Lemon pill. Boyle it till it thicken, season it with sugar, then strain it, and beat it
well in your dish, then having your Rasberryes well stewed, mix them with
your Creame, stir it up with some of the Juice of them, you must also put in
some Amber, and serve it up.'
From Elizabeth Birkett's commonplace book, 1699
(The Art of Dining, Sara Paston-Williams)
Some Fruit at National Trust Properties

Calke Abbey, Derbyshire Old-fashioned gooseberries and other soft fruit,
some of which are for sale, in the Kitchen garden
Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire Greenhouse containing vines, peaches, figs
and nectarines
Erddig, Wrexham
Tatton Park, Cheshire Restored walled garden contains fruit grown in
Edwardian times
Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire Soft Fruit, for use in the restaurant
Images
Gooseberry illustration, Anglesey (NTPL 256)
Peaches trained on wall, Barrington Court (NTPL 22519)
Pineapple illustration, Anglesey (NTPL 83051)
Detail of still life, Dudmaston (NTPL 90544)
Bibliography
The Art of Dining, Sara Paston-Williams, (National Trust Enterprises Ltd,
1999)
Forgotten Fruits, Christopher Stocks, (Random House, 2008)
The Illustrated Journeys of Celia Fiennes, Christopher Morris, ed, (Webb and
Bower, 1982)
GAME AND THE SPORTING GUN

In 1661, the Dutch traveller William Schellinks commented on the estate of Sir
Arnold Braems at Bridge in Kent: 'His people go out hunting every day and catch a
lot of partridges and pheasants, which we had every day on the table'. From this it
is clear that game was an important source of both food and sport for the landed
gentry, ultimately influencing the landscape parks of the 18th century.
The Game Act of 1671 ensured that only those who owned land worth more than
100 per year could legally take game, reinforcing the status of landownership as a
symbol of wealth and power. However, the need for food ensured that the
peasants would continue to poach despite increasingly harsh game laws.
Historically, game birds would have been trapped under nets or taken by hawks, a
popular medieval sport. However by the late 17th century, developments in farming
and agriculture, together with increased deforestation, led to changes in the
countryside which influenced the methods of hunting. Shooting as a sport became
increasingly fashionable due in part to the latest developments in the sporting gun.
As a result, the number of game birds raised within the new landscaped parks
increased. Wooded areas, particularly coniferous, provided ideal game cover. Hill
top coverts, belts and scattered clumps of woodland were planted in the 18th
century not only to improve the view but also to benefit the shoot. The 19th century
was the great age of shooting with large expensive shoots organised on many
estates. Pheasant was the bird most suited to the newly styled sport and they were
bred in such quantities that John Byng commented in 1787 on a visit to Blenheim:
'in various parts of the park...clusters of faggots around a coop, where are hatched
and reared such quantities of pheasants that I almost trod upon them in the grass.'
18th century game birds consisted of pheasant, partridge, grouse, plover, quail,
lapwing, woodcock, snipe and teal, with fewer smaller birds caught than previously,
although larks were an exception to the rule. At Shugborough in Staffordshire the
inventory of 1760 lists 15 lark-spits. Ducks were also caught by decoys, netted
channels on a framework of hoops which became quite common in parks in the
17th and 18th centuries. Game larders were built in some estates, situated away
from the house to avoid the unpleasant smell of hanging game. However they were
usually elaborately decorated and visited by guests enabling the host to show off
his sporting prowess. There are good examples at Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire
and Uppark in Sussex. At Farnborough Hall in Warwickshire the game larder was
designed by Sanderson Miller.
Recipe
'Pheasant a la Braise
Lay a layer of beef all over your pan, then a layer of veal, a little piece of bacon, a
piece of carrot, an onion stuck with cloves, a blade or two of mace, a spoonful of
pepper black and white, a bundle of sweet herbs; then lay in the pheasant, lay a
layer of veal and then a layer of beef to cover it, set it on the fire five or six minutes,
then pour in two quarts of boiling gravy; cover it close and let it stew very softly for
an hour and a half, then take up your pheasant, keep it hot, and let the gravy boil
till there is about a pint; then strain it off and put it in again, and put in a veal
sweetbread, first being stewed with the pheasant; then put in some truffles and
morels, some livers of fowls, artichoke-bottoms, and asparagus-tops (if you have
them); let these simmer in the gravy for about five or six minutes, then add two
spoonfuls of catchup, two of red wine, and a little piece of butter rolled in flour, a
spoonful of browning, shake all together, put in your pheasant, let them stew all
together with a few mushrooms about five or six minutes more, then take up your
pheasant and pour your ragoo all over, with a few force-met balls. Garnish with
lemon. You may lard it if you chose.'
The Art of Cookery made Plain & Easy, Hannah Glasse, (London, 1796 )
(From The Jane Austen Cookbook, Maggie Black and Deirdre Le Faye)
Some Game Larders at National Trust Properties

Boarstall, Buckinghamshire A rare surviving duck decoy in working order
Farnborough Hall, Warwickshire Designed by Sanderson Miller
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
Stackpole, Pembrokeshire
Uppark, Sussex
Images
Pheasant (NTPL 142054)
Shooting Party, Felbrigg (NTPL52758)
Game Larder, Felbrigg (NTPL 53910)
Game Larder, Dunham Massey (NTPL 132382)
Bibliography
The Journal of William Schellinks (The Royal Historical Society, 1993)
The English Country Estate, James Martin Robinson, (Century in association with
The National Trust, 1988)
HERBS AND THE STILL ROOM

Herbs had traditionally been grown in large monastic gardens where medicinal
potions and lotions were concocted. Many herbs, such as comfrey, were
brought back by the crusaders in the middle ages, and could be used in a
variety of ways such as in tea, made into poultices or distilled as a digestive.
Most gardens in Medieval Britain would have grown healing plants, or herbs,
such as rosemary, parsley, sage, marjoram, thyme, several varieties of mint,
angelica, basil, bay, chervil, dill, fennel, lemon balm, lovage, rue, and tarragon.
The herbs would have been grouped into specific types and grown in geometric
beds. In the Elizabethan period, herbs were sometimes grown in a separate
physic garden, the domain of the housewife, where they were cultivated not
only for their medicinal properties but also for their culinary and cosmetic uses,
and included many plants now grown mainly for their flowers such as roses,
honeysuckle and lilies.
The garden provided the ingredients for the still room, a domestic laboratory for
producing medicinal concoctions, perfumes, and preserves distilled from the
herbs, flowers and fruit; these could also be dried, candied or made into
cordials. The still room would have been equipped with a furnace and a variety
of stills for the extraction, or distilling, of the essential oils, flavours and
medicinal properties from the flowers, seeds and root. The heyday of home
distilling was from the Elizabethan until the Georgian periods, with still rooms
not only found in the households of the wealthy, but even small houses and
farms. In 1594, Sir Hugh Platt described the rafters upon which herbs were
dried which pots you may let down at your pleasure in apt frames with a pulley
from your Chamber window into your garden
Marigolds and violets were candied for sweets, roses were turned into rose
water and the buds candied and eaten at banquets or served as a snack.
Marigolds were also used as a vegetable dye used in butter and cheese
making, and their petals dried and used in broths and stews. Violets, primroses,
cowslips and borage flowers were candied to preserve them and combined with
egg and cream or curds as fillings for tarts. For winter salads, flowers were
preserved in gallipots topped up with vinegar both for shew and use, for they
are more excellent for taste than for to look on.
Household items such as candles made from beeswax, polishes and soaps
were also made in the still-room but, towards the 19th century as a wider variety
of products became commercially available, it was used more as an auxiliary
room linked to the kitchen for making preserves, and where the children of the
house might come to be entertained by making toffees and biscuits.
Recipe
Crystallised Roots, Fruits or Flowers
Dissolve sugar, or sugar-candy in Rosewater. Boile it to an height. Put in your
roots, fruits or flowers, the sirrop being cold. Then rest a little, after take them
out, and boyl the sirrop again. Then put in more roots, etc. Then boyl the sirrop
the third time to an hardnesse, putting in more Sugar, but not Rosewater. Put in
the roots, etc. the sirrop being cold, and let them stand till they candy.
From The English Hus-wife, Gervase Markham, 1615
(The Art of Dining, Sarah Paston-Williams, p.120)
Some Herb Gardens and Still-Rooms at National Trust Properties

Acorn Bank, Cumbria Over 180 types grown in small walled garden
Dunham Massey, Cheshire Still Room
Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire Inventory for the still room from 1710 exists
Erddig, Wrexham Still Room
Ham House, London Still Room
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire Herb Garden
Moseley Old Hall, Staffordshire Herb Garden
Petworth, West Sussex Still Room
Sissinghurst Castle, Kent Herb Garden created by Vita Sackville-West
Springhill, Co Londonderry Still Room. Spent currants from making blackcurrant
whiskey were thrown into the yard where they were eaten by the poultry!
Tatton Park, Cheshire Still Room. The Egerton children had their own
implements for making sweets and biscuits.
Uppark, West Sussex Still Room
Images
Angelica (NTPL 86776)
Herb Garden, Buckland Abbey (NTPL 92005)
Borage (NTPL 84937)
Jars in the Still Room (NTPL 143316)
Bibliography
A Little History of British Gardening, Jenny Uglow (Chatto and Windus 2004)
A Country Herbal, Lesley Gordon (Webb & Bower, 1980)
THE HOME FARM

Every country gentlemanbe a farmer to a certain extent; the size of his farm
to be determined by the wants of his family. This was the recommendation of
John Louden in 1833 at a time of agricultural innovation, indicating a shift away
from the holistic approach to the garden as a place of pleasure and profit. The
deer park as the living larder was superseded by livestock and crops produced
on a larger more efficient scale, feeding not only the immediate household but
also the local community.
From the Middle Ages onwards, barns for livestock and other ancillary buildings
were arranged around or next to the manor house; the deer park would hold not
only deer but cattle, sheep and horses, and the ornamental ponds and
dovecotes that adorned the landscape would contain fish and poultry. As late as
1820, the Argory in Northern Ireland, a neo-classical gentlemans residence
was built with the poultry yard, dairy, cattle yard, piggery, coach house and
stables all arranged behind the main house. On a smaller scale, cottagers kept
a pig if possible, sharing the meat with their neighbours.
However, during the 18th century there was a move towards separation of the
aesthetic and productive estate which coincided with advances in agricultural
technology, and the Home Farm evolved into a separate entity. Although
utilitarian in concept, it was very much a status symbol of the estate where the
latest farming methods and exotic breeds, such as the highly prized white cattle,
were shown off to visiting guests; this is reflected in the choice of fashionable
architects who were commissioned to design the buildings. At Wimpole in
Cambridgeshire for example, the Home Farm was rebuilt in 1794 to the designs
of Sir John Soane, and at Shugborough in Staffordshire, the buildings were
designed by Samuel Wyatt in 1805. One of the most revolutionary examples
was at Coleshill in Wiltshire, where a Model Farm was established in 1854 at a
time of agricultural prosperity and innovation. It was created to make use of the
latest agricultural practices and technologies, both in building design and
livestock husbandry. Its layout was innovative yet practical and the design was
notable for the use of sloping and split level sites. The farm buildings were
designed for a mixed farming system, including grain, root crops and various
livestock enterprises. Cattle, sheep and pigs, in which the Earl of Radnor took
special interest, were bred, fattened and over wintered in the buildings. Stock
feed and manure was distributed around the farm along tramways that made
use of the gradients. The farm was mainly horse-powered, although steampower was used in the granary and mixing room. Today, the Model Farm
remains well preserved and open to the public, with produce for sale in the local
estate shop.
Recipe
Roast ribs of beef
'To roast a piece of beef about ten pounds will take an hour and a half, at a
good fire...Observe, in frosty weather your beef will take half an hour longer. Be
sure to paper the top, and baste it well all the time it is roasting, and throw a
handful of salt on it. When you see the smoke draw to the fire, it is near enough;
then take off the paper, baste it well, and drudge it with a little flour to make a
fine froth: take up your meat, and garnish your dish with nothing but horseradish. Never salt your roast meat before you lay it to the fire, for that draws out
all the gravy...'
The Art of Cookery made Plain & Easy, Hannah Glasse, (London, 1796)
(From The Jane Austen Cookbook, Maggie Black and Dierdre Le Faye)
Some Home Farms at National Trust Properties

Buscot Park, Oxfordshire In 1859 Robert Tertius Campbell created one of the
most highly industrialised farms of the 19th century at his country estate.
Chirk, Wrexham
Coleshill Estate, Wiltshire Model Farm established in 1854 using latest
practices and technologies
Llanerchaeron, Ceredigion 18th century Welsh gentry estate designed and built
by John Nash. Still in use as an organic working farm
Shugborough, Staffordshire Buildings designed by Samuel Wyatt in 1805
Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire Home Farm rebuilt in 1794 to the designs of Sir
John Soane
Images
White Park Bull (NTPL 38546)
Farm Building, Godolphin (NTPL 163944)
Gloucester Old Spot, Wimpole Hall (NTPL 155435)
Farm Labourer, Clandon (NTPL 143649)
Bibliography
N.T Website (Coleshill)
HOP GARDENS AND BREW HOUSES

Brewing is an ancient skill preceding the invasion of the Romans who despised
ale and set about establishing vineyards to make their own wine. Ironically
however it was the Romans who brought hops to Britain for use as a vegetable,
where they were continued to be used as such well into the 19th century.
William Cobbett wrote that hop shoots are as delightful a vegetable as ever
was put on a table, not yielding, during about the three weeks that it is in
season, to the asparagus itself. Hops were used as a yellow dye for wool, the
stems could be made into coarse cloth used for sacking, and the oil was used in
perfumery. However, hops were more commonly used in brewing, which was
usually carried out in the same building as bread making where they shared
chimneys, fuel, and ingredients, both requiring malt and yeast.
Medieval brewing was considered womans work, being an indoor occupation.
However, by the 18th century men had taken over. Ale, originally made from
malted barley, was the favoured drink in the medieval period, with beer, made
from hops, becoming popular in the late 15th century: this distinction does not
apply today as both ale and beer contain hops. Although beer was originally
considered less beneficial to health than ale, all fermented drink was certainly
safer than plain water which carried diseases such as chillers and typhoid. The
process of brewing, which included boiling the hops to add flavour and inhibit
bacteria, and fermenting the sugar into alcohol by the addition of yeast,
produced a sterile drink with infection resistant qualities.
By the 18th century beer was regarded principally as a drink for the servants,
valued for its nutritional qualities and essential to the diet of hard working
labourers. At Shugborough, in Staffordshire, beer was used as part payment to
staff, including the maids; accounts from 1819, for example, indicate that the
household consumed about 24 gallons a day, with the head laundry maid
receiving half a gallon a day! At Dunham Massey, Cheshire, in 1822 the twenty
or so resident servants were drinking one 60 gallon barrel of beer every week,
averaging 24 pints each a week, although in reality men were allocated twice
the amount as women. It would be drunk at every meal, including breakfast.
In the 18th century in urban regions, the growth of commercial breweries
heralded the decline in home brewed ales, although in rural areas the tradition
continued well into the 20th century, by, amongst others, the eccentric Sir Henry
Dryden at Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire. Sir Harry was a keen maker of
home brewed beer who, in the late 19th century, would dress up as a tramp, and
invite travellers back to his ancient kitchen to taste his particular brand spiked
with bicarbonate of soda for extra fizz!
Recipe
Hop Shoots as a Vegetable
The hop shoots, harvested in April, are cut when about four to five inches long
and bunched like asparagus. They are boiled gently for about thirty minutes and
served with butter. Delicious!
(From The Kitchen Garden, A Historical Guide to Traditional Crops, by David C. Stuart)
Some Brewhouses at National Trust Properties

Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire
Charlecote Park, Warwickshire Tudor with 18th century fittings
Hailes Abbey, Gloucestershire
Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire One of the earliest surviving country house breweries
Philipps House, Wiltshire
Sissinghurst Castle, Kent Hop Garden and Oast House
Shugborough, Staffordshire Working Brewery
Springhill, Co Londonderry 17th century
Stackpole Court, Pembrokeshire Remains of Brewery
Images
Hops, Sissinghurst Castle (NTPL 160314)
Oast House, Sissinghurst Castle (NTPL 110366)
Brewhouse, Charlecote Park (NTPL 92239)
Window at Oxburgh Hall (NTPL 26002)
Bibliography
The Kitchen Garden, A Historical Guide to Traditional Crops, David C. Stuart
(Robert Hale Ltd., 1984)
A Country House at Work, Pamela Sambrook, (National Trust Enterprises Ltd,
2003)
ICE HOUSES
Ice houses were used as long store larders for fish, game, poultry and butter,
and throughout the summer supplied ice for cooling drinks and desserts. Ice
cream, a Georgian favourite, was served in various forms, often fruit shaped,
made possible by the variety of lead ice cream moulds that became available.
Most ice houses in Britain were built after the Restoration, the idea possibly
being brought back to England by Royalists after returning from exile on the
continent. John Evelyn, one such traveller, included a 'conservatorie of ice and
snow' in his unexecuted plan for a royal garden. The ice house at Felbrigg Hall
in Norfolk has a brick dated 1633, although it is believed to be of a much later
date.
The standard for an English ice house consisted of a deep conical, or egg
shaped, brick lined pit, twenty feet deep from the crown of the dome to the
bottom and twelve feet in diameter, in which ice could be stored for two years or
more. The construction of ice houses was vital to their efficiency and they had
to be free from damp. Those dug in chalky or gravel soils were more successful
than those in clay or heavy loam.
Ice houses were filled from nearby frozen ponds and lakes, the ice having to be
at least two inches thick and as clear as crystal since it would not keep as long
if it contained impurities. It was then broken up into the smallest pieces
possible, thrown in through the roof or doorway of the ice pit and rammed down,
the sides packed with straw for insulation. Packed snow was occasionally used:
for example in April 1790, Robert Copeman, the steward of Blickling Hall in
Norfolk, wrote to Lady Buckinghamshire: 'There was a great fall of snow this
afternoon, as soon as ever it was thick enough I spoke to the Gardeners and
had as many Labourers as I could. The ice house is about half full; the men
kept at it to between 9 and 10 o'clock.' The dangerous job of filling the ice house
was dreaded by most as waterproof clothing was not yet available and it was
almost inevitable that someone would fall into the freezing water while gathering
the ice. In 1809 at Killerton in Devon, the ice house took 30 men more than 5
days to fill with 40 tons of ice, which would hopefully last two to three years.
By the mid 19th century ice was also bought and sold commercially, delivered by
river or canal, often imported from North America and Norway. Country houses
such as Wightwick Manor near Wolverhampton kept large ice boxes in their
larders or cellars to store ice that was delivered to the local rail station and
collected by horse and cart. By the 1880s over a quarter of a million tons of
Norwegian ice were imported each year and stored commercially, but by the
beginning of the 20th century modern refrigeration units rendered the ice house
obsolete.
Recipe
Orange ice cream
Squeeze the juice of eight sweet oranges in a bowl, add to it half a pint of
water, and as much sugar as will sweeten it; strain it through a sieve, put it into
an ice well, and freeze it till it is stiff; put it into a lead pine-apple mould, wrap it
well up in paper, put it into a pail of ice, and salt under and over it, and let it
stand for three hours. When you want it, dip your pine-apple in cold water, turn
it out on a plate, green the leaves of the pineapple with spinage juice, and
garnish it with leaves. You may put this cream into melon and pear moulds. If a
melon, you must green it with spinage juice;-if a pear mould, you must streak it
with red.
From The complete House-Keeper and Professed CookBy Mary Smith 1772, House keeper
at Wallington, Northumberland (The Art of Dining, Sara Paston-Williams)
Some Icehouses at National Trust Properties

Biddulph Grange Garden, Staffordshire
Blickling Hall, Norfolk
Castle Coole, Co Fermanagh
Castle Ward, Co Down
Croome Park, Worcestershire
Dinefwr Park, Carmarthenshire
Downhill, Co Londonderry
Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk
Florence Court, Co Fermanagh
Greys Court, Oxfordshire
Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire
Hatchlands, Surrey
Killerton, Devon
Penrhyn Castle, Gwynedd
Scotney Castle, Kent
Shugborough, Staffordshire
Stourhead, Wiltshire
Wallington, Northumberland
West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire
Images
Filling the icehouse
Greys Court icehouse (NTPL 49944)
Icehouse interior
Victorian ice creams (NTPL 45877)
Bibliography
Icehouses, Tim Buxbaum (Shire Publications Ltd., 2002)
The Ice Houses of Cheshire, Ian C. Laurie (North West Landscape group, 1986)
WALLED KITCHEN GARDENS

Early gardens combined the qualities of pleasure and use, with herbs, flowers, fruit
and vegetables or 'pot-herbs', being grown together. Most plants would have had
some practical use whether as food, medicine or cosmetic. In the 17th century, rare
ornamental flowers were beginning to be introduced and plants became valued purely
for their aesthetic qualities: the notion of growing vegetables in specific areas was
beginning to take hold. These areas, or kitchen gardens, were usually situated close
to the house for practical reasons, though they still retained their decorative qualities.
Fruit, regarded as a status symbol, continued to be grown in all areas of the garden
as dwarf standards or trained on walls, as depicted in early 18th century birds eye
views of the great estates recorded by artists such as Kip and Knyff. The 18th century
saw a shift in fashion from the formal to the 'natural' landscape style of gardening,
and the kitchen garden was situated out of sight.
The high point of walled kitchen gardens was in the 18th and 19th centuries. They
were designed to produce fruit and vegetables over an artificially prolonged season.
The average size of the garden was 1.5 acres, though much larger in big estates, and
enclosed with walls of about 12 foot in height which screened the garden from the
house and also provided a suitable microclimate in which to grow the produce. In the
18th century, walls were often heated by a furnace system of horizontal flues and
supported glass lean-tos to encourage early fruiting of peaches and apricots. Fresh
dung and tanners bark were essential for raising prestigious fruit such as melons and
pineapples, and bell jars and cloches provided protection for early produce.
The layout of the kitchen garden consisted four main beds or 'quarters' separated by
rolled paths and planted in rotation with various brassicas, legumes, onions, and root
crops. Borders against the walls contained mainly fruit trees and bushes, often
espaliered against the wall to benefit from the additional heat, and also salad crops.
Perennial vegetables such as globe artichokes and asparagus had their own separate
borders. Some gardens contained a mushroom house and a dipping pond usually
featured in the centre of the garden supplying water for dry spells. By the 19th century,
vast glass house structures were created using newly developed engineering
techniques to grow exotic fruit and flowers which their owners were proud to show off
to visiting guests. After the First World War the expense of maintaining kitchen
gardens became prohibitive and many were grassed over or fell into disrepair.
However a renewed appreciation of the horticultural value of these walled gardens,
together with the current interest in growing fruit and vegetables, has resulted in the
restoration of several surviving examples.
Recipe
White Mushroom Fricassee
'Take a quart of fresh mushrooms, make them very clean, cut the largest ones in two,
put them in a stew pan with four spoonfuls of water, a blade of mace, a piece of
lemon peel; cover your pan close, and stew them gently for half an hour, beat up the
yolks of two eggs with half a pint of cream, and a little nutmeg grated in it, take out the
mace and lemon peel, put in the eggs and cream, keep it stirring one way all the time
till it is thick, season with salt to your palate; squeeze a little lemon-juice in, butter the
crust of a French roll and toast it brown; put it in your dish and the mushrooms over.
N.B: Be careful not to squeeze the lemon-juice in till they are finished and ready to
put in your dish, then squeeze it in, and stir them about for a minute, then put them in
your dish.'
The Art of Cookery made Plain & Easy, Hannah Glasse, (London, 1796 )
(From The Jane Austen Cookbook, Maggie Black and Dierdre Le Faye)
Some Working Walled Kitchen Gardens at National Trust Properties

Arlington Court, Devon
Barrington Court, Somerset
Beningbrough Hall, Yorkshire
Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire
Coleshill, Wiltshire
Greys Court, Oxfordshire
Ham House, London
Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire
Knightshayes Court, Devon
Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk
Snowshill Manor, Gloucestershire
Tintinhull, Somerset
Trengwainton, Cornwall
Upton House, Warwickshire
Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire
Images
Felbrigg (NTPL 16467)
Espalier Apples, Westbury Court (NTPL 087345)
Melon in Glasshouse, Clumber (NTPL 169174)
Table decoration, Lyme Park (NTPL 106700)
Bibliography
The Art of Dining, Sara Paston-Williams, (National Trust Enterprises Ltd,1999)
The History of Kitchen Gardening, Susan Campbell (Francis Lincoln Ltd, 2005)
ORANGERIES
Oranges have been a much coveted fruit in Britain since the 16th century. Lord
Burghley and Sir Francis Carew of Beddington in Surrey are thought to have
been the first to grow them in this country. Carew bought his trees in France in
1562. The trees would have been planted in the open ground, with winter
shelter being provided by, according to John Evelyn, a tabernackle of boards
warmed by means of stoves.
By the 18th century the orangery had developed into an often classical style
building with long south facing windows and a solid opaque roof, an
architectural feature sited either adjacent to the house, or as an eyecatcher
within the park, an example being temple greenhouse at Croome in
Worcestershire. The terms greenhouse and orangery were interchangeable at
this time, greens being the term for evergreen plants which were generally
considered tender.
The fruit grown in the orangeries was an important ingredient in the estate
kitchens, where ever more elaborate and exotic dishes were created to impress
the guests. As early as 1605, Sir Hugh Platt, in his Delights for ladies, gives
instructions for keeping orange juice all year round to make sauces and drinks.
Not only was the fruit consumed, but the tiny shoots of the citrus seedlings were
also served as a salad.
By the end of the 17th century, along with orange and lemon trees,
pomegranates and myrtles, the Duchess of Beaufort, a keen collector of
exotics, was growing custard apples, bananas, aloes, figs, guavas and cacti in
her orangery. Other plants grown in the orangery by the 18th century were
tender ornamental evergreens such as jasmines and oleanders, along with
hibiscus and geraniums, all grown for their scent and beauty.
Traditionally, pots were placed in a sheltered position in the most formal areas
of the garden, either integrated within a parterre or along a terrace or a wall.
The Orange Tree garden at Chiswick in London was a flagship of the new style
that was evolving in the 18th century. It was designed by William Kent as an
Italianate amphitheatre of turf steps dotted in summer with orange trees in tubs.
The orangery originally referred to the area of garden where the orange pots
were displayed in the summer.
In the summer months, when it was empty of its pots, the orangery was used to
display artifacts such as sculpture or maps, and would be used for entertaining
and parties, drinking tea, playing cards or quiet relaxation away from the house.
Recipes
Orange Seedlings in Salad
'Orange seedlings impart an aromatic exceedingly grateful to the stomach'
(John Evelyn)
Sow orange or lemon, pips about one cm down in good potting soil. Put a tall
plastic bag over the top, with a rubber band. Leave in a dark warm place, and
keep the soil moist. Shoots appear 7-14 days later, and can be cut and
scattered over salads like mustard and cress.
From Food With the Famous, Jane Grigson, (Grub Street, 1991)
Some Orangeries at National Trust Properties

Blickling Hall, Norfolk 1782
Charlecote Park, Warwickshire 1857, Now a tea room
Cliveden, Buckinghamshire
Croome Park, Worcestershire
Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire Early18th Century
Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk 1707
Ham House, Richmond Now a tea room
Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire 1730s, Traditional display of citrus outside in
summer
Ickworth, Suffolk
Knole, Kent
Lyme Park, Cheshire
Montacute House, Somerset
Peckover House, Cambridgeshire
Powis Castle, Powys
Saltram, Devon
Tatton Park, Cheshire 1818
The Vyne, Hampshire
West Green House, Hampshire
Images
Orangery, Dunham Massey (NTPL 91663)
Painting of Oranges, Anglesey Abbey (NTPL 64762)
Portrait of Sarah Lascelles holding an orange, Uppark (NTPL 39287)
Candied Oranges (NTPL 80663)
Bibliography
ORCHARDS
Orchards were a highly valued component of the medieval garden for both their
ornamental and productive qualities. Traditionally, the trees were planted a
quincunx formation, like the 'five' on a dice. Shady alleys and grassy walks
studded with flowers such as violets, daisies and periwinkles, together with the
blossom and fruit of the apple trees evoked the idealised notion of the Garden
of Eden. The aesthetic aspect of the orchard in the wider context of the self
sufficient estate is captured in the writings of Gerald of Wales of Manorbier
Castle near Pembroke where he remembered in 1147 'a fine fish pond under
the walls, as conspicuous for its grand appearance as for the depth of water,
and a beautiful orchard on the same side enclosed on one part by a vineyard
and on the other by a wood...of hazel trees on a rocky eminence.'
Britain is the only country with distinction between cooking and dessert apples;
relatively few dessert apples were grown before the 16th century, many having
disappeared after the Romans left Britain. Raw fruit was not considered good to
eat, believed to cause 'bad stomach' and fevers. However, cooked apples,
prepared with sugar and spices would calm the stomach and ease chest pains,
and were enjoyed by all levels of society. Apples were also used to bulk up
meat dishes. Verjuice, a form of vinegar, was made from apples and used for
preserving and flavouring. However, most of the apples grown were used for
cider making, a very British drink produced predominantly in the West Country,
and considered by John Evelyn in the 17th century to be a match for the best
French wines.
By the mid 17th century, the cultivation of fruit trees reflected the puritanical
notions of productivity and self-sufficiency. Samuel Hartlib in 1655 proposed a
law to make the planting of fruit trees compulsory amongst the landowning
classes, stating in his Treatise Design for Plentie By a Universall Planting of
Fruit Trees that it would be 'for the benefit and public relief of this whole
Nation...for the relief of the poor, the benefit of the rich, and the delight of all'. By
contrast to the puritanical ideologies for a natural God given world, science was
making huge advances in horticulture, particularly in grafting techniques, in
order to manipulate productivity and rate of growth. Pears, more highly
esteemed in France than apples, were also grown, and a few perry orchards
were established, such as the one at Dyrham in Gloucestershire. However, the
British climate best suited the apple, which, by the 19th century, was at the
height of its popularity with hundreds of new dessert varieties being introduced,
only to be followed in the second half of the 20th century by an equally rapid
destruction of two thirds of the countrys orchards.
Recipe
Apple and Cider Scones with Cinnamon Butter
340g self raising flour
30g butter
Pinch of salt
1 teasp baking powder
1 dssp caster sugar
2 apples, cored and grated
150ml dry cider, or mixed half and half with sour cream
Preheat oven to 220C/450F/gas 7. Grease a baking sheet and then sieve the
flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Rub in the butter and
stir in the grated apple. Add enough cider to make a soft dough. Turn on to a
lightly floured work surface, knead briefly and roll out until the dough is a 2cm
thick round. Cut into triangles and put on to the baking sheet. Bake for 12-15
minutes in a preheated oven until lightly golden. Cool on a wire rack.
Serve with some cheese, preserves or flavoured butters.
Cinnamon Butter
Add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1 dessertspoon of icing sugar to every
225g of softened butter. Put in a suitable serving pot and chill until required.
Remember that cinnamon is very powerful, so dont add too much at first if
you think you need more, add some after tasting.
(National Trust Recipe Collection)
Some Orchards at National Trust Properties

Acorn Bank, Cumbria
Ardress House, Co.Armagh
Barrington Court, Somerset
Berrington Hall, Hereford and Worcester
Compton Castle, Devon
Cotehele, Cornwall
Erddig, Clwyd
Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk
Fenton House, London
Hughenden Manor
Nunnington Hall, Yorkshire
Standen, West Sussex
Trelissick, Cornwall
Images
Pears, Hardwick Hall (NTPL 6141)
Illustration of an apple, Anglesey Abbey (NTPL 253)
Cider press, Cotehele (NTPL 157022)
Bottle of cider (NTPL 168527)
Bibliography
The Book of Apples, Joan Morgan, Alison Richards (Ebury Press, 1993)
Behind the Scenes, Christine Hardyment (National Trust Enterprises Ltd, 1997)
POULTRY YARDS
Most medieval cottagers kept hens, ducks and geese; they were only
slaughtered for meat when they were too old to lay eggs. Domestic fowl were
also kept in the courtyard of the manor houses, usually the responsibility of the
dairymaid. Goose was a popular Elizabethan dish roasted with sorrel sauce.
Traditionally birds were served with a sauce made from their own blood mixed
with breadcrumbs, with new sauces being developed such as onion sauce
served with capon or turkey: even more complex were sauces containing wine,
rosewater, spices and sliced oranges.
In the 17th century poultry was regarded as a delicacy, and it became the role of
the lady of the house to supervise the poultry yard. Swans and peacocks,
whose meat was by now regarded as coarse, were superseded by the turkey,
although swans were commonly kept for their stateliness and beauty. Similarly
the peacock was kept more for show than the table. Bustards, on the other
hand, once hunted by greyhounds, were now highly esteemed for eating, and
could be reared on the same food as turkeys.
Poultry yards were considered an ornament to the estate, many being intricately
designed in the latest architectural fashion of the day, and, like the dairy, were a
place considered suitable for ladies to pass the time. Hens, bantams, ducks and
geese would provide the household with eggs and meat. There was a wide
range of breeds, from the flamboyant and exotic to the tame and gentle, each
suited to specific conditions: Anconas laid better when free range, Wyandottes
on the other hand seemed happy enough in a pen, and the small bantams were
valued for their grotesque figures and delicate flesh. Chicken meat continued
to be valued in the 19th century due to exciting new recipes introduced by
French chefs now employed in the most fashionable households.
Despite the picturesque nature of the poultry yard, the husbandry had less
attractive aspects: geese were plucked up to five times a year, as the best
feathers came from live birds and force feeding was commonplace. However,
there was a move towards improved welfare in the 18th and 19th centuries in the
design of poultry yards: for example at Wimpole in Cambridgeshire, Sir John
Soane designed the poultry yard at the home farm, allowing for physical and
aesthetic considerations for the fowl, and in 1842 Jane Loudon described in her
Ladys Country Companion the ideal informal layout for a yard, being at least
half an acre in size, equipped with hen houses, a pond for water fowl, a tree for
roosting and a surface of half gravel, half grass, all protected by a strong fence.
At Saltram, in Devon, it is possible to see an informal poultry yard with ponds
and nesting houses, and Wimpole still has a large poultry yard run on modern
free- range principles.
Recipe
Breast of chicken with leek, mint and watercress sauce x 10
10 chicken breasts
2 tbsp oil
1oz butter
8oz leeks
1 onion
1 bunch watercress
pt white wine
pt double cream
1 pt chicken stock
1 tbsp fresh chopped mint
2 tbsp cornflour
Heat the oil in a pan and seal the chicken breasts, season and transfer to an
oven dish. Bake for 200C for 15 minutes.
Finely chop the leeks and onion, sweat them off in the butter.
Add the wine cream and chicken stock, bring to the boil and thicken with
cornflour. Taste and season.
Finely chop the watercress and mint and add to the finished sauce.
When cooked serve the chicken with the sauce.
(National Trust Recipe Collection)
Some Poultry Yards at National Trust Properties

Saltram, Devon
Ardress, Co. Armagh
Images
Detail of painting, Peckover (NTPL 110334)
Detail of duck in painting, Hindon (NTPL 102087)
Detail of garden painting with fowl, Belton (NTPL 12624)
Poultry maid, Painting (NTPL 93020)
Bibliography
RABBIT WARRENS
The term warren originally meant the right to hunt small game such as
badgers, foxes, rabbits, pigeons, pheasants, partridges and plovers and, most
importantly, the hare. Later, it referred solely to rabbits which had been
introduced to England from the Mediterranean by the Normans in the 12th
century. Rabbits were highly prized in Medieval Britain for their meat and fur,
and warrens became a feature of many estates, usually sited within the deer
park, where they were kept in small enclosures known as coningers. Because
of their Mediterranean origins rabbits needed shelter from the harsh British
weather and therefore special earth works were constructed in the form of flat
topped, rectangular mounds surrounded by shallow ditches known as 'pillow
mounds' arranged in complex patterns of squares or crosses in groups of eighty
or more, remains of which can still be seen at Hatfield Forest in Essex. These
provided the rabbits not only with shelter but also protection from predators,
while making them easier to catch using nets and ferrets.
A warrener, employed to protect the rabbits from poachers, was sometimes
housed in a lodge close by. Occasionally constructed as an ornamental feature
in the park, for example the Triangular Lodge at Lyveden New Bield was a
warreners lodge but played a more significant role in its display of catholic
iconography. It does, however, indicate the status of rabbits at this period,
reinforced by various writers such as the physician Andrew Boorde who states
in Dyettary of Helth (1542), one of the earliest books on diet, 'rabbits flesh is
best of all wild beasts'. It was generally made into pottages and stews, or it
might be given a pudding in his belly, that is, stuffed with bread, suet, herbs
and spices and roasted whole. Henry VII even enforced a 'close' season of
months when they could not be hunted, ensuring their survival. The numbers of
warrens increased in the 17th century, and were sometimes let to neighbouring
farmers. At Felbrigg in Norfolk, the warren was let to Thomas Gosse who
agreed to supply William Wyndham with 300 rabbits a year and to leave the
warren with1300 breeding conies when his lease expired. Selling rabbits
proved lucrative at Knole in Kent, where in 1628 the revenue from rabbit sales
contributed to one fifth of the estates total income for that year!
By the late 18th century, the rabbit population had increased to such an extent
that Viscount Torrington, after visiting Lyme Park in Cheshire, noted in his
diaries: 'Most of the Park is a dreary waste, abandoned to rabbits'. Rabbit meat
had become commonplace, yet about thirty recipes featured in the late 19th
century editions of Mrs Beeton prove that rabbit meat remained popular. The
20th century, however, saw a rapid decline in the popularity of rabbit, a direct
result of myxomatosis, a disease introduced to control their numbers.
Recipe
Rabbit Fricassee
Cut the Rabbits out and lay them into cold water to soak, or if you are in
haste warm and wash them well, so set them over in water in a stew-pan on the
fire till they are boiled enough, then take them out of the liquor and strain it
through a sieve that it may not be discoloured so wash the stew-pan and put in
the meat with the liquor that you strained with three or four blades of mace. Set
on the fire then having ready a cup of cream the juice of half a lemon, two yolks
of eggs, beat up together very well with a little salt, take a little of your hot liquor
about a spoonful and mix with it and by degrees put it all in and either shake or
stir it with a spoon till it is thorough hot so serve it up.
From an 18th-century manuscript found at Canons Ashby.
(The Art of Dining by Sara Paston-Williams)
Some Rabbit Warrens at National Trust Properties

Westbury Court, Gloucestershire Newly recreated warren
Images
Stained glass window, Oxburgh (NTPL 97663)
Rushton Triangular Lodge (Non-NT)
Jack Henshaw, Gamekeeper, Erdigg (NTPL 78545)
Game, detail of painting, Kingston Lacey (NTPL 171)
Bibliography
The Art of Dining, Sara Paston-Williams, (National Trust Enterprises Ltd , 1999)
VEGETABLES
Recipe books of the 16th and 17th centuries show that, contrary to popular belief,
the British diet was rich in a wide variety of vegetables eaten either as salads,
or stewed with meat in a pottage. They would have formed part of the diet for
all sectors of society. Beans, peas, leeks, parsnips and turnips were all grown
by 1500, along with the leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuces, radishes
and sorrel. Cabbage was a popular vegetable, along with cauliflower which was
introduced to England just before 1600, broccoli arriving around a hundred
years later. Potatoes were also introduced in the 16th century, initially the sweet
potato was the most popular variety, described by an Elizabethan traveller as
'the most delicate rootes that may be eaten...more delicious than any sweet
apple sugred'. The common potato was slower to take off, becoming a field crop
200 years later.
The root vegetables were stored over the winter months and leaf vegetables
eaten fresh. Cut and come again techniques, as used by the ancient Greeks
and Romans, were practiced to prolong the productivity of the plant. Basil,
lettuce and cabbage were particularly suitable for this method of cultivation, but
it was also applied to beets, borage, orach, greens, and leeks. Earth would be
raked over the stumps in the summer to encourage further sprouting.
From the Middle Ages the traditional method of cooking vegetables was in
pottage, a type of soup where the leaves or roots were cut up small and parboiled in water then simmered in broth, along with meat if possible, until soft. By
the 17th century pottage was going out of fashion, and salads became an
important component of the diet, green salads in summer and boiled salads in
winter, which were cooked in butter seasoned with spices, sugar and vinegar, or
verjuice. A recipe for carrots from 1630 suggests boiling the carrots, then
seasoning with a little cinnamon, ginger and sugar, adding a handful of currants
a little vinegar and a piece of sweet butter, place in another dish and add more
butter and stew gently for a quarter of an hour. Other vegetables cooked in this
way were green beet, spinach or lettuce, mallows, borage, bugloss, chicory,
cauliflowers, sorrel, marigold leaves, watercress, leeks, onions, asparagus and
rocket. The finished dish was often garnished with quarters of hard boiled egg.
Vegetable gardens and allotments were vital for the less well off classes,
whereby in the traditional rural economy food production was a priority.
Allotments date from the land enclosures that dominated in the 18th century
when whole sections of rural society had their land taken away, and they were
offered as small compensation. In the 19th century allotments were provided in
the major cities to which the rural poor had fled.
Recipe
Parsnip and Leek Cakes
450g/1lb parsnips
225g/8oz leeks (cleaned weight)
1 tbsp light vegetable oil
1 tsp curry powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
55g/2 oz fresh breadcrumbs
1 beaten egg
Oil for shallow frying
Peel the parsnips finely and cut into even sized pieces. Boil them in lightly
salted water until tender, drain well and then mash. Thinly slice the leeks and
stew them in the oil until soft. Add the curry powder and cook for a further
minute. Mix this into the parsnip puree and season with salt and pepper, add
the egg and breadcrumbs and mix well. Shape the mixture into eight fishcake
like patties and shallow fry until golden on both sides. Serve with a lightly
dressed salad or a tangy cheese sauce.
(From the National Trust Recipe Collection)
Some Vegetables at National Trust Gardens

Calke Abbey, Derbyshire Traditional vegetable varieties grown
Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire Traditional and modern varieties grown
Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire 17th century vegetables grown
Llanerchaeron, Ceredigion Wide variety grown and sold to visitors
Quarry Bank Mill, Cheshire 19th century vegetable varieties grown
Tatton Park, Cheshire Edwardian varieties grown
Tintinhull Garden, Somerset 1930s vegetables grown
Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire A wide variety grown
Images
Artichoke (NTPL 141444)
Seed packet (non NT)
Swiss Chard (NTPL 167879)
Detail of painting 'Summer' by Valukenborch (NTPL 035658)
Bibliography
The English Garden, a Social History, Charles Quest-Ritson (Viking, 2001)
Acetaria, a Discourse of Sallets, John Evelyn (Prospect Books, 2003)
The Country House Kitchen Garden 1600-1950, C. Anne Wilson (National Trust
Enterprises Ltd., 1998)
Down the Deep Lanes, Peter Beacham (Devon Books, 2000)
ALLOTMENTS
R.P.Lister in his book Allotments has defined an allotment as a portion of a
field assigned to a cottager to labour for himself, or a piece of ground let out
for spare-time cultivation under a public scheme. These definitions provide an
historic as well as a contemporary interpretation of the word.
The evolution of the allotment came about as a result of enclosures of
common land, depriving people of the space they needed to cultivate their
own produce. As early as the Saxon period land had been cleared for
common use, and it was only after the Norman invasion that land ownership
was commandeered by the Crown, the nobility and the church. During the
Middle Ages villagers shared pieces of land or fields around their village which
were split into sections 1 furlong, or about 200 metres, long. This made
ploughing easier. A furlong stretch was split into strips of around half an acre
or less. Each villager had a number of strips allocated at a public meeting at
the start of the year.
The first known mention of 'allotted land' was during the 16th century when
parcels of land were attached to tenant cottages as compensation for the loss
of common land. By 1649, Gerrard Winstanley, together with a group of like
minded men protested that the common people of England had been robbed
of their birthright by the Normans, claiming that all men had a 'right to dig', and
with food prices at an all time high, they took over common land in St Georges
Hill, Surrey, and cultivated it. The 'Diggers' as they became known, were
eventually suppressed, but the concept of the Right to Dig holds true to this
day.
By the 19th century, the continued loss of land through enclosures, together
with the Napoleonic wars and the poor harvests of 1794-6, resulted in an
underclass of poor, hungry disaffected people. The need for a formalised
allotment scheme was apparent. The location of possibly the first official
allotment is at Long Newnton near Tetbury in Gloucestershire, established in
1795. These parcels of land were provided in conjunction with 'potato
grounds' which were used solely for the cultivation of potatoes. In 1845 the
General Enclosures Act was passed, providing the landless poor with a
quarter of an acre plot of land each. However, this scheme was largely
confined to rural areas, and was met with resistance by landowners and
farmers who thought it would make the labouring classes too independent. In
1887 the Allotments and Cottage Gardens Compensation for Crops Act gave
Local Authorities power to acquire land for allotments, and in 1908 the Small
Holding and Allotment Act established the legal structure on which the
modern allotment system is based.
The Victorians charged a small annual rent to allotment holders to avoid any
stigma that allotments were only for the poor. The general view at the time
was that allotments not only provided food but kept people busy and away
from the ale house. Although originally intended for the rural poor, demand for
allotments in urban areas increased during the First World War as a result of
shortages in imported food. The Defence of the Realm Act of 1916
empowered Local Authorities to requisition any open space, including parks,
playing fields etc., and allotments more than doubled during this period from
600,000 in 1913 to 1.5 million in 1918. The Railway Companies allotted some
of the considerable wasteland along the tracks to their workers to cultivate.
After the war, demand fell and land was repossessed to be used for housing
the increasing population.
World War 2 inspired the 'Dig for Victory' campaign and once again there was
a demand for allotments: by the end of the war there were up to 1.75 million
allotments in England and Wales. In 1944 it was estimated that 10 per cent of
food produced in this country was grown on allotments, in private gardens and
on plots of land cultivated by service personnel.
Decline set in once again after the war: food shortages were a thing of the
past and after the toils of war many people preferred to enjoy their spare time
in more leisurely pursuits. Today however, the idea of growing your own food
appeals to a wide cross section of the population for a variety of reasons:
there are economic, along with health and flavour benefits, of growing your
own produce; many people value the sense of escape at their allotment, while
growing exotic food that is not readily available in shops is especially relevant
to the communities of ethnic minorities. There is always an element of fashion
associated with rising trends, but perhaps most significant of all is the deep
rooted urge to cultivate the soil and grow your own!
Some allotments or community plots at National Trust Properties
Craflwyn, Snowdonia Restoration of old Walled Garden providing 7 allotments
Killerton, Devon 44 allotments
Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire
Stourhead, Wiltshire
Stackpole, Pembrokeshire
Cotehele, Cornwall
Wembury, Devon 1 hectare of land is being turned into 40 allotments
Bibliography
Allotments, R.P.Lister, (Silent Books, 1991)
Allotments, Jane Eastloe (National Trust, 2009)
A Short History of Allotments in England and Wales, Brian King
(www.sunningdaleallotments.org.uk)
www.allotment.org.uk

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Components of the Self Sufficient Estate

Some Bee Features at National Trust Properties

Some Dairies at National Trust Properties

Some Deer Parks at National Trust Properties

Some Dovecotes at National Trust Properties

Some Fish Ponds at National Trust Properties

Some Fruit at National Trust Properties

GAME AND THE SPORTING GUN

Some Game Larders at National Trust Properties

HERBS AND THE STILL ROOM

Some Herb Gardens and Still-Rooms at National Trust Properties

THE HOME FARM

Some Home Farms at National Trust Properties

HOP GARDENS AND BREW HOUSES

Some Brewhouses at National Trust Properties

Some Icehouses at National Trust Properties

WALLED KITCHEN GARDENS

Some Working Walled Kitchen Gardens at National Trust Properties

Some Orangeries at National Trust Properties

Some Orchards at National Trust Properties

Some Poultry Yards at National Trust Properties

Some Rabbit Warrens at National Trust Properties

Some Vegetables at National Trust Gardens

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