None recorded

Park or garden

Coherent areas of land designed and/or managed for leisure purposes.

Asset type

Eighteenth century park and gardens at Hampden House, retaining elements of formal layout.

Age

The C18 formal and informal gardens and park overlie a medieval park and woodland with little alteration since then. The layout incorporates C16 and later avenues and vistas embracing the extensive rolling setting.

Rarity

The designed landscape is one of the more important of its type in Bucks, carried out in successive phases for a family of ancient connection here, and is likely of national significance.

Architectural and Artistic Interest

Architectural interest: Hampden House is a fine example of a C16 manor house remodelled and extended in the 1740s to its present form as an impressive country house in romantic Gothick style redolent of the long influence of the family here. The forecourt elevation with its triumphal double height arch creates an impressive arrival opposite the stable block with its battlemented tower. The contemporary outbuildings include the stable block in similar style and attached kitchen garden walls and ice house. Edward Shepherd’s brick and flint wing walls framing the great east terrace and lawn are the most important surviving ornamental garden feature. Shepherd was one of the most successful builder‐architects of his time. More distantly the important Pepperpot Lodges (1744) frame the seminal view to the distant mansion along The Glade when it was extended in the 1740s, the mid‐C18 ice house, and the Tudor‐style mid‐C19 lodge at the park entrance. The nearby medieval parish church is prominent on the main drive and in the park. Artistic interest: The grounds of this major Chiltern country estate reflect the fashionable tastes of the owners, expressed when their wealth permitted, which survive intact. The current layout is based on a major phase in the 1740s when the house was remodelled for the last John Hampden, incorporating earlier formal features, particularly rides and avenues; this was continued by his successor Robert Trevor, and the park was landscaped later in the C18. Mature trees survive throughout including lime, sweet chestnut, plane, oak, an impressive Lebanon Cedar in the forecourt which may be part of the 1740s planting supplied by nurseryman Favin of Thame, and beech, which are particularly fine in Coach Hedgerow. The most important early feature is The Glade originating in 1562 for the visit of Queen Elizabeth, and extended in the 1740s when it was embellished with the Pepper Pot Lodges.

Group Value

Hampden House is part of a group of Elizabethan gentry and courtiers' houses and gardens, which includes Chenies Manor, Chilton House and the nearby Quequers. Bradenham Manor also boasts a woodland ride, supposedly created for a visit by Queen Elizabeth.

Historic Interest

The estate is redolent of the 900‐year connection of the Hampdens until the late C20, a family which was influential at Court and in politics for many generations. Queen Elizabeth visited twice, most importantly for the grounds in 1562 when The Glade was initiated. The estate was owned in the mid‐C17 by the public hero, the Patriot, John Hampden, who refused to pay Charles I’s Ship Tax and died at the Battle of Chalgrove in 1643, but he does not seem to have affected the grounds. The exceptionally rich Hampden archive at the Bucks Archives covers the period 1252‐1931 and helps significantly to understand the significance of the designed landscape.

Archaeological Interest

Little archaeological investigation has occurred. The potential exists for evidence related to the manor complex, country house and service buildings since the medieval period. Lost garden and ornamental park features may relate to paths, walls, beds, kitchen garden structures, garden buildings including the pinery, two small buildings formerly at the ends of the wing walls and the Hermitage, and other ornamental features evident on maps and images. Evidence may survive of former agricultural structures and practices, and of the medieval park. Grimm’s Ditch (Scheduled Monument), a Middle Bronze Age earthwork boundary, has a strong influence on the layout, bisecting the site from west to east. Dane’s Camp (Scheduled Monument), a medieval mound, is of high significance with potential for evidence and there are other mounds that may be windmill sites (also Scheduled Monuments).

Landmark Status

The parkland is crossed by public footpaths and roads, with views along The Glade and across the park towards the house, prominently sited on a ridge of the Chiltern hills.

11 Jan 2023

Find out more about this Asset in Buckinghamshire's Local Heritage List:
https://local-heritage-list.org.uk/buckinghamshire/asset/3048