Shrub's Wood
Location/Address
None recorded
Type
Description
Mid-twentieth century terrace and informal and woodland garden in former parkland of Newland House.
The grounds of a mid-1930s country house which is of great significance as Modernist interpretation of the traditional English country house and is an important example of “mature” Modernism. The garden is typical for this sort of progressive house of the 1930s with an attached formal terrace encouraging the integration of indoor and outdoor life, surrounded by informal lawns with shrub beds and specimen trees set within the late C18 parkland of Newland Park. The enclosed approach through Chiltern woodland, Shrubs Wood, is a key feature. The house was from 1949 owned by Bridget D’Oyley Carte, owner of the D’Oyley Carte Opera Company, for nearly 40 years who developed the garden. The layout survives intact and is comparable with others in this idiom such as the pioneering High and Over, Amersham (1929), The Homewood, Surrey (Patrick Gwynne, 1938-39) and Royal Lodge, Windsor.
Detailed description in Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust report.
Statement of Significance
Asset type
Twentieth century woodland garden at Shrub's Wood.Rarity
Shrub's Wood is unique as a Modernist interpretation of the traditional English country house and is an important example of “mature” Modernism.Architectural and Artistic Interest
Architectural interest: Shrub's Wood is one of only two houses designed during the short partnership of Mendelsohn and Chermayeff (the other is the Cohen House, Chelsea). It is unique as a Modernist interpretation of the traditional English country house and is an important example of “mature” Modernism. It survives intact including the high quality interior. A key feature is the attached formal terraces encouraging the integration of indoor and outdoor life, typical for this sort of progressive house. Artistic interest: The garden, designed c.1933-35, is typical for this sort of progressive house of the period. The attached formal terraces encouraged the integration of indoor and outdoor life, surrounded by informal lawns with shrub beds and specimen trees. The mature setting within the late C18 parkland and woodland of Newland Park ensures the sense of isolation, which is enhanced by the enclosed woodland approach which opens out into the informal garden lawns surrounding the prominent house. Views beyond the garden were restricted to the east-facing elevation, terrace and lawns, overlooking the park, but these are now largely obscured by mature planting. The combination of formal terrace attached to the house, with informal garden and woodland beyond, set in parkland, is similar to Royal Lodge, Windsor, with a woodland garden laid out in the 1930s with assistance from Sir Eric Savill and Russell Page, and a formal terrace by Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, 1936, set in Windsor Great Park.Group Value
Group value with the contemporary International Modernist house and gardens at High and Over in nearby Amersham on the Hill and with comparable gardens to Royal Lodge, Windsor.Historic Interest
Bridget D’Oyley Carte while living at Shrub’s Wood and developing the garden was the owner of the D’Oyley Carte Opera Company and was also active in managing the family’s Savoy hotel. Good records of the earliest days exist including 1930s design drawings, donated by the Savoy archive to the RIBA in 2006, and photographs of 1935, shortly after completion.Archaeological Interest
Potential exists for evidence associated with medieval agricultural and woodland uses, particularly trees, banks, routes, and boundaries, also for former features of the designed landscape from the late C18 to the early C20, e.g. buildings, boundaries, drives, rides, the pheasantry and orchard.
Date Listed
11 Jan 2023
Last Updated
11 Jan 2023