Savay Farm
Location/Address
None recorded
Type
Description
Early twentieth century gardens at Savay Farm, incorporating remains of nineteenth century and earlier gardens
The early C20 garden for a renowned medieval manor house, with work by Marjory Allen and Norah Lindsay, including vestiges of earlier garden phases. The c.1926 layout by Marjory Allen, with contributions by the owner Cynthia Mosley and the society garden designer Norah Lindsay, occupies a medieval, formerly moated, riverside site. The compartmentalised garden, drawn tightly around the house, survives largely intact, along with the detached woodland setting of Lady Mosley’s tomb by Lutyens (1933-34), formerly within a formal garden probably by Lady Allen with advice from the Mosleys’ friend and society designer Norah Lindsay. The immediate agricultural and river setting is of high significance, particularly the adjacent paddocks and River Colne.
Detailed description in Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust report.
Statement of Significance
Asset type
Early twentieth century gardens at Savay Farm, incorporating remains of nineteenth century and earlier gardensArchitectural and Artistic Interest
Architectural interest: Savay Farm (The Savay, listed Grade I) originated in the C12 and is a fine example of a C14 hall house at the heart of the landscape. Elements of the courtyard house established by the late C16 remain, with later alterations in several phases, and losses to the south-west. Clough Williams-Ellis (1883-1978) restored and extended the house in 1926, including building the Annexe to the north. Towards the end of his career in 1933, Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) designed the austere woodland tomb for Lady Cynthia Mosley in Travertine marble. The 1762 road bridge (listed Grade II) was incorporated within the early C20 garden design and enjoys views back to the house. The two barns (listed Grade II, converted to houses) make a fine feature on the approach to the house and garden, and estate cottages and a lodge also contribute. Artistic interest: An early C20 garden including the site of a C19 and earlier layout, compartmentalised and tightly drawn around a medieval house that had a moated garden by the early C17, within paddocks to the north-west and south that have contributed to the bucolic setting for centuries. The present scheme was designed by the designer Marjory Allen in 1926 before the moat was filled in. Notable features include the Statesman’s Walk adjacent to the house, associated with Sir Oswald Mosley when he was most prominent as a politician; and the formal setting of his wife, Lady Cynthia’s, tomb in a C19 copse, detached to the north (1933-34, also probably designed by Marjory Allen with advice to Mosley from Norah Lindsay at the outset), but this is now believed to be abandoned. The river Colne and views across it over farmland were formerly prominent to the east, north and south, with an associated drive/road, but the river is now screened by vegetation and the area beyond is a recreational lake.Historic Interest
The site was owned by the trustees of the Savoy Hospital (later St Thomas’ Hospital) from the mid-C16 for over four centuries and has a sequence of mapping documenting its development. From 1926 it was closely connected with the inter-War politician Sir Oswald Mosley for nearly 20 years, and was a hub of political activity, being visited by prominent politicians, including Ramsay MacDonald while Prime Minister in 1929. Mosley’s wife Cynthia, daughter of a former Viceroy of India, was also a prominent politician before her death in 1933.Archaeological Interest
The potential exists for features related to the medieval courtyard house within its formerly moated environs including former ranges to the west and south, possibly including garden features, and a dovecote to the south (present by the late C16), also the farmstead beyond to the west as well as the former road along the south side of the moat. Sarsen stones are incorporated in the foundations of the Tudor Wing of the house. Prehistoric finds in the Colne Valley have been made in former gravel pits. The site has potential for associated lost early garden features to the east and south, and also for C19 and early C20 features such as paths, drives, walls, the designed setting of Lady Cynthia’s tomb in the copse to the north, and the layout of the former kitchen garden to the northwest. The paddock in the setting 60m to the south contains an enigmatic mound with ditch and outer bank (Scheduled Monument).
Date Listed
21 Feb 2023
Last Updated
08 Jun 2022