The Gibberd Garden at The House, Marsh Lane, Harlow (EHER 18902)

Gardens to The House, covering an area of two hectares. The gardens were laid out by Frederick Gibberd from 1956 to 1984. The garden originally contained features which were laid out during the early 20th century. The gardens created by Frederick Gibberd comprise a series of rooms, each with its own character, interconnecting spaces loosely divided up by screens of planting or walls.

Gardens of 2 hectares, laid out by Frederick Gibberd from 1956-84 as the setting for his own house. Set in farmland, the site lies in the Stort valley, on the east side of Harlow, separated by a couple of fields from Old Harlow. To the north the land falls to the Pincey Brook, the northern boundary of the site; a track to the south of the house forms the southern boundary of the garden. Access is off Marsh Lane to the east of the site. The entrance is at the south-east corner of the site, gate-piers, surmounted by a pair of cast concrete eagles, leading to the forecourt round 'The Bungalow'. From here, a straight walk leads to the south side of the house, the surface treatment of the path, like all the hard landscaping, being carefully detailed, here with small pre-cast concrete slabs infilled with cobbles or flints. The property was purchased by Sir Frederick Gibberd (d.1984), architect/planner of Harlow new town, in 1954. Gibberd greatly re-worked the existing early 20th century bungalow and laid out gardens to supplement the minimal and fragmentary scheme already in existence. Surrounding the house are formal gardens, linked integrally with views out from the main windows, the windows being designed to frame contrasting views of the valley, walled garden, and conservatory or 'ambulatory'. To the east of the house is a paved garden court; to the west a walk leads to the Conservatory, to the south of which is a small canal. To the north of the house is a terrace, the focus of which is a rectangular pool. At its northern end stands a concrete gazebo below which is the Grotto, the gazebo and pool pre-dating Gibberd's involvement, although the pool was much changed by him. The terrace lies to the west of a lawn sloping down from the house to the Lime Walk, a closely-planted avenue of limes, pre-dating Gibberd's ownership of the site. At the northern end of the vista stands Mary Gorarra's Swan and Cygnet (pre--cast concrete). The main lawn slopes up towards the eastern boundary, to the site of a planned Labyrinth on that of the former tennis court. West of the main terrace is an informal area of lawns divided by shrub plantings. This leads north from the round pool at the west end of the conservatory, passed Antanas Brazdys' stainless steel fountain, to Gerda Rubinstein's statue, 'Lucinda' (fibre glass cast) to the west of the Lime Walk. At the western corner of the site is The Temple, formed of a set of Corinthium columns saved from old Coutts Bank in the Strand. Beyond a line of pools, an informal area of rockwork and winding paths leads down to the stream. This is widened to form a pool on the banks of which are boulders from the site of Llyn Celyn Reservoir, for which Gibberd was the landscape architect. Further downstream is a waterfall. At the north-east corner of the site the water feeds a moat round the Castle. A vital element of the garden is the collection of sculpture, each piece having been carefully selected and positioned so as to enhance the surrounding garden, while the setting in turn compliments the work. <1> - <12> NRHE data transfer: The sculpture collection was collected by Gibberd's wife and includes work by Betty Rea, Helena Stylianides, Andy Elton, Gertrude Hermes, Antanas Brazdys, Monica Young, Fred Kormis and John Skelton. <7>