Here is an update on Mark Pedro de la Torre’s bird bath, featured in a previous blog. At the end of the September 2010 exhibition the (first and only so far) bird bath was loaded up and shipped off to a rather special home. Designed by Alex Clive, built by Coleman Construction and completed this Summer, the Walled Garden is a fresh interpretation of a feature of garden design most prevalent in English country houses from the mid 18th century.
Entering the garden via one of the side doors, visitors cannot help but be taken aback – it is another world even though it is yet to be populated! The central area is laid out with edged paths, beds and a few slightly raised beds, the geometry of which is very clear now that the beds are ready to plant. Most noticeable is the treatment of the South Facing Wall. Alex has maximised the growing area and provide shelter on this most productive site by making a series of steps. The West facing boundary is taken up with a brick built potting shed – otherwise known as “the bothy” (with its cosy fireplace), and glasshouse. In the North Wall, a Pavilion offers an open-sided shelter large enough to hold a family party. Finally the West facing wall is punctuated with a beautiful circular metal-framed window, which when swivelled open gives a view on to the trees beyond. This is the owners chosen spot for the bird bath, the circular window corresponding to the bowl beneath. We await the bathers…