The Mystery of the Missing Parterre

One of the pleasantest things to do on a nice sunny afternoon at Betley Court is to throw open the bay windows of Nash’s drawing room and walk down the short balustraded stairway to the lawns, passing our ornamental parterre. We’ve enjoyed many family gatherings here over the years, as guests spill out onto the lawn after a meal.

From my garden journal, Betley Court parterre as it is today

Perhaps parterre is a bit of a grand description for what visitors can see now; two circular beds placed in between four rectangular ones, arranged symmetrically either side of a gravel path. Sadly, lack of both labour and funds means that, for now, the beds are kept simply; successional bulb away interest in the spring, hardy annuals as the seasons progress.

The term ‘parterre’ comes from the French ‘on the ground’ and early parterres were complex symmetrical patterns made with box hedging. They were designed to be enjoyed from an elevated position; a balcony, high status rooms or as we have at Betley Court, an elevated pathway.

I’ve mentioned before that over the years, the families of the house have followed horticultural fashion keenly. Excitingly for us, a notable designer was commissioned to create a gardening ‘must-have’ parterre. William Barron was brought in by Thomas Fletcher Twemlow to do this. Best known for his skills at tree moving, Barron was highly skills in many aspects of landscape design; site drainage (tackling at least one garden, Elvaston in Derbyshire that ‘Capability’ Brown shied away from!), topiary, and a pioneering nurseryman.  In 1866, just as he struck out and began his own landscaping venture independently of his noble clients (the 4^th and 5^th Earls of Harrington) Barron devised a series of intricate scrolled beds for Betley Court. Coincidentally, it was around this time that he sold a tree transporting machine to Kew Gardens.

Barron's design for the parterre at Betley Court 1866

All that remains of Barron’s scheme are hand-drawn plans, and sepia family photos that the Professor acquired from the last Squire’s widow. Oh, and from time to time, the parterres appear in ghost form as parched patches in the lawn, as they did this summer in the drought of 2018, and caught by satellite for a Google Maps image in 2008.

So, why then, can’t we see Barron’s elaborate parterre now? My combing of OS Maps, and surveys reveals that sometime between 1909 and 1925, the Barron parterre was grubbed up, replaced, disappeared! I can only speculate why that was. Changes in fashion, for one; perhaps the parterre had become old hat, just as padded shoulder pads from the 1980s became. For another, World War 1 started in 1914, depleting big house of their young servants, who enlisted to serve their country. Then there was the fact that parterres with strict patterns in gravel and plants were labour intensive, and therefore expensive to upkeep.

By 1925, the parterre, as seen today, was in place. Six beds. Two circular, four rectangular, arranged symmetrically either side of a gravel path. Tantalisingly, I have found just one reference to this arrangement; an article, no longer available online by Alan Taylor (of the Institute of Historical Buildings and Conservation), referring to Thomas Mawson, the brilliant Arts and Crafts movement landscape designer, who he credits with "creating the parterres at Patshull Hall, Betley Court and Little Onn Manor, all in Staffordshire". I haven’t been able to verify this, but just imagine if that were true?

Irrespective of who actually laid our present scheme out, we can say, as a matter of fact, it has existed for a century (ish). It is the longest serving version of flower beds at Betley Court. We have photographs of it being used for horticultural therapy, when Betley Court served as a Red Cross Hospital in World War Two. It is the version we inherited, it is the version I garden, and it is the one we are going forward with. How exciting!

Servicemen undertaking horticultural therapy and resistance training during WW2