Issue 46 April 25 web - Flipbook - Page 13
The late 15th-century construction of the Hall was
accompanied by the laying out of the geometric moat, the
sole survivor of any 15th-century garden, providing a
strikingly formal setting for the Hall. The nature of the
wider 15th-century landscape remains a mystery.
Water's Whisper: The Lifeblood of Oxburgh's
Landscape
Water has long been a constant at Oxburgh, whether surrounding the Hall in the geometric form of the 15th-century moat or veining through ornamental woodlands as
meandering waterways and cascading falls. The remaining
watercourses are survivors of a more complex ornamental
and productive landscape, providing evidence of a carefully constructed water management system. Water was
fundamental within the wider estate landscape, powering
mills, watering livestock, and ferrying goods.
The laying out of ornamental water gardens in the 17th
century reused elements of the earlier medieval landscape,
including the swan pens. The focal point of this phase of
landscaping was the formal Broad Water Canal, a grand
body of water extending east to west parallel with the
moat.
The earliest evidence of water being controlled within the
landscape is shown in the surface irregularities found to
the southwest of the Hall, associated with the potential
site of former swan pens. Historic 18th-century maps illuminate the form of these features.
Swan pens were typically found at high-status medieval
castles and manors, as well as monastic sites. Swans, royal
birds, could be granted to certain individuals who marked
their swans to show ownership. Records indicate a swan
mark in Bedingfeld ownership in the early 17th century.
At Oxburgh, the swan pens appear to have formed part
of elaborate water gardens to the southwest of the Hall,
although their misalignment with the axis of the Hall and
moat suggests they may be earlier, pre-15th-century medieval features. The swan pens served both a utilitarian
function, rearing swans for food, and providing an ornamental water feature within the immediate setting of the
Hall.
Above, survey of the Oxburgh Estate dating to 1725 showing
a curious canal arrangement to the south-west of the Hall (
incorporating swan pens) and the formal Broad Water Canal in
the Walks to the south. Map copyright National Trust archives
Below, view of Oxburgh from the west showing the geometric form
of the moat
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Conservation & Heritage Journal
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