Bramcote Hills Park - The Walled Garden
w/e 14 January 2018
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
During 2017 we visited many local parks but Bramcote
Hills was not one of them so when we decided to return for this
set of images the visit was probably long overdue. And for the
visit we concentrated on the area around the Walled Garden.
A board at the end of the car park included a map and also listed
ten salient points. One of these was in fact the car park itself
but that still left nine others worth a closer look. Another
is number seven on the map but this appears twice at each end
on the garden and we will see more of the wall and decorative
arch later at the far end but before we walked along the path
into the garden we looked across to number two, the Dairy Cottage.
  All that remains of the Dairy Cottage is small wall
indicating the footprint of the building but the plaque (left)
on the high wall behind says that "A sustainable garden
has been created here within the foundations of the Dairy Cottage,
which was demolished in the 1990s. The garden has been built
using reclaimed materials and feature plants chosen for drought
tolerance and wildlife value."
The cottage had two steel Sherwin Gregory family crests (above
right) above the windows and these have now been incorporated
into the new wall either side of the archway entrance into the
Walled Garden.
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Passing through the arch the first point of interest in the Walled
Garden is the Sundial Maze. Another board here explains how to
play the maze by trying to reach the centre without crossing
the red lines or passing certain numbered points in order. It
also indicates that by standing on the clock in the centre it
is possible to tell the time by seeing where your shadow falls.
On this cloudy day I would have been standing there a long time
waiting for my shadow to appear!
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Point number four on the map is the ornamental garden in the
centre of the Walled Garden. The Walled Garden was created about
1850, was formally laid out and rectangular in shape but the
maze and ornamental garden as we see them today were not part
of the original layout although they were typical of the period.
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On the hillside above the ornamental garden is the entrance to
the Ice House where ice collected during the winter months from
frozen rivers and ponds would be stored for use during the summer
at the nearby Bramcote House, seat of the family estate.
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Between the hillside and the Walled Garden an original wall along
its eastern boundary has now been restored. The Bramcote Hills
estate was created in 1800 and the house built in 1805, the Walled
Garden following as already noted in 1850. The estate was acquired
by the local council in 1950 but after being neglected for many
years after the war the house was demolished in 1966. Its footprint
still exist elsewhere in what is now Bramcote Hills Park.
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Unlike the wall at number six on the map the walls numbered seven
with the decorative brick arches at either end of the Walled
Garden are new additions.
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Re-entering the Walled Garden and looking across to the right
the footprint of another cottage, Gardener's Cottage can be seen.
This like Dairy Cottage was one of the original estate buildings
and before its demolition was more recently used by Broxtowe
Borough Council's Leisure Services Division.
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The footprint of Gardener's Cottage can also be seen on the right
of this image which shows the new footpath network shown on the
map at number nine.
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And at number ten is the Holocaust Memorial seen here with a
backdrop of Stapleford Hill with the sandstone outcrop known
as the Hemlock Stone which legend suggest was thrown here by
a giant.
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The Holocaust Memorial is a sculpture called The Refugee by Naomi
Blake who as a plaque sunk into the ground in front of the sculpture
says was "a survivor of Auschwitz."
The wording on the plaque is repeated on one of four more that
are placed at intervals in a semi-circle around the memorial.
From left to right the plaques read as follows:
We live in a world which we might despair. A world wherein the
words "Peace", "Justice", "Love",
"Care", "Compassion", "Tolerance",
"Understanding", "Trust", and "Friendship"
are in the vocabulary of all, but not in the experience of enough
people.
We remind ourselves that the duty to uphold the values of humanity
are shared equally by everyone. Looking back, we look forward
to make a world free of intolerance and pain.
The Refugee by Naomi Blake. This sculpture was created by Naomi
Blake, a survivor of Auschwitz in memory of 6,000,000 Jews murdered
by the Nazis because of who they were. Among them 1,500,000 children
who never could share their gift of life with the world.
This garden is dedicated to millions of victims of oppression,
torture, mass death and genocide. We mourn their loss as our
loss and that of all humanity.
Holocaust Memorial Day is January 27th and a ceremony to mark
the event is held in the Walled Garden each year. This year 2018
will mark the 18th such ceremony.
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