Iford Manor
Encyclopedia
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
sits on the steep slopes of the Frome valley
River Frome, Somerset
The River Frome is a river in Somerset. It rises near Witham Friary, flows north through the town of Frome and joins the River Avon at Freshford, south of Bath....
, which itself has been occupied since Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
times. The house is mediaeval in origin, the classical
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
having been added in the 18th century when the hanging woodlands above the garden were planted.
History and description
Iford is best known for its Grade I internationally listed Gardens, designed during the early part of the 20th century by the garden architect Harold PetoHarold Peto
Harold Ainsworth Peto was a British landscape architect and garden designer, who worked in Britain and in Provence, France.-Biography:...
. He lived at Iford from 1899 until his death in 1933 during which time he built up an extensive collection of artefacts, brought back from his travels abroad. His great love of the Italianate style is plainly evident at Iford, where flowers occupy a subordinate place amongst the more structural elements of cypress, statuary, broad walks and pools.
In addition to his planting and structural work, Peto also created a cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
, his "Haunt of Ancient Peace", where he displayed many of his treasures. Today this building is used as an intimate venue for opera and other musical events. Iford Manor was the recipient of the Historic Houses Association
Historic Houses Association
The Historic Houses Association, a not for profit organsiation, represents 1,500 privately owned historic country houses, castles and gardens throughout the UK. These are listed buildings or registered gardens, usually Grade I or II* and often outstanding....
/Christies Garden of the Year Award in 1998.
Arts and Filming
Iford Manor has been used for filming on a number of occasions. Most recently the gardens and cloister were used as the venue for the wedding sequence in Episode 1 of the second series of MistressesMistresses (TV series)
Mistresses is a British serial drama television programme that follows the lives of four female friends and their involvement in an array of illicit and complex relationships...
.
Each summer musical events take place in the cloister of the Peto Garden; in 2009 twenty small-scale performances of three different operas were staged.
In the 2010 Iford Festival, which runs from 11 June to 14 August, there will be three opera productions - Rossini's La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
, Handel's Serse
Serse
Serse is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It was first performed in London on 15 April 1738. The Italian libretto was adapted by an unknown hand from that by Silvio Stampiglia for an earlier opera of the same name by Giovanni Bononcini in 1694...
, and Verdi's Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
and three jazz promenades, featuring, Clare Teal
Clare Teal
Clare Teal is an English jazz singer who has become famous not only for her singing, but also for having signed the biggest ever recording contract by a British jazz singer.-Biography:...
, Tim Kliphuis
Tim Kliphuis
Tim Kliphuis is a Dutch violinist.He first became known in 1999 when he joined Belgian gypsy guitarist, Fapy Lafertin...
, The Red Stripe Band, The Kremlinaires, Eclipse: Spanish Spice, and La Timbala. Opera della Luna
Opera della Luna
Opera della Luna, founded in 1994, is a British touring theatre troupe of actor-singers focusing on comic works. Led by artistic director Jeff Clarke, it takes its name from Haydn's operatic setting of Goldoni's farce Il mondo della luna...
has performed at several of the festivals, beginning in 2003 with their production of La belle Hélène
La belle Hélène
La belle Hélène , opéra bouffe in three acts, is an operetta by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy...
. Their later productions included L'Elisir d'Amore
L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
.
Iford Manor SSSI
The roof spaces of Iford Mill Barn are used as a summer breeding roost by Greater Horseshoe Bats, one of only 14 known roosts for this species in England. This is in fact the second largest of the known English breeding roosts, with over 250 individual Greater Horseshoes recorded each summer. Because of this, the buildings and a small area of land surrounding them, 0.39 hectare (0.963710135759577 acre), were notified as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1996. Although the manor itself is in Wiltshire, both bat breeding sites are in Bath and Northeast Somerset, and so fall within English Nature's AvonAvon (county)
Avon was, from 1974 to 1996, a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in the west of England.The county was named after the River Avon, which runs through the area. It was formed from parts of the historic counties of Gloucestershire and Somerset, together with the City of Bristol...
Area of Search
Area of Search
Areas of Search are geographical areas used in the selection of Sites of Special Scientific Interest. In England these are largely based on the 1974–1996 administrative counties...
.
The SSSI includes an orchard, where Daubenton's Bat
Daubenton's bat
Daubenton's Bat, Myotis daubentonii, is a Eurasian bat with quite short ears. It ranges from Britain to Japan and is considered to be increasing its numbers in many areas.The name commemorates the French naturalist Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton....
and Noctule Bat roost.
External links
- Iford Manor
- Iford Arts - an organisation that runs musical and arts events at Iford
- Iford Recordings - recordings of musical events at Iford
- Iford Manor entry from The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses
- English Nature (SSSI information)