Lydney Park
Encyclopedia
Lydney Park is a 17th century country estate surrounding Lydney House, located at Lydney
in the Forest of Dean district
in Gloucestershire
, England
. It is known for its garden
s and Roman temple
complex.
to Queen Anne
, and has remained in the family since then. The house was originally close to the main road
, with a large deer park
behind it.
In 1875, Rev. William Hiley Bathurst
built a new house in the centre of the deer park, with views over the River Severn
. The new house was built by C. H. Howell, with a formal garden and shrubberies. The old house was demolished, apart from the buildings now occupied by the Taurus Crafts centre. Rev. Bathurst's grandson Charles, later Viscount Bledisloe
, made some further changes to the garden before the house became used in the Second World War, first to house the Dutch royal family
and then a girls' school.
The current garden was developed after 1950 by the second Viscount Bledisloe and his family. There is a woodland garden running along a secluded valley, planted with magnolias, rhododendrons, azaleas and other flowering shrubs. There is a paved terrace above and formal gardens which are popular in the Spring, when the daffodils bloom.
The gardens are private land, and are open to the public on certain days depending on time of year. The house also has a museum containing findings from the Roman site and artefacts from New Zealand
collected by the first Viscount Bledisloe.
promontory fort
–type hill fort
, known as Lydney Camp, covering 4.5 acre
s. The Romans
used the site, until the early 4th century, for the extraction of iron ore. Open-cast iron
mines, or scowles, and tunnels still exist throughout the hill.
In the late 4th century, the Romans built a temple
to Nodens
, a Celtic divinity who is reflected by the later figures of Nuada
and Nudd alias Lludd in Irish
and Welsh
mythology respectively. Lludd's name survives in the placename of Lydney. Several model dog images have been found there, indicating it was a healing shrine
. The structure was a cross between a basilica
and the usual Romano-British
style temple. The walls of the sanctuary or cella were arched colonnades until a fault in the rock below caused the almost total collapse of the temple. It was rebuilt with solid walls to the cella. There was a fish-covered mosaic
with an inscription that referred to 'Victorinus the Interpreter', probably an interpreter of dream
s. The Roman temple
was accompanied by a large courtyard pilgrim
s' hostel and elaborate bath suite or thermae
.
s and little people. The site was excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler
in the 1920s. The author of The Lord of the Rings
novel, J. R. R. Tolkien
, was part of the excavation team and he is said to have been influenced by such folk tales which he used to develop his stories of Middle-earth
. He wrote a report, The Name 'Nodens', following the excavation.
Lydney
Lydney is a small town and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is located on the west bank of the River Severn, close to the Forest of Dean. The town lies on the A48 road, next to the Lydney Park gardens with its Roman temple in honour of Nodens.-Transport:The Severn Railway...
in the Forest of Dean district
Forest of Dean (district)
Forest of Dean is a local government district in Gloucestershire, England, named after the Forest of Dean. Its council is based in Coleford. Other towns in the district include Cinderford, Newent and Tidenham....
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is known for its garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
s and Roman temple
Roman temple
Ancient Roman temples are among the most visible archaeological remains of Roman culture, and are a significant source for Roman architecture. Their construction and maintenance was a major part of ancient Roman religion. The main room housed the cult image of the deity to whom the temple was...
complex.
House and gardens
Lydney Park was bought in 1719 by Benjamin Bathurst, son of the Cofferer of the HouseholdCofferer of the Household
The Cofferer of the Household was formerly an office in the English and British Royal Household.The holder had special charge over other officers of the household and was an officer of state and a member of the Privy Council and the Board of Green Cloth....
to Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
, and has remained in the family since then. The house was originally close to the main road
A48 road
The A48 is a major trunk road in Great Britain. It runs from the A40 at Highnam west of Gloucester to the A40 at Carmarthen. Before the construction of the M4 motorway and the first Severn Bridge in the mid 1960s it was the principal route into South Wales. For most of its journey through Wales,...
, with a large deer park
Medieval deer park
A medieval deer park was an enclosed area containing deer. It was bounded by a ditch and bank with a wooden park pale on top of the bank. The ditch was typically on the inside, thus allowing deer to enter the park but preventing them from leaving.-History:...
behind it.
In 1875, Rev. William Hiley Bathurst
William Hiley Bathurst
William H. Bathurst was an Anglican clergyman and hymnist.William Hiley Bathurst was the son of the Rt. Hon. Charles Bragge. He was born at Clevadale, near Bristol, August 28, 1796. His mother was Charlotte Addington and his maternal grandmother's was Hiley, thus his middle name...
built a new house in the centre of the deer park, with views over the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
. The new house was built by C. H. Howell, with a formal garden and shrubberies. The old house was demolished, apart from the buildings now occupied by the Taurus Crafts centre. Rev. Bathurst's grandson Charles, later Viscount Bledisloe
Charles Bathurst, 1st Viscount Bledisloe
-External links:*...
, made some further changes to the garden before the house became used in the Second World War, first to house the Dutch royal family
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina was Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. She ruled the Netherlands for fifty-eight years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World War I and World War II, the economic crisis of 1933, and the decline of the Netherlands as a major colonial...
and then a girls' school.
The current garden was developed after 1950 by the second Viscount Bledisloe and his family. There is a woodland garden running along a secluded valley, planted with magnolias, rhododendrons, azaleas and other flowering shrubs. There is a paved terrace above and formal gardens which are popular in the Spring, when the daffodils bloom.
The gardens are private land, and are open to the public on certain days depending on time of year. The house also has a museum containing findings from the Roman site and artefacts from New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
collected by the first Viscount Bledisloe.
Roman temple
The area has an early British Iron AgeBritish Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
promontory fort
Promontory fort
A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus utilizing the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to date to the Iron Age...
–type hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
, known as Lydney Camp, covering 4.5 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s. The Romans
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...
used the site, until the early 4th century, for the extraction of iron ore. Open-cast iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
mines, or scowles, and tunnels still exist throughout the hill.
In the late 4th century, the Romans built a temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
to Nodens
Nodens
Nodents is a Celtic deity associated with healing, the sea, hunting and dogs. He was worshipped in ancient Britain, most notably in a temple complex at Lydney Park in Gloucestershire, and possibly also in Gaul...
, a Celtic divinity who is reflected by the later figures of Nuada
Nuada
In Irish mythology, Nuada or Nuadu , known by the epithet Airgetlám , was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is cognate with the Gaulish and British god Nodens...
and Nudd alias Lludd in Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
mythology respectively. Lludd's name survives in the placename of Lydney. Several model dog images have been found there, indicating it was a healing shrine
Healing temple
Sleep temples are regarded by some as an early instance of hypnosis over 4000 years ago, under the influence of Imhotep. Imhotep served as Chancellor, and High Priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopolis...
. The structure was a cross between a basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
and the usual Romano-British
Romano-British
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...
style temple. The walls of the sanctuary or cella were arched colonnades until a fault in the rock below caused the almost total collapse of the temple. It was rebuilt with solid walls to the cella. There was a fish-covered mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
with an inscription that referred to 'Victorinus the Interpreter', probably an interpreter of dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
s. The Roman temple
Roman temple
Ancient Roman temples are among the most visible archaeological remains of Roman culture, and are a significant source for Roman architecture. Their construction and maintenance was a major part of ancient Roman religion. The main room housed the cult image of the deity to whom the temple was...
was accompanied by a large courtyard pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
s' hostel and elaborate bath suite or thermae
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
.
Tolkien associations
There is a legend that after about 20 years of the Romans leaving, the local people forgot the Romans had settled there and began to believe the ruins were the home to dwarves, hobgoblinHobgoblin
Hobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to describe a friendly but troublesome creature of the Seelie Court.The most commonly known hobgoblin is the character Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Puck, however, is only another name given to a much older character named Robin...
s and little people. The site was excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler
Mortimer Wheeler
Brigadier Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH, CIE, MC, FBA, FSA , was one of the best-known British archaeologists of the twentieth century.-Education and career:...
in the 1920s. The author of The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
novel, J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, was part of the excavation team and he is said to have been influenced by such folk tales which he used to develop his stories of Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
. He wrote a report, The Name 'Nodens', following the excavation.
External links
- Lydney Park Estate - Home Page
- http://www.aboutbritain.com/lydneyparkgardens.htm
- http://www.fweb.org.uk/dean/visitor/tlydpark.htm
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/films/tolkien.shtml
- http://www.roman-britain.org/places/lydney.htm