Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow

The gardens at Powerscourt are often considered to be largely a Victorian creation though in fact they have a much longer history. The 'manor of Powerscourt containing one ruinous castle' was originally granted to Sir Richard Wingfield in 1609 by James I as a reward for crushing a rebellion in Ulster. He rebuilt the old medieval castle and though this was later burnt in 1649 its walls were incorporated into the fabric of the Palladian mansion built between 1731 and 1740 by Richard Wingfield, later first Viscount Powerscourt, to designs of Richard Castle. During this time an elabor ate layout of radiating allees was created in the area to the north of the house, while the steep slopes below to the south of the building were cut into banks and terraces leading down to a central pool. At the edge of this pond, known as Juggy's Lake, an elaborate grotto was constructed using fossilised sphagnum moss; this delightful feature, later used as a fernery during the Victorian period, can still be seen beneath the retaining bank of the pond at the base of the ceremonial stairway.

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries most of the activity at Powerscourt was concentrated upon the demesne, where an informal parkland was created and extensive plantations begun. By the early Victorian period, however, formal gardening was again fashionable and in 1841 the sixth Viscount Powerscourt commissioned the architect Daniel Robertson to create an Italian garden using the bones of the old 1730s terraced layout. Robertson was constantly in debt at that time and, as the seventh Viscount later recalled, 'used to hide in the domes on the roof of the house' when the sheriff called. He was also 'much given to drink and was never able to design or draw so well as when his brain was excited by sherry. He suffered from gout and used to be wheeled out on the terrace in a wheelbarrow, with a bottle of sherry, and so long as that lasted he was able to design and direct the workmen but when the sherry was finished he collapsed and was incapable of working till the drunken fit evaporated.' Remarkably, perhaps, Robertson succeeded in building the stone terrace nearest the house where urns and statues of Apollo Belvedere, the Fontainebleau Diana and the winged figures of Fame and Victory stand. But Robertson's work came to a halt in 1844 when his patron died in France while bringing back Italian sculpture for the garden.

> > > Read the next part of this article

From the Appletree Press title: Irish Gardens.