The Courts Garden

File:The Courts main building in Holt, Wiltshire, England.jpg

The house known as The Courts, which was built {{Circa|1720}} and incorporated earlier fabric, was the home of a wealthy clothier from nearby Bradford-on-Avon, at the time a prosperous wool town. The Courts served as the village law court where cloth weavers could settle their disputes. Around 1797, it was bought by John Davis and it remained in his family until 1900. Davis likely built the cloth mill which was next to the house. Following the decline of the wool trade in the area, his grandson demolished the mill around 1888.

In 1900, The Courts was bought by architect Sir George Hastings.{{cite web |title=The Courts Garden |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/the-courts-garden |website=www.nationaltrust.org.uk |publisher=The National Trust |access-date=15 October 2020 |language=en}} He altered the house and laid out the garden which covered part of the site of the former mill, using the existing stream to create a water garden and various ponds and canals. In 1909, Hastings built a Georgian-style conservatory and introduced a collection of garden ornaments brought from Ranelagh House in Barnes, London.

In 1910, The Courts was bought by the Misses Barclay and Trim, and in 1921 by Major Thomas Clarence Edward Goff and his wife, Lady Cecile (a daughter of Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster). Lady Cecile, strongly influenced by Gertrude Jekyll, was a keen gardener and she created various 'garden rooms' surrounded by clipped yews and box hedges, similar in style and layout to the contemporary gardens at Hidcote in Gloucestershire and Great Dixter in East Sussex. The gardens feature an arboretum, working vegetable garden and orchard, a Sundial Lawn, and a folly temple.{{National Heritage List for England entry|num=1001230|desc=The Courts, Holt|access-date=24 July 2015}} While owned by the Goffs, Queen Mary visited the family at Holt.

The house was designated as Grade II* listed in 1962,{{National Heritage List for England|num=1364103|desc=The Courts|access-date=16 October 2020}} and in 1987 the garden was listed at Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

The Goffs donated the whole property to the National Trust in 1943. Their daughter, Moyra Goff, retained a life tenancy and lived in the main house until her death in 1990.{{cite web |title=Bradford People: Clarence Goff |url=https://www.bradfordonavonmuseum.co.uk/archives/5322 |website=www.bradfordonavonmuseum.co.uk |publisher=Bradford-on-Avon Museum |access-date=15 October 2020}}

Entrance to The Courts Garden (geograph 6135990).jpg|Entrance to The Courts Garden

The Courts House from the Entrance Gate - geograph.org.uk - 1009724.jpg|The Courts House from the Entrance Gate

Greenhouse, The Courts - geograph.org.uk - 1334745.jpg|The greenhouse

Kitchen Garden in The Courts Garden - geograph.org.uk - 1009706.jpg|The kitchen gardens

The Courts Garden, Holt 06.jpg|The Lily pond and dye pool

Steps and garden ornaments, Courts Gardens, Holt, Wiltshire (geograph 3455148).jpg|Steps and garden ornaments

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{commons category-inline}}
• [https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/the-courts-garden The Courts Garden information at the National Trust]

{{coord|51.3549|-2.2009|type:landmark_region:GB-WIL|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courts}}

Gardens in Wiltshire

Category:National Trust properties in Wiltshire

Category:Grade II listed parks and gardens in Wiltshire