History of the site

The estate of Stocks dates back to the early medieval period. William de Mandeville held land in Stokk in 1176 and there is reference to a John de la Stock in 1270. It was acquired by the Duncombe family in 1503 who remained in residence until the late 19th century, though the last direct descendant, Clara Duncombe, died in 1790. The estate passed by marriage to the Gordon family and there are references to Mrs Gordon dating to 1806. James Adam Gordon inherited in 1811 and it remained in the family until sold to Humphrey Ward in the late 19th century.

The modest estate of 33 acres in the open fields acquired by Ralf Duncombe in 1503 was increased over time by taking in land from the adjoining open fields. In 1803 the estate included 225 acres in hand with a further 330 acres tenanted. The timber-framed manor house of the late 16th century was replaced by a much grander mansion house in 1773, when Arnold Duncombe built the present Stocks House. Part of the earlier house survives in the wing of Tudor Cottage. The courtyard of farm buildings includes barn, stables and coach house. Constructed of timber-frame and brick, they date from the late 16th century with alterations and additions over three centuries showing the changing needs of the estate and status of the owners. The dovecote offers another indication of the high status of the family.

In the mid-eighteenth century William Duncombe (1690–1769), poet and playwright, writing from the Bowling Green house at Stocks refers to the kitchen garden in one of his poems, ‘to please the taste, yon garden yields a plain repast, of pulse…’ and a footnote clarifies that the garden is the kitchen-garden adjoining the bowling green. In the same book of poems, John Duncombe, describing the land about Stocks House from the viewpoint of the hills to the east, writes ‘Close on the west a little garden lies, for use not pleasure, rais’d’. This was written in 1739.

This is a useful reference not only in giving an indication of the status of the family but also in suggesting that the kitchen garden referred to may be on the site of the present one. Although the present walled kitchen garden appears to date from the period when the Georgian mansion house was built, it could well be earlier or on the site of the earlier one. It is shown on the 1776 Dury and Andrews map, more or less in its current form. However, whilst this map was published in 1776, the survey must have taken several years to undertake so what is represented on the map is likely to predate the new mansion house by a number of years. Certainly it looks from the map as though only Stocks Farm is shown, with a formal garden laid out to the west. Although the map is schematic only, Walk Wood is clearly shown, as is the kitchen garden, both in their current positions. The land is shown in the ownership of Arnold Duncombe Esq. who had, in fact, died in 1774.

ther valuable evidence from around the mid-eighteenth century, which may contradict this suggestion, is in a pair of oil paintings of the house by Jan Griffier the Younger which depict the estate in 1734, shortly before the time of John Duncombe’s poem. Viewed from the west, the house is glimpsed through ‘..its front two colonades of elms’ . This is the early manor house, with the square timber-framing clearly visible. To the left in the painting is a group of farm buildings, some thatched, which survive in the farmyard today, viewed from the south, shows the wider setting. Two walled gardens are visible, both directly adjacent to the house. To the left of the northernmost one is a flat green enclosure, with a substantial two-storey house in one corner. This may be the bowling green with its bowling green house referred to by William Duncombe.

However, neither of the walled gardens looks like a kitchen garden. The southern one appears as ornamental parterre and the northern one seems to be full of trees. It would be unusual to find a kitchen so close to the house, at a time when the family was at pains to demonstrate its increasing status. Formal parterres would have been more fashionable.

To the north of the northern walled garden is an avenue of trees on a line with the opposing gated entrances. These are in a similar position to the double row of lime trees surviving today and may well be the ‘walk of vaulted limes’ also referred to by John Duncombe in his poem. This painting shows the additional buildings to the east of the road which feature on both Dury and Andrews map and a later map by Bryant of 1820.

There is some evidence, therefore, that the present kitchen garden may be on the site of the earlier one, of unknown date.

Both the Dury and Andrews map and the Bryant map show that there was more settlement in the fields to the south the kitchen garden than there is today. The lands surrounding the kitchen garden to the east and south, including the field with the dovecote, were almost certainly the ancient land known in 1691 as Dinhamsteede. The 1776 map shows an L-shaped building to the south of the kitchen garden and this also appears on the 1820 Bryant map, together with another building. The tithe map of 1840 shows the site at a more accurate scale. The kitchen garden and its slips and associated fields to the east and south can be clearly seen. The kitchen garden has a row of trees to the north side with the remainder of the garden divided into eight compartments. The dovecote is shown, as is another small building nearby. Today, only the dovecote survives. What the tithe map does not show is the line of lime trees marking the line of the avenue to the old manor house. These were in existence in the mid-eighteenth century and are there today (limes can live up to 400 years) so, although the tithe map is accurate in some details, presumably those most pertinent to its function, other details are omitted. The apportionment accompanying the tithe map records James Adam Gordon as responsible for paying tithes on 215 acres. Of this three acres was ‘kitchen garden, orchard etc.’

Whilst the main house and grounds underwent many changes during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the kitchen garden does not appear to have changed significantly. The first series OS map surveyed in 1877, shows the walled garden with its slips much as in the 1840 tithe map. Paths run all round the slips and the main access in the south west corner is marked. This gave the most direct access to the main house, an important point given that practicality and utility were essential elements in the design and layout of kitchen gardens. Glasshouses are shown to the northern end and the whole is divided into four compartments. To the south west corner of the field is a small rectangular body of water, crucial to the proper management of a kitchen garden. Some of the early OS maps show the field to have been laid out as an orchard.

TH Mawson was commissioned by the Wards in 1909 to design improvements to the gardens, though no details of these have been found. He records that ‘Although many of the improvements which I desired could not be carried out, owing to prohibitive cost, within restricted limits most of my plans were realised…’. It is questionable whether any works were undertaken to the kitchen garden. The layout of the walled garden and its relationship to the main house is entirely within Mawson’s philosophy for kitchen gardens. The OS maps show no significant change to the walled garden until the house was built in the 1980s.

Portrait of the house by Jan Griffier the Younger, 1734

Dr Katheryn Davies

Stocks House (Image - ADAM Architecture, Hugh Petter)