Upper Skilts gardens

1 Gardens laid out c1914 by T H Mawson around 1880s house (extended c1908) within area of former deer park. Features include lawns, terraces, walled garden, pergola, rose garden, lodge, drive, pleasure grounds and paddock park. House now a residential school and grounds in poor condition. Recommended for inclusion on Local List of significant parks and gardens.
2 Gardens commissioned c1910, and plans dated 1914 survive. These show enclosed gardens featuring rose and herbaceous plant beds on the terrace, lawns, tennis courts and a pergola. Photos of elaborate doorways in the enclosing walls survive [reproduced] and one doorway is still extant. The site has been used as a school in the later part of the 20th century, and much of the planting and hard landscaping has been lost. The site is already fragmented and surviving features, including a fine wrought iron gate, are in danger of being further neglected or sold. Recommends Listed Building status for some surviving structures.
3 The OS 1:10560 1887 Sht Warks 31NW shows the site soon after the construction of Upper Skilts House. A large, enclosed garden area is already visible .
4 The OS 1:10560 1905 Sht Warks 31NW shows a shaded area of parkland around the house; changes in field boundaries suggest that some of this had been taken into parkland since the 1887 map.