Compass Garden and Landscape Design are delighted to be leading a garden design project at the historic Hall Estate in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, to restore and develop their 400-year-old grounds, which had fallen into disrepair.

All About The Hall Estate and its Occupants

The estate, built in the 16th Century, is well known as the home of the Moulton family, and most recently, Alex Moulton, a world-famous design engineer. However, the Hall itself was built in around 1600 for the Hall family, who were prominent clothiers at the time.

It is considered to be an outstanding example of British Renaissance architecture and, as such, has been given a Grade I listing by English Heritage. The Hall, which was also known as Kingston House for a short spell, was bought by the Moulton family in 1848, following a decline in the demand for cloth and the wealth of the Hall family Stephen Moulton used the old woollen mills opposite the Hall as the base for his pioneering rubber manufacturing company.

His great-grandson, Alex, continued the family tradition for innovation, designing the world-famous Moulton Bicycle (with rubber suspension and small wheels), as well as the suspension for the iconic and classic first Mini.

Restoring it to its Former Glory…

The grounds of The Hall include a large section of land along the banks of the River Avon. Sections of forest, a quarry, expansive lawns, and well-manicured topiary make for a very diverse planting area. The estate is particularly famous for its range of specimen trees, including a large number of Giant Sequoias and a very rare example of a fern-leaved beech.

Managing a large team of volunteers, Compass Garden and Landscape Design have designed extensive planting and ground-work schemes for the Grade-I listed estate, and we are managing the development process on a weekly basis. Using a vast archive of photos and documents, we are also attempting to recreate some stunning features such as a Dutch garden and Japanese water garden.

And, as part of our bespoke gardening services, we manage the maintenance of the grounds and the technical hedge pruning, including the care of magnificent 200-year-old Irish Yew trees.

and Adding Some New Features Too

In addition, we are developing new features of the estate, such as a large-scale former quarry area which we are gradually converting into a stunning landscape. We have built some new planting terraces and put in thousands of new plants, including 2,000 spring bulbs in the autumn.

In addition, we are working through plans to improve biodiversity on the site, through the installation of areas of wildflower-planting, dead-hedges, and water-features.

It’s Open to the Public

You don’t need to take our word for it – go and see it for yourself. The Hall Estate is open every Fridays from April 16 from 2pm-5pm, courtesy of the Alex Moulton Charitable Trust. However, because of social distancing requirements in place at the moment which are limiting numbers, it is recommended to pre-book. More details are available at moultontrust.org/whats-on.

There are also plans to open up the Hall itself later in the year as the situation improves.

Gardening Services from Compass Garden and Landscape Design

This type of large-scale project is only part of the work that we do. We also offer a range of other services, including general gardening advice, planting consultancy and design, for customers in Bath, Bristol and across the south-west of England.

If you would like to know more, click here and fill in our online contact form. Alternatively, you can call us on 07920 051549 or email office@compassgardendesign.co.uk.