Lydney Park

Lydney Park is a 17th century country estate surrounding Lydney House, located at Lydney in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. It is known for its gardens and Roman temple complex.

House and Gardens

Lydney Park was bought in 1719 by Benjamin Bathurst, son of the Cofferer of the Household to Queen Anne, and has remained in the family since then. The house was originally close to the main road, with a large deer park behind it.

In 1875, Rev. William Hiley Bathurst built a new house in the centre of the deer park, with views over the River Severn. The new house was built by C. H. Howell, with a formal garden and shrubberies. The old house was demolished, apart from the buildings now occupied by the Taurus Crafts centre. Rev. Bathurst's grandson Charles, later Viscount Bledisloe, made some further changes to the garden before the house became used in the Second World War, first to house the Dutch royal family and then a girls' school. ["Lydney Park - Spring Gardens and Roman Remains", local guidebook (undated)]

The current garden was developed after 1950 by the second Viscount Bledisloe and his family. There is a woodland garden running along a secluded valley, planted with magnolias, rhododendrons, azaleas and other flowering shrubs. There is a paved terrace above and formal gardens which are popular in the Spring, when the daffodils bloom.

The gardens are private land, and are open to the public on certain days depending on time of year. The house also has a museum containing findings from the Roman site and artefacts from New Zealand collected by the first Viscount Bledisloe.

Roman temple

The area has an early Iron Age promontory fort, known as Lydney Camp, covering 4.5 acres. The Romans used the site, until the early 4th century, for the extraction of iron ore. Open-cast iron mines, or "scowles", and tunnels still exist throughout the hill.

In the late 4th century, the Romans built a temple to Nodens, a Celtic divinity who is reflected by the later figures of Nuada and Nudd "alias" Lludd in Irish and Welsh mythology respectively. Lludd's name survives in the placename, Lydney. Several model dog images have been found there, indicating it was a healing shrine. The structure was a cross between a basilica and the usual Romano-British style temple. The walls of the sanctuary or "cella" were arched colonnades until a fault in the rock below caused the almost total collapse of the temple. It was rebuilt with solid walls to the cella. There was a fish-covered mosaic with an inscription that referred to Victorinus the Interpreter, probably an interpreter of dreams. the temple was accompanied by a large courtyard pilgrims' hostel and elaborate bath suite.

Tolkien associations

There is a legend that after about 20 years of the Romans leaving, the indigenous peoples forgot the Romans had settled there and began to believe the ruins were the home to dwarves, hobgoblins and little people. [cite web|author =Website Editorial Staff|year=unclear|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/films/tolkien.shtml| title=Tolkien's tales from Lydney Park|work =British Broadcast Corporation|accessdate=2006-03-13] The site was excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in the 1920s. The author of "The Lord of the Rings" novel, J. R. R. Tolkien, was part of the excavation team and he is said to have been influenced by such folk tales which he used to develop his stories of Middle-earth. He wrote a report, "The Name 'Nodens'", following the excavation.

References

* Wheeler, R.E.M. & T.V. (1932) "Report on the excavation of the prehistoric, Roman and post-Roman site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire". Oxford.

Footnotes

External links

*http://www.aboutbritain.com/lydneyparkgardens.htm
*http://www.fweb.org.uk/dean/visitor/tlydpark.htm
*http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/films/tolkien.shtml
*http://www.roman-britain.org/places/lydney.htm