Myddelton House

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Myddelton House
Myddelton House garden, Enfield, London ~ lakeside looking north 04.jpg
Myddelton House from the lake
Myddelton House
Interactive map of the Myddelton House area
General information
Type Villa
Architectural style Regency
Location Bulls Cross, Enfield, London, England
Coordinates 51°40′30″N0°03′40″W / 51.675°N 0.061°W / 51.675; -0.061
Construction started1818
Governing body Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameMyddelton House
Designated19 March 1951
Reference no. 1078893
Official nameMyddelton House Gardens
Designated1 October 1987
Reference no. 1000243
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameLake Terrace in the grounds of Myddelton House
Designated15 August 1979
Reference no. 1358715
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameMarket Cross in the grounds of Myddelton House
Designated15 August 1979
Reference no. 1079478
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameStable Block to north of Myddelton House
Designated31 January 1974
Reference no. 1359004

Myddelton House is a Regency villa in Bulls Cross, Enfield, London, England. Dating from 1819, the building is enclosed by an 8-acre garden that was developed in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. In the late 19th century, the house came into the possession of Edward Augustus Bowles, the "Crocus King", a notable horticulturalist, plantsman and garden writer. Over the next 50 years he created an important garden on the site. After his death in 1954, the house and some of the estate, including the major parts of the garden, was acquired by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority for use as their headquarters. The house continues to serve that purpose and the gardens are regularly open to the public. Myddelton House is a Grade II listed building and the gardens are listed, also at Grade II, on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.

Contents

History

The Myddelton Estate stands in the grounds of the Tudor Elsyng Palace, home of Thomas Lovell during the reign of Henry VIII, and a favoured residence of the king and of his daughter Elizabeth I. The palace fell out of favour during the reign of James VI and I and was largely demolished by the 1650s. [1] A new mansion, Forty Hall was built in the grounds in the 1620s, and in 1724 a part of the estate was bought by Michael Garnault. [2] In 1818, Henry Carrington Bowles, who had married the Garnault heiress, Anne, constructed a new house on this portion of the estate, [a] named Myddelton House in honour of Hugh Myddelton (1560-1631), the builder of the New River, an artificial waterway which supplied London with drinking water and which ran through the grounds of the Forty Hall estate. [4] A later descendent, Edward Augustus Bowles inherited Myddelton House in the 1890s, while his brother, Henry, was bought Forty Hall by their father, Henry Carrington Bowles Bowles. Over the next half century Edward Bowles developed a major garden on the Myddelton Estate, drawing on his expertise as a plantsman, horticulturalist and prolific author. [5]

On his death in 1954, Bowles left the house and gardens jointly to the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine and the University of London School of Pharmacy. In 1968, the house and the majority of the estate, including the gardens, were sold to the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, the body with responsibility of the operation of Lee Valley Park. The house remains their headquarters, and the gardens are regularly open to the public. [2] [6]

Architecture and description

The main house is of two storeys with attics above. A three-storey wing is a later addition. The construction material is London stock brick, with ashlar dressings. Some original interiors remain. The house is a Grade II listed building. [7]

Gardens

The 8-acre garden includes a wide range of plants, some collected by Bowles on his travels overseas and many gifted by other plant enthusiasts. Specialities include snowdrops and crocuses, Bowles being nicknamed "the Crocus King". [8] They contain several national plant collections. [b] Other features include vegetable and cut-flower gardens, the Victorian Enfield Market cross which Bowles saved from destruction and relocated to the gardens, [3] and a rockery where Bowles' ashes were scattered. [10] Bowles also delighted in collecting unusual specimens, which he planted out in an area of the garden he called 'The Lunatic Asylum'. [6] In 2011 work was completed on a £700,000 restoration of the gardens, with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. [8]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The builders were George Ferry and John Wallen. [3]
  2. ↑ The national collections include that of the bearded iris. [9]

References

  1. ↑ "Elsing Palace". Forty Hall Estate. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 Historic England. "Myddelton House Gardens (Grade II) (1000243)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  3. 1 2 Cherry & Pevsner 2002, p. 450.
  4. ↑ "Hugh Myddelton (c.1560-1631), of Bassishaw (Basinghall) Street, London and Bush Hill, Edmonton, Middlesex; later of The Lodge, Talybont, Cardinganshire". History of Parliament Online . Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  5. ↑ Allen, Mea. "The History of E. A. Bowles". E. A. Bowles Society. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Myddelton House Gardens". Visit Lea Valley. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  7. ↑ Historic England. "Myddelton House (Grade II) (1078893)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  8. 1 2 Jackson, Hazelle. "The King Re-Crowned". London Gardens Trust . Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  9. ↑ "Myddelton House". Parks & Gardens UK. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  10. ↑ "Myddelton House Gardens". Historic and Botanic Garden Training Programme. Retrieved 29 January 2026.

Sources

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