{"id":19544,"date":"2021-12-30T21:57:36","date_gmt":"2021-12-31T02:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19544"},"modified":"2021-12-30T21:58:53","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T02:58:53","slug":"episode-497-eywood-gardens-survive-the-demolition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19544","title":{"rendered":"episode 497 EYWOOD GARDENS SURVIVE THE DEMOLITION"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPSPDE 497    EYWOOD GARDENS SURVIVE THE DEMOLITION<\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Dec. 29,2021<\/div>\n

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EYWOOD GARDN GREENHOUSE CIRCA 1965\u2026SURPRISINGLY INTACT<\/div>\n

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What remained of Eywood after the demolition?  Over many visits to Eywood I was able to <\/div>\n
capture many pictures of the Estate as it still stands to this day.   While the grand mansion was<\/div>\n
demolished and its\u2019 carcase remains as a downer to anyone visiting Eywood\u2026.while this is true,<\/div>\n
so much of the Estate remains intact which is remarkable and likely not true for the hundreds of<\/div>\n
similar Country Estate mansions demolished ine 20th century.<\/div>\n

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I have no pictures of the mansion interior except for the picture below which gives a clear<\/div>\n
indication of the fine living conditions of Lord and Lady Oxford and subsequent owners of<\/div>\n
Eywood.<\/div>\n

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Just for fun see how many things you would want in your house and make an imaginary bid.<\/div>\n
On one of our visits to Eywood, Cyril Griffiths took us to a nearby farm owned by the Edwards<\/div>\n
who were loosely connected to our family.  Inside their home were very grand pieces of furniture<\/div>\n
bought at auction from Eywood.  Particularly I remember a huge dining room table that would<\/div>\n
take four people to lift and sideboard cupboard to match.  Memory could be wrong though.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat am i bid for these fireplace ANDIRONS?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat am I bid for this FINE ANTLERED DEER HEAD?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat am i bid for this SIDE BOARD CUPBOURD AND CONTENTS OF FINE CHINA?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat am I bid for these PERIOD SIDE CHAIRS?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat am I bid for THE STAIR RAILINGS?<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat am I bid for these TWO DECORATIVE URNS?<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat am I bid for THE FINE CARVED FIREPLACE MANTLE?<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat am I bid for the HARDWOOD FLOOR BOARDS?<\/div>\n
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THE EYWOOD GARDENS<\/div>\n

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SURVIVING BUILDINGS STILL PRESENT ON THE EYWOOD ESTATE, THIS<\/div>\n
EPISODE WILL FEATURE THE EYWOOD GARDENS WHICH ARE INTACT<\/div>\n
TO THIS DAY.<\/div>\n

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It should come as no surprise to readers that our family were more interested<\/div>\n
in the Eywood gardens that the ruin of the mansion.  These gardens were <\/div>\n
where granddad and his ten gardeners provided fresh food for the estate owners\u2026<\/div>\n
counted the two horses as gardeners also.<\/div>\n

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Granddad Edward Freeman could build anything.  Trained initially as a carpenter<\/div>\n
he decided to change careers and became a landscape gardener. He  admired<\/div>\n
and emulated Capability Brown who designed much of the landscapes associated<\/div>\n
with grand Country Estates like Eywood Court.<\/div>\n

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Granddad was a smart man.  He built his own \u2018pin hole camera\u2019 and used it<\/div>\n
to capture himself along with his 8 gardeners the youngest of which may<\/div>\n
well be the future owner of the gardens.<\/div>\n

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The men are holding the tools of their trade and even included the garden work<\/div>\n
horses.  Mom always said that granddad grew a beard to make himself look <\/div>\n
older as you can see in his picture below (full suit with watch chain and fob)<\/div>\n
Another striking feature of this picture if how nicely dressed are the gardeners.<\/div>\n
There is something intangible  in the picture\u2026.pride.<\/div>\n

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As head gardener granddad received this house which is described as the gardeners \u2018cottage.  Really quite a grand home.<\/div>\n
Mom, (Elsie Freeman) was born here in 1901.   The earlier pin hole photo seems to have been taken beside the cottage which was<\/div>\n
surrounded by the high brick walls in the Victorian tradition of estate gardens.  Note my wife Marjorie at right bottom.<\/div>\n

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Large hand painted photograph of mom, Elsie Freeman, taken at Eywood using Granddad\u2019s may have been taken with<\/div>\n
pin hole camera.  Curly haired doll matches her curly hair.   Horse included.<\/div>\n
 More about this photo at the end of this Episode.<\/div>\n

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Head Gardener Edward Freeman at Eywood around 1900 .  he seems to be laying out <\/div>\n
an ornamental hedge characteristuc of formal plantings beyond the brick walled garden proper.<\/div>\n

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There were many surprises for us at Eywood. Perhaps the biggest and most beautiful were the large rhotodendron plantings which Percy Mills<\/div>\n
attributed to granddad.   These flowering shrubs are located so they could be seen from the estate mansion.  The small lake at Eywood is now<\/div>\n
surrounded by these.   It was easy to believe granddad had started them but that may or may not be true.<\/div>\n

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THIS photo of Eywood Court was professionally done I assume.  Guessing 1920\u2019s.   Note the plantings.   Today the ornamental <\/div>\n
pool is gone but the small lake remains a little distant from the house. The lake is hidden by masses of rhododendrons .<\/div>\n
Grandad\u2019s pin hole photo of Eywood is almost as good as this picture\u2026taken from same angle.  So close is the photo<\/div>\n
to the professional that I noticed Granddad\u2019s has been used often over the century. <\/div>\n

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The footpath and cart path from Eywood Court (mansion) to the Eyward Gardens (circa 1965)\u2026.path not used much in 1965 but in 1900<\/div>\n
this path would have been used often by Edward Freeman and his gardeners.  And also by many of the household staff who were<\/div>\n
good friends with Edward and Louisa Freeman.  So much so that their daughter Elsie Freeman had the Eywood cook, Mrs. Sears,  as her<\/div>\n
godmother.<\/div>\n

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There is no longer a team of 8 gardeners to tend Eywood but Percy made a valiant effort to keep the flower garden in continuous bloom.<\/div>\n
Garden home of Mom and family is top left.    It is possible to see the formal nature of this part of the gardens with paths leading to a formal<\/div>\n
stone decorative piece as centre point.    In 1900 these flower plantings would have been weeded constantly and the pathways may well have<\/div>\n
been brick lined.<\/div>\n

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North wall of Eywood gardens with Head gardener;s cottage and greenhouse for nectarines and peaches.<\/div>\n

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MY brother Eric admiring the nectarine trees planted by granddad around 1900 and still providing fruit in 1965\u2026.with<\/div>\n
a wooden tag  saying \u201cE. Freeman\u201d\/<\/div>\n

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Percy took Eric, Marjorie and I into this glassed greenhouse built so it would have southern exposure and therefore losts <\/div>\n
of sunshine.  Peaches and nectarines were still grown here on our 1965 visit.<\/div>\n
\u201cLook at this boys!\u201d  Percy touched a little stick of flat wood.<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat is written here, boys?”<\/div>\n
\u201cSays kind of nectarines I guess.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSays more than the boys.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYour grandfathers name.   He built this espaliered home for these nectarines which<\/div>\n
normally cannot live in Herefordshire\u201d<\/div>\n

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And sure enough his name was there.<\/div>\n

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Not all the greenhouses were in perfect condition as is obvious above.  Just to provide the hundreds of glass panes would bankrupt<\/div>\n
a banker.   This ruin, however, made us feel we were stepping deep into the past.  And the rhotodendron softens the shards of broken glass.<\/div>\n

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A century of greenhouse moisture made this greenhouse untenable except for wild plants.    But it has its own mystique.<\/div>\n

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I would like to close this presentation of Eywood gardens and our grandfather Edward Freeman<\/div>\n
with this photo of his daughter Else (Freeman) Skeoch.  Not just the photo however.<\/div>\n
But look at the frame.  Granddad carved this frame from a piece of oak by first making a pattern<\/div>\n
using brown paper and then working on the fine decorative touches as he sat beside the<\/div>\n
wood stove in his Canadian farm hose on the Fifth Line, Erin Township, Wellington County, Ontario,<\/div>\n
Canada.   This is the largest he carved but there were such carved frames containing photographic<\/div>\n
images of many of his dear friends \u2018in service\u2019 at Eywood circa 1900.<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Dec. 30, 2021<\/div>\n

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POST SCRIPT<\/div>\n

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FREEMAN FAMILY OF LYONSHALL, HEREFORDSHIRE<\/div>\n

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This picture may be backwards.  Unsure which is Edward Freeman.  pic circa 1890 (guess)<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPSPDE 497    EYWOOD GARDENS SURVIVE THE DEMOLITION alan skeoch Dec. 29,2021 EYWOOD GARDN GREENHOUSE CIRCA 1965\u2026SURPRISINGLY INTACT What remained of Eywood after the demolition?  Over many visits to Eywood I was able to  capture many pictures of the Estate as it still stands to this day.   While the grand mansion was demolished and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19544\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}