2015:383 - Hillsborough Castle Gardens Phase 1 (Small Park), Down

GREENHOUSES

Greenhouses 1 and 2, which were recorded in the historical record as being on the south-east side of the garden dividing wall and positioned between the indentations on this wall, have been identified. The side walls partly survive with the back third of Greenhouse 1 being present and the central section of Greenhouse 2 being present. The front walls of these greenhouses do not appear to have survived and instead seem to have been destroyed through the construction of the modern paths and laying of services. A line of rubble and mortar may indicate that the front wall may have been 3m out from the garden dividing wall, this cannot however be verified. Both greenhouses had a brick drain running under the floor and Greenhouse 2 had a dividing wall.

Greenhouse 3 and 4 correspond to the structures identified on the 1858 2nd Edition OS maps. Greenhouse 3 was 22m long and 2.25m wide. The greenhouse was floored with lime mortar and the end of a water pipe was present within a cavity wall at the north-west end of the greenhouse. The current path lies outside of its walls and as such the front (south-west) wall of the greenhouse is likely to survive for its entire length. The south-east end of the greenhouse had been damaged by the insertion of a buttress. An internal division was evident at the south-east end of the greenhouse. Greenhouse 4 was only evidenced by a short section of its front (south-west) wall. The south-east end of this structure may have been destroyed during path improvements associated with the gate. The long building which was located along much of the length of the north-east garden wall, and recorded on the 1833 1st Edition OS Map, appeared to have been incorporated into the south-west walls of Greenhouses 3 and 4. The north-west wall of Greenhouse 3 also corresponds with the earlier structure's end wall and was most likely incorporated into this new greenhouse. However, it was evident that the wall was removed during the construction of Greenhouse 3’s south-east wall. Some remains may survive between Greenhouse 3 and 4, however further excavation would be required to confirm this.

Greenhouse 5

In one of the trenches the mortar floor of Greenhouse 5 was exposed, the south-east wall had been completely robbed-out leaving only the foundation cut and the end of the floor as evidence of its location. A red brick drain ran north to south to the south-east side of the greenhouse and it is assumed that it had been placed while the greenhouses were upstanding and ran close to the south-east wall.

Greenhouse 6

The substantive remains of the boiler room for the greenhouse and a small section of the north-east wall were discovered. Within the boiler room there was evidence for a probable coal chute and the egress point for the heating pipes for the greenhouse. A series of curved tiles lay just outside the boiler house and underneath a small section of wall. These may have been part of an even earlier heating system (prior to the Victorian pipe heating). The west of the greenhouse in this trench appeared to have been robbed-out along the line of one of the later polytunnels, possibly when this polytunnel had been constructed.

Greenhouses 7 and 8 were of late 19th-century date and are still upstanding though in poor repair.

PATHS

The 1770 plan of the garden can be confirmed as having been laid out, with 4 of the 7 paths within the walled garden identified during testing. Three of the paths (Paths 1, 2 and 4) were formed from broken roof slates and were 0.75m wide. Path 6 (the central path) was built from stone rubble and may have been from a post-1770 path improvement phase. Externally the slip garden path (Path 8) was not directly apparent, however indirect evidence for its edge came from a line of stone rubble 1.6m from the south-west garden wall.

HOTHOUSES

Hothouse 1 

The south-east of the three hothouses shown on the 1770 plan was identified. It extended 5m from the upstanding boiler house and had a complex arrangement of internal walls, piers and arches which would have been related to the underfloor heating system.

Hothouse 2 had been modified significantly with the apple store constructed onto the back of the hothouse, replacing its boiler room. The side walls were also lowered to the level of the window openings, though it is not clear if these were original or an amendment associated with the palm/fern house extension at the start of the 20th century. A small trench was opened along the front edge of the hothouse, this identified the front foundation of the structure and indicated that it was of a similar construction to Hothouse 1 (as was expected). Two sandstone blocks were found at the south-west and south-east corners of the hothouse, the south-west block formed the base of the corner of the building while the south-east block abutted the corner. This second block was displaced from its original location and when the south-east corner of Hothouse 2 was modified, probably when the palm/fern house was constructed.

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