The gardens and parkland of Dyrham Park are registered together as a Grade II* historic landscape by English Heritage. The mansion and its related buildings are all Grade I listed and the gardens and grounds contain another thirteen structures and monuments that are listed buildings.
The apparent simplicity of the garden and parkland landscape belies a complex history, which has undergone many changes over the past thousand years, all of which have left traces of their passing. In 2004, Teasdale Environmental Design was commissioned to prepare a Conservation Management Plan for the garden, parkland and wider landscape, drawing together a summary of the extensive historic information that survives about the site. The Plan defines the value and significance of the landscape and its components and sets out management strategies to ensure their preservation and renewal in perpetuity. Extensive consultation took account of the views of specialists within the National Trust, English Heritage and the local planning authority. The views of local people and visitors were also collected through workshops held in the village, an activity day held with pupils from the local primary school and visitor interviews.
By 2004 the West Garden, although much-loved by many people, had become depleted. Many of the original or older trees and shrubs had died and the garden was becoming empty. The landforms date from the late 17th century, when a formal, Dutch-style garden existed and the streams that ran through the site were exploited to create impressive water gardens. By 1800, the formal gardens had been demolished and replaced by a new garden ‘layer’ under the direction of Charles Harcourt Masters and possibly influenced by Humphry Repton. In its turn, this was over-planted gradually through the Victorian period with trees, shrubs and exotic flower borders.
In 2005, a project began to re-define some of the 18th century garden compartments. Those compartments occupying the upper levels of the garden continue to be presented as bold formal spaces, in the spirit of the 18th century. In the sunken gardens, which contain old ponds and an 18th century cascade, a new contemporary ‘layer’ is being created of quite different character from the surrounding spaces, although still respecting the surviving historic features and spirit of this lovely part of the garden. The new work has included laying out paths, extensive new planting schemes and the construction of modest interpretative details. Considerable care has been taken to protect all buried archaeological remains.
