Haunted garden

The mysterious park at Castle Powys in Wales is one of the few English Baroque landscapes.

Passing the gallery

Leading headings: Marina Volkova

A photo: - © National Trust Images

Magazine: N11 (177) 2012

The mysterious park at Castle Powys in Wales is one of the few English Baroque landscapes.

Powys - a kingdom that existed in East Wales throughout the Middle Ages. Now in this area is the so-called unitary unit (or, if without clerical terms, the region) Powys. The local castle, a real ancient fortress, survived more than one reconstruction. Owners changed, in turbulent years, they also quarreled with their neighbors, who occasionally won the castle. In short, the history is turbulent.

But the park surrounding the fortress, preserved quite well. In the form in which it was designed at the end of the XVII century by architects William Wind and Adrian Duval. The park is terraced: several terraces are carved into the rock and planted. The terrace principle is taken from Italian art. In England, regular, strictly organized gardens were in the news. An outstanding element of the garden decor, thanks to which it seems so unusual, is trimmed hedges and figures from the yew. Some reach nine meters in height. The fancifully trimmed compositions resemble giant boulders, and inside some of them private gazebos are arranged. Such yew "pebbles" are planted around the perimeter of the main terrace. Hard to believe, but they have more than three centuries!

To maintain this beauty, a whole regiment of gardeners works at the park. Although yew - an unpretentious plant, shear "patriarchs" only once a year. Such figured ornaments were a distinctive feature of baroque landscapes. They were perceived as a wonder. On the one hand, it was an imitation of natural forms, on the other, a game of the mind, a figment of fantasy. At first it seems that they are scattered across the park haphazardly, but while walking, you gradually understand that there is a strict order behind everything. And how could it be otherwise, because baroque gardens are not only fantastic sculptures from plants, but also planting along a ruler. And do not forget that it was in the era of the domination of this style were created the most famous parks, organized on a regular basis, for example Versailles.

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