A designed landscape dating to the 1820s for John Knight, which was used as a garden by the Fortescues in the late 19th and early 20th Century. It includes a circuitous valley route that incorporates two outcrops of Spa Stone.
A section where several paths meet in the centre is shown on OS 1st Edition map as a separately enclosed piece of land and this may have been the original 'garden by the river'; the partial remains of a wall still run across the bottom of the Ashcombe valley here. The stretch of path through the woodland to the house has a hard surface and may have been wide enough for a horse-drawn vehicle, possibly providing a link to the Upper Stables. An old slate quarry within the garden (MEM22305) may have acted as a fernery.
The garden may have formed a prelude to a woodland garden in Ashcombe. The plantation is shown on the 1st and 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey maps with a footpath shown continuously around the combe, crossing the stream at the top of the plantation via a footbridge. The plantation was a mixture of deciduous and coniferous trees, with the majority of the conifers on the north side of the southern boundary. A small area of purely coniferous vegetation, shown on the 2nd Edition map, may be a small plantation of Japanese Larch that has been attributed to the Fortescues.
Various garden plants that are present includes Love-Lies-Bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus), Periwinkle, Snowdrops and Daffodils. The garden rapidly deteriorated since the Fortescue's sold off Simonsbath house.
Rising above the footpaths on either side of the valley are two outcrops of quartz, currently covered in lichen and small rock plants. It seems highly likely that these natural features in the landscape have been intentionally cleared and isolated to enhance their appearance. Furthermore, these quartz outcrops create the effect of a gateway into the valley, marking the beginning of the footpaths and the entrance to the woodland wilderness garden of Ashcombe.
Age: created from 1820 onwards
Rarity: relatively common 19th C aspiration, upland location more unusual
Distinctive Design: few distinctive features but white rock ‘portals’ unusual
Historical Association: High association with John Knight’s initial vision for his Mansion and Estate
Evidential Value: Moderate – some archaeological fabric surviving as archaeology – affected by 1952 flood
Social Communal Value: Valued as historic open space
Group Value: associated with Simonsbath House and White Rock Cottage and village
Collective Value: limited associations with other designed landscapes – but poor survival and possibly poor level of completion