THE ROCKERY
"Rockery with Pond in Foreground"
PHOTO: CARMEL CLEARY 2000
The Rockery is an enchanting and atmospheric feature and is a by-product of the excavations carried out to provide material for the Winter Garden. The rockery was completed in 1862, the date being supplied by a convenient date stone. Over 50,000 loads of earth were taken to create the terraces of the Winter Garden. The resulting cutting was faced with masses of granite rock and white quartz bolders.
Main features include a pond with small islands, a spring called the 'rock well' and a number of viewing points along the top, the most prominent of which is located at the southern end. The rockery is in quite a good state of preservation, however some of the rockwork has collapsed and needs to be restored. A heavy overhang of trees has been recently cleared allowing more light through to the rockery.
Unfortunately little remains of the original planting with the exception of a palm which gives a tropical accent at the northern end.
Plants would have included Osmunda regalis (Royal Fern) and many other native ferns, Stonecrops, Saxifrages, Linaria cymbalaria (Toadflax) and Spiraea filipedula. The small islands were planted with bamboo and New Zealand flax. One contemporary writer of the day wrote "In many places, this rockery would be considered a great work; never in this case of garden have we seen component parts so well united-
"To form one beauteous well connected whole
To charm the eye and captivate the soul"
