Clinton Devon Estates
During the 19th century William Gilpin, an accomplished landscape gardener, was commissioned to install tree plantations on the Bicton Estate (now part of Clinton Devon Estates) in his trademark irregular-shaped - almost amoeboid – copses. These clumps of trees were fenced off using wrought iron railings of a design specific to Bicton. The fencing consisted of six horizontal square bar rails set in uprights on the diagonal, to give a diamond shape effect. The fencing was forged as individual panels which were then installed on site.
Over the ensuing century, these railings all but disappeared and the distinctive outlines of the original irregular clumps disappeared with them. When Clinton Devon Estates recently decided to restore Gilpin’s original plantations, this and the fencing around them had to be done in a way that retained the cultural heritage of the parkland.
Rather than using direct reproductions of the original fencing panels, odd sections of which still survive for reference, Stonebank Ironcraft proposed an alternative solution which was accepted by both the English Heritage and the Estate. While still using Bicton’s characteristic square bar rails set at the diagonal, Stonebank used continuous welded railings rather than pre-forged panels. Apart from increased strength and stability, the key reason for this was that the original panel-based design was ill-suited for following the curves and slopes of the sinuous plantation designs, while Stonebank’s seamless fencing system allows for significant flexibility when contouring on both the vertical and horizontal planes.
The end result is a classic case of matching original work with an improved technique not available when the original fence was made, to leave a structure entirely sympathetic with the primary intent.
click images to enlarge
Images from the Project
1//Installing the Steel Fencing
2//Original Wrought Iron Fence Panel
3//New Curved Fencing
4//Finished Fence
5//Continuous Welded Fencing following the Sinuous Lines
6//New Steel Gate