High House Production Park Purfleet Royal Opera House National Skills Academy ROH social heritage local cultural history restoration redevelopment fruit trees flats herb beds kitchen garden inner walled garden Manor of West Thurrock  
The Garden
   Garden High House Production Park Purfleet Royal Opera House National Skills Academy ROH social heritage local cultural history restoration redevelopment fruit trees flats herb beds kitchen inner walled garden Manor of West Thurrock  
             
 

The gardens of High House are a great cultural reference, giving us several markers in social history. As tastes and fashions changed, and as the affluence of the house’s owners increased, the gardens evolved with the times, leaving a great history and heritage for Thurrock and England itself.

Historic maps and inventories tell us the gardens at High House were well stocked with manicured lawns and fruit trees. The manorial status shown by having such a large working and pleasure garden is a great indicator of social history, where size really did matter.  Yet it is easy to look at the recent photographs of the garden and assume that it's always been like this. But before work started on the property the gardens were overgrown after simply being left to nature for around forty years after the house was no longer used as flats.

 
     
 
Garden High House Production Park Purfleet Royal Opera House National Skills Academy ROH social heritage local cultural history restoration redevelopment fruit trees flats herb beds kitchen garden inner walled garden Manor of West Thurrock
  
             
 
Garden High House Production Park Purfleet Royal Opera House National Skills Academy ROH social heritage local cultural history restoration redevelopment fruit trees flats herb beds kitchen garden inner walled garden Manor of West Thurrock
  

Shown on the left is the herb garden which is a reconstruction of what could have been in the kitchen garden which would have been used to grow the vegetables for the household. Garden statues and benches were also mentioned in a sales catalogue, truly showing the prominence.

  Garden High House Production Park Purfleet Royal Opera House National Skills Academy ROH social heritage local cultural history restoration redevelopment fruit trees flats herb beds kitchen garden inner walled garden Manor of West Thurrock  
             
  These photographs show fruit trees being trained to grow up against the rebuilt walls of the inner walled garden. A garden of this type was walled not just to keep out thefts but to also protect the fruit and vegetables grown within from the English elements. In fact, the trees growing up against the walls are said to benefit from a higher temperature, helping to set the fruit.  
     
  Orchard trees Garden High House Production Park Purfleet Royal Opera House National Skills Academy ROH social heritage local cultural history restoration redevelopment fruit trees flats herb beds kitchen inner walled garden Manor of West Thurrock   Orchard trees Garden High House Production Park Purfleet Royal Opera House National Skills Academy ROH social heritage local cultural history restoration redevelopment fruit trees flats herb beds kitchen inner walled garden Manor of West Thurrock  
         
 
The above shots are of the tree planting ceremony for one of the many fruit trees used to create an orchard from mature specimens. These trees were so huge and heavy they had to be lowered in by a fork lift, but will make an absolutely lovely sight in summer and will produce a bountiful crop very soon. Normally, a tree this size would take about twenty years to grow, so the residents and dinners of Purfleet will have the benefit of having easy access to fresh fruit.
 
             
  Garden High House Production Park Purfleet Royal Opera House National Skills Academy ROH social heritage local cultural history restoration redevelopment fruit trees flats herb beds kitchen inner walled garden Manor of West Thurrock  

Before work began, the gardens were over grown and almost lost in the undergrowth. Yet, for those lucky enough to see the garden before, it was a magical place. It left you with the feeling that time itself forgot this very tragic, lost fairy-tale of a place. But with the distant echoes of grandeur, the garden has been brought back to the high status it once held.

   Garden High House Production Park Purfleet Royal Opera House National Skills Academy ROH social heritage local cultural history restoration redevelopment fruit trees flats herb beds kitchen inner walled garden Manor of West Thurrock  
             
  Garden High House Production Park Purfleet Royal Opera House National Skills Academy ROH social heritage local cultural history restoration redevelopment fruit trees flats herb beds kitchen inner walled garden Manor of West Thurrock  
Yet it is so important to remember what the garden looked like before, and just how much work has been done. It's quite haunting to think of what these paths might have witnessed during the rise and fall of the Manor of West Thurrock and of High House itself.
  Garden High House Production Park Purfleet Royal Opera House National Skills Academy ROH social heritage local cultural history restoration redevelopment fruit trees flats herb beds kitchen inner walled garden Manor of West Thurrock  
 
 
 
Garden High House Production Park Purfleet Royal Opera House National Skills Academy ROH social heritage local cultural history restoration redevelopment fruit trees flats herb beds kitchen inner walled garden Manor of West Thurrock
  
     
 
During one of the many community clearance days that were organised to try and tame the undergrowth!
  
     
 
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