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Gatton Park Bridge | Surrey
Gatton Park is a 250-acre estate near Reigate, Surrey. The park was landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown in the 1760s and comprises woodlands, grasslands, ponds and a large lake. The beautiful formal gardens were added by Sir Jeremiah Colman of mustard fame during the time he lived there. Following the Edwardian trend in all things Japanese, Sir Jeremiah employed Edward White to create a Japanese garden beside the Engine Pond in 1910. Channel 4 Television in 1999 restored the Japanese Garden for the first programme in its ‘Lost Gardens’ series.
Gatton Park centered on the Royal Alexandra & Albert School is the core 250 acres of a manor and park whose history can be traced to the Domesday Survey. It was a deer park in the medieval period and the great landscaper Lancelot 'Capability' Brown replaced earlier formal gardens in the 1760's with a more natural landscape. Gatton Park was one of Brown's larger commissions and he enhanced the spectacular setting in the North Downs. His design incorporated views over parkland to a string of lakes and a serpentine, to a temple and the woodland beyond.
The park could be appreciated from a circuitous walk within the woodland belt which screened the range of walled kitchen gardens. In the early 20th century, Jeremiah Colman commissioned a series of gardens within the landscape including a very large Pulhamite artificial rock and water garden and a Japanese garden.
Ellis & Moore were engaged to oversee the conservation of the historic bridge. Over the years the bridge had weakened and had suffered inappropriate cement remedial repairs. The practice’s work included the removal, repair and replacement of the stone and brickwork, ensuring structural integrity of the bridge using Contec ties and re-pointing using lime mortars.