Landscape record 1292601000 - Brands House

Mid to late 18th century house remodelled sometime between 1820 and 1830 with parks and formal gardens. There is also a late 18th century garden wall (B3).
Brands House was once the heart of a 730 acre estate, and remains in its parkland setting, although much of the surrounding farmland has now been sold off. Many roadside trees are from estate planting, others have been allowed to grow up to screen houses. The land to the rear of Brands House, shown as orchard in an 1841 estate map, is now semi-woodland. The general planting within the grounds of Brands House is typical of the mid 19th century, with ornamental trees such as Scots Pine and Fir, overlooking areas of lawn, interspersed with rhododendron and laurel. In the parkland beyond several mature deciduous specimens, mainly oaks, are dotted around here and there, together with more exotic species, but the overriding impression is of grazed open parkland. The east side of the park retains an avenue, and closer to the house the grounds are wooded, hiding the building from the main road. The Four Ashes Conservation Area was extended in 1992 and in 2005 to include the parkland beyond the grounds of the house - it was considered that this area played an important role in understanding the layout of the estate, and established the house within its proper historical setting (B2).
The gardens and park for a country villa, developed in the C18 and C19 from a farmstead. The largely C19 designed landscape is extensive considering the size of the house and makes good use of the Chiltern setting. It survives largely intact as it had developed in phases by the early C20.The property is associated with several influential figures of Buckinghamshire. See report for detail (B4).