The Japanese Gardens at Cowden Castle 21st - 22nd Oct
In our first post from the Historic Japanese Gardens at Cowden Castle we looked at the history of the gardens and our work to restore the original spillway's retaining wall.This time we've returned in October to tackle the large causeway which runs along the lake's East bank.
As the garden's had lain dormant for over 50 years, trees and plants had grown up and through the causeway, lifting and moving the large granite boulders which make up the banking, while other stones had simply slipped or dropped over the years.
Although this is not strictly a retaining dry stone wall, the principles used to construct the banking would have been much the same. The stones along the waterline were dug into the banking length ways, but angled downwards at approx. 45 degrees. This gives good support for the weight pushing down from the top of the banking and the courses which would follow. After a couple of courses however, we find two layers of stone used, but with rounder stones lying flat to the banking rather than length ways into the banking, which continues to the top.The challenge we faced was regaining the hight and level seen on other more intact sections.
By the end of day two, we had restored around 8 metres between the two of us, the results of which look spectacular when seen from across the lake, as the reflection on the perfectly still water doubles the height of the wall.The Historic Japanese Gardens at Cowden Castle open to the public in Spring 2018. For more details go to www.cowdengarden.com and be sure to like and follow them on Facebook for all the latest on the restoration work.