MEM25023 - Post-medieval designed landscape at Venne House (Monument)

An area of gardens and landscaping is visible on historic mapping around the area of the demolished country house. Some of the boundaries and features shown on the mapping still apprear to be extant. It is likely that the area of designed landscape extends beyond the mapped extent. The Tithe Map Apportionment [1] describes the land use in the parcels in the immediate area of the house as "Pleasure Gardens etc" and "Plantations". [1-4] Venne House was presumably built in the 19th Century and was demolished in the 1970s. The house is shown on the Ordnance Survey 1st Edition 1 inch mapping of 1802-3 [5]. The main drive entered from the east and swept around to approach the house from the south. At SS 9910 3082 in a dense laurel plantation are traces of the former gardens. These include a header pond and circular pond with central island, all revetted in quartz blocks. [6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7] The gardens are also shown on the Ordnance Survey 1 inch map. [5]