Glossary

10th century

From 900 to 999

11th century

From 1000 to 1099

12th century

From 1100 to 1199

13th century

From 1200 to 1299

14th century

From 1300 to 1399

15th century

From 1400 to 1499

16th century

From 1500 to 1599.

17th century

From 1600 to 1699

18th century

From 1700 to 1799.

19th century

From 1800 to 1899.

1st century

From A.D. 1 to A.D. 99

20th century

From 1900 to 1999.

2nd century

From 100 to 199

3rd century

From 200 to 299

4th century

From 300 to 399

5th century

From 400 to 499

6th century

From 500 to 599

7th century

From 600 to 699

8th century

From 700 to 799

9th century

From 800 to 899

Abbey

A religious house governed by an abbot or abbess.

Acorn Finial

A finial in the shape of an acorn.

Agriculture And Subsistence

Land used for the production of food, either crops or livestock.

Airing Court

An enclosed exercise yard next to an asylum building. There were often several airing courts, separating male and female patients, as well as those with different clinical conditions. The courts had an ornamental layout and often a pleasant view out intended to calm and cheer the patient. The boundaries of the courts were secured either by fences, walls or ha-has so that the patients could not escape.

Alcove

A recess in a garden wall or hedge, may also refer to a covered retreat or bower. May contain sculpture or a seat.

Allee

A walk bordered by trees or clipped hedges in a garden or park. Made of gravel, sand or turf, it is different from a path or avenue.

Alley

A walk bordered by trees or clipped hedges in a garden or park. Made of gravel, sand or turf, it is different from a path or avenue. Also known by the French term 'allee.'

Allotment

A share or portion of land that is allotted to a person, usually used for growing food for the family to eat or cultivating flowers. Allotments were originally for the rural poor, but with the growth of towns in the mid to late 19th century, urban allotments were established for the urban poor.

Allotment Shed

A slight structure built on an allotment for shelter or storage, or for use as a workshop, by the allotment holder.

Almshouse

A house devoted to the shelter of the poor and endowed by a benefactor for this use.

Alpine Bed

A bed in which alpine plants are grown, often raised to improve drainage.

Alpine Garden

A garden which consists of rocks and rock-loving plants that require little water.

American Garden

A concept dating in England from the second half of the 18th century, when hardy North American plants first became relatively easy to obtain.

Amphitheatre

A garden feature of tiers of turfed ramps and stepped terraces, straight or curving, leading down to or surrounding a flat open space.

Ancient Monument

A building or structure which is no longer used but is conserved for its cultural or historical value.

Animal Enclosure

An enclosed area to house animals, often consisting of a covered shelter and an open area for exercise and feeding. [See also 'zoological garden' under 'purpose, educational' and 'purpose, scientific']

Apiary

Enclosure or area where multiple bee hives are kept. Also used for a collection or grouping of beehives.

Approach

A route leading to a country house from the entrance to the estate, sometimes raised as a causeway.

Aqueduct

A bridge or similar structure with a channel for carrying water across a valley.

Arboretum

A place devoted to the cultivation and exhibition of rare trees.

Arbour

A lattice work bower or shady retreat covered with climbing plants.

Arcade

A series of arches, linked together, often made out of clipped hedges or trees with the trunks forming the uprights. [see also: 'garden arcade' under 'garden feature']

Arch

A curved structure, generally surmounting and connecting two uprights.

Archaeological Site

A site which features remains of past human activity which is, or has been, the subject of archaeological investigation.

Archery Butts

A mound or structure on which targets are placed for archery practice or competition.

Archery Ground

An open flat gound where the sport of shooting with bow and arrows is pursued. The ground can be equipped with targets mounted on butts and various fixed distance marker.

Areas of outstanding beauty (AONB)

An area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) is land protected by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act). It protects the land to conserve and enhance its natural beauty.

Armillary Sphere

A sundial consisting of a sphere formed from a number of solid rings.

Army Camp

A site where an army or body of troops is, temporarily or permanently, lodged, with or without entrenchments and fortifications.

Art Gallery

A building in which works of art are displayed, permanently or temporarily.

Artefact

An object made by humans.

Artificial Mound

An artificial hill constructed to provide a good view, especially in Tudor gardens.

Arts And Crafts

A cultural style that was fashionable in the late 19th and early 20th century. Arts and Crafts garden design emphasises use of traditional crafts and materials for garden structures, often using geometric shapes, particularly associated with Lutyens and Mawson.

Assembly Rooms

A building or set of rooms, primarily of the 18th century, in which social gatherings and balls were held.

Astrolabe

A fixed instrument used to measure altitude of stars and planets.

Asylum

An establishment providing care for mentally ill, sick or elderly people. Use more specific term where known.

Asylum Landscape

An estate associated with purpose-built asylums for the treatment of patients with mental illness and disability. Developed from the mid-19th century, and designed to be therapeutic. The features of the landscape were typical of country house estates, but those which might pose a risk to patients were avoided, such as large expanses of water. A distinctive feature of the asylum estate was the airing court.

Avenue

A route consisting of paired parallel lines of trees or other plants, banks, ditches, stones, or timber posts. [See also 'tree avenue' under 'tree feature']

Aviary

A house, enclosure or large cage for the keeping and breeding of birds.

Azalea House

A glasshouse built specifically to protect tender azaleas from the weather.

Backyard

A small yard attached to the rear of a house or other building.

Bagnio

A bath house, usually containing a cold bath (Italian).

Balustrade

A row of balusters (short pillars or columns), usually made of stone, with a rail or coping on top.

Balustrading

A row of balusters (short pillars or columns), usually made of stone, with a rail or coping on top.

Bandstand

A platform or other structure for the use of a band of musicians.

Banqueting House

A hall, apartment or large room, designed or used primarily for festive or state functions.

Bark House

Garden building made of wood, bark and often thatch.

Baroque

Formal French-style layout on a grand scale, fashionable in Britain in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Barrier

An obstruction, usually manmade, which is used to restrict or prevent access to a settlement, building or area of land. Use more specific type where known.

Basin

The bowl for the water in a fountain. The term is also applied to large geometric ponds.

Bastion

In gardens, a projecting bay or corner vantage point.

Bath House

A building equipped with facilities for bathing.

Battery

A strip of ground where cannon are sited, often included in gardens for their visual effect and as vantage points for viewing.

Battlefield

Area where a battle was held.

Bear Enclosure

An enclosure, usually within zoological gardens, designed to represent the natural environment for bears, including shelter. For bear baiting enclosures use 'bear pit.'

Bear Pit

A pit where bears were housed for baiting and entertainment purposes. If not used for baiting use 'bear enclosure.'

Bed

An area in a garden, park or other green space in which plants, and sometimes shrubs, are grown.

Bee Bole

A recess in a stone or brick wall, usually bounding a garden or orchard, set two to three feet from the ground and facing south to south-east to catch the morning sun, in which a bee skep or beehive is placed. Often found in groupings of three to six.

Bee House

A house for sheltering bee skeps or hives in rows on shelves or stands.

Bee Shelter

A roofed shelter usually projecting from a garden wall to protect bee skeps from rain.

Belt

The planting of trees around the perimeter of an estate, with or without a drive - especially C18th. Many of 'Capability' Brown's plans included a belt.

Belvedere

A turret, tower or look out occupying a prominent position to provide a view, either a separate building, or part of a villa.

Berceau

A vault shaped trellis on which climbing plants are trained.

Bird Bath

An ornamental receptacle to catch rainwater for birds to drink from and bathe in. Sometimes mounted on a column or plinth.

Boat House

A house or shelter for the storage and/or launching of boats.

Boating Lake

A lake, often artificial, in a park or open space, used for the recreational rowing and sailing of boats.

Bog Garden

A soft, marshy garden, often peat-based where water- and peat-loving plants are grown.

Border

A strip of ground forming a fringe to a garden. Use more specific type where known.

Bosquet

An ornamental grove, thicket or shrubbery pierced by walks.

Botanic Garden

A garden designed to provide living material for the study of botany and horticulture.

Botanical Bed

A bed in which plants are grown specifically for the purpose of horticultural or scientific study.

Bothy

A building which housed unmarried gardeners in often cramped conditions and with rudimentary facilities. Often built along a wall of the kitchen garden. The bothy system was used for both unmarried male and female servants and labourers, and was most frequently associated with estates in Scotland and northern England in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The term may be used today to refer to a shed where gardeners shelter or take refreshment rather than a potting or tool shed.

Boundary Fence

A fence that indicates the limit of an area or a piece of land.

Boundary Wall

Any wall enclosing a building or complex of buildings, such as a prison, dockyard or factory.

Bower

A covered enclosure or recess in a garden. See also 'arbour.'

Bowling Green

A closely mown piece of ground used for the game of lawn bowling, also known as 'flat lawn bowls.' [See also: 'crown green']

Bowling Green Pavilion

A building, often located in a park, where players can change and store equipment and from where spectators can watch the game.

Bronze Age

From 2500 B.C. to 700 B.C.

Brook

A small stream.

Brownian Landscape

A style which exhibits the characteristics of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown's style of landscape gardening from 1750 to 1780. The elements were: rolling green slopes and lawns which came up to the house; trees dotted about either singly or in clumps, particularly on hills; a perimeter belt of trees; a boundary drive, and a lake of natural appearance in the middle ground.

Building

A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for occupants or contents. Use specific type where known.

Burial Ground

An area of ground, set apart for the burial of the dead.

Burn

A small river, stream or brook [mostly used in Scotland and North of England].

Bus Station

A building and open area from which buses, usually those working local or regional services, begin or end their journeys.

Bust

A piece of sculpture usually representing the head, shoulders and breast of a person.

Butterfly Garden

A garden in which a variety of plants are grown to encourage butterflies.

Butts

A mound or structure on which an archery, musketry or artillery target is erected. Use specific type where known.

Cabinet

A small garden enclosure or arbour within a bosquet (thicket or shrubbery), or surrounded by clipped hedges. [French].

Cabinet De Verdure

A small compartment within a bosquet or one bounded by hedges. [French]

Camellia House

A 19th century glasshouse built specifically for the fostering of camellias.

Camomile Lawn

A lawn planted with camomile plants which when walked upon release a fragrant smell.

Camomile Seat

A garden seat covered in clipped camomile plants which release a fragrant smell when sat upon.

Canal

An artificial navigable waterway used for the transportation of goods. Nowadays also used for recreational purposes.

Caravan Park

An area where caravans are located. Permanently located caravans are often set within a landscaped surroundings.

Carpet Bed

A bed of low-growing foliage plants, all of an even height, arranged in patterns that resemble a carpet both in the intricacy of their design and in the uniformity of surface.

Cascade

An artificial fall of water often taking the form of a water staircase.

Cascade House

An often ornate building housing the source of an ornamental cascade, for instance at Chatsworth, Derbyshire.

Casino

An ornamental pavilion where music or dancing establishment often with facilities for gambling.

Castle

A fortress and dwelling, usually medieval in origin, and often consisting of a keep, curtain wall and towers etc.

Cathedral

The principal church of a diocese in which the cathedra or bishop's throne is to be found.

Cathedral Close

An enclosed area of ground immediately surrounding a cathedral. [See also 'cathedral precinct']

Cathedral Precinct

An area of ground immediately surrounding a cathedral. [See also 'cathedral close']

Causeway

A road or pathway raised above surrounding low, wet or uneven ground.

Cemetery

An area of ground, set apart for the burial of the dead.

Cenotaph

A tomb-like monument which commemorates a dead person or people whose remains are elsewhere.

Chapel

A freestanding building, or a room or recess serving as a place of Christian worship in a church or other building. [See also 'chapel' under 'Context/principal building.'

Chest Hospital

A specialist hospital treating patients with chest disorders and diseases.

Children's Hospital

A specialist hospital for the medical and surgical treatment of children.

Children's Playground

An area of ground used for children to play on, often attached to a school.

Chinese Pavilion

A light, ornamental structure in a garden, park or place of recreation built in the Chinese style.

Chinese-Style Garden

A garden with a Chinese layout and ornaments. Usually contains artificial crags contrasting and harmonising with soft, reflective water. Trees are valued for their symbolic associations and plants for their scents. First became fashionable in Britain in the 18th century.

Chinoiserie

Ornaments in or incorporating a westernised version of Chinese designs or motifs.

Church

A building used for public Christian worship.

Churchyard

An area of ground belonging to a church, often used as a burial ground.

Cistern

Tanks of lead or cast iron for collecting rainwater, usually rectangular, and often decorated with friezes or panels.

Civic Centre

A building or building complex where municipal offices and other public buildings are situated.

Civil

Land or buildings used for civil purposes.

Clairvoie

An openwork gate, fence or grille which permits a view of the scenery beyond.

Classical Landscape

A landscape style originating in Britain in the early 18th century, inspired by paintings of idealised or imagined Classical Italian landscapes by artists such as Claude Lorrain, Gaspard Dughet, and Nicholas Poussin. Would usually feature classical style sculpture and buildings such as temples. For example, Chiswick House, Stowe, and Stourhead. The style evolved into 'English landscape style' later in the 18th century. [See also 'English landscape style']

Cloister Garden

A garden in the middle of cloisters (usually medieval, for example, in an abbey, cathedral or monastery).

Clump

A number of trees planted together to form a distinct group.'Capability Brown's' favourite motif was to place clumps of beech on top of hills and slopes eg. Petworth, Sussex.

Coastal Garden

A garden located on the coast, with plants and trees suited to the conditions.

Cockpit

A pit or enclosed area used for cockfighting.

Cold Bath

A bath in the grounds usually on the site of a spring, often associated with a bath house

Collection

A thematic assemblage of plants, artefacts or animals.

College

An educational establishment providing higher or further education, or specialised training.

College Garden

A formal garden consisting of lawns, walks and borders belonging to a college or university, eg. Oxford or Cambridge.

Column

An upright, free-standing pillar, typically round in section, often in the style of classical Greek or Roman columns.

Commemorative

A place or structure created to commemorate a person or event.

Commemorative Monument

Area which commemorates the dead, often with a large monument.

Commercial

Land or buildings used for commercial purposes.

Commercial Office

The administrative office of a commercial concern. [see also 'Government office' and 'local government office' under 'civil' and 'office' under 'unassigned.']

Communal Garden

A shared open space dedicated for the use of a specific group of residential dwellings [see also Form>designed urban space>square>private square].

Communications

Land or buildings used for communications.

Communications Site

A site that may include structures and/or buildings that are used for communication purposes, such as a telegraph station or telephone exchange.

Community Garden

A garden maintained by, and for the benefit of, a community.

Compartment

A distinct area or ?room? within a garden, sometimes fenced or hedged.

Conceit

A charming, delightful or whimsical object in a garden, for example, a bridge over grass.

Conduit

A pipe or channel for conveying water or other liquids.

Conservation

Gardens or other green spaces designed specifically to cultivate or conserve plants or animals, sometimes designed to provide a specific type of habitat.

Conservatory

A glasshouse used to grow and display tender decorative plants. May be either an extension to a house or freestanding.

Container

An object used for, or capable of holding plants or other items.

Contemporary

Contemporary is a relative term, so the actual span of years that it covers depend upon the year in which the term was used. It is usually used to cover the current day at time of writing back to (approximately) the previous 10 to 20 years.

Context / Principal Building

Coppice

A managed small wood or thicket of underwood grown to be periodically cut to encourage new growth providing smaller timber. Also known as a 'copse.'

Corbeille

A flowerbed edged with wicker basketwork.

Cottage

A small house with few rooms and simple layout, usually built originally as a home for labourers or artisans and their families.

Cottage Garden

An informal garden attached to a cottage where flowers, vegetables and fruit trees are grown.

Cottage Home

Accommodation for children as an alternative to the workhouse following several Poor Law Acts. Modelled on continental examples and first erected at the end of the 1860s, it is based on the idea of a "village" of small houses accommodating a small group.

Cottage Hospital

Usually a rural hospital with up to 25 beds. Can include dispensaries with in-patients.

Cottage Ornee

A rustic building of picturesque design.

Country Estate

An area of privately owned land attached to, and incorporating, a country house and associated buildings.

Country House

The rural residence of a country gentleman

Country Park

A large public park in a rural area, often created from a historic landscape park.

Courtyard

An uncovered area, surrounded or partially surrounded by buildings.

Covered Yard

A covered area of ground attached to a building.

Covert

Densely planted bushes and trees in which birds hunted for game can hide.

Cricket Pavilion

A building adjoining a cricket pitch with facilities for players and spectators.

Crinkle-Crankle Wall

A wall with serpentine curves for growing fruit, dating in Britain from the mid-18th century. Its curving lines gave added strength, thus avoiding the need for buttressing. [See also: 'serpentine wall']

Croft

An enclosed piece of land attached to a house.

Croquet Lawn

A closely mown lawn used for the game of croquet.

Crown Green

A closely mown lawn, with low mound in the centre, used for playing crown green bowls, a North of England variant of lawn bowls. {See also: 'bowling green']

Crypta

A tunnel into a hillside. The word is similar to grotto.

Cultural Events/ Display

Green spaces designed and landscaped for cultural events, displays or exhibitions.

Curling Pond

A pond on which the game of curling is played when frozen.

Cutwork Parterre

An early type of parterre using clipped plants or hedging to form a linear pattern which was infilled with low-growing plants, often of a different colour or species.

Dairy

A building or group of buildings used for the making, processing, storing and selling of milk and other dairy products. [See also: 'laiterie']

Dam

An artificial structure built for controlling and shaping of water.

Deer Cote

A building, usually with some open or arcaded sides, within the park for the shelter and protection of deer, especially in winter.

Deer Course

Area in a deer park where a single deer was chased by dogs over a set distance, with bets made on the outcome. It usually includes a stand (for viewing) and can also include three distance markers, a finishing post and a ditch behind the last post.

Deer House

A building for housing deer overnight.

Deer Park

A large park for keeping deer. In medieval times the prime purpose was for hunting.

Deer Shelter

A building used to shelter deer hunters.

Defence

Land, buildings or structures used for military purposes.

Dell Garden

A garden in a hollow or small valley with trees and deliberate planting under the trees, derived from 'dell,' a term for a natural wooded hollow or small valley.

Demesne

The lands or estate attached to a manor or country house. [Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland].

Designed Route

An artificially created way or course from one point to another, connecting points in a landscape, often of ornamental quality.

Designed Rural Space

An rural open space, usually in a village or hamlet that has been designed for aesthetic purposes as well as function (often a recreational space).

Designed Urban Space

An open space in a town or city that has been designed for aesthetic purposes as well as function (often a recreational space).

Detached House

A free-standing house, not joined to another on either side.

Dew Pond

A shallow pond, often artificial, fed by the condensation of water from the air, occuring on high land which has no other adequate water supply.

Dingle

Small valley or side valley, sometimes brought into a designed landscape, with paths through woodland, seats, and perhaps waterfalls and ponds.

Dipping Pool

A small pool, often half vaulted over and below a terrace. Also in centre of kitchen gardens, used for filling watering-cans.

Ditch

A long and narrow hollow or trench dug in the ground, often used to carry water though it may be dry for much of the year.

Domestic / Residential

Land or buildings used for private residential purposes.

Doocot

A house for doves and pigeons, usually placed at a height above the ground. It has openings for the birds to get in and out, and niches or compartments all around the inside to enable the birds to nest, roost and breed [Scots or N. English dialect].

Doric Temple

A garden building, designed in the form of a classical Doric temple, used for standing or sitting in, and fashionable in the 18th century. The original classical Greek Doric style has columns that are fluted with a plain, rounded disc capital but no base. Classical Roman Doric style columns are plain rather than fluted, and have a base.

Dovecote

A house for doves and pigeons, usually placed at a height above the ground. It has openings for the birds to get in and out, and niches or compartments all around the inside to enable the birds to nest, roost and breed.

Drinking Fountain

A fountain specifically designed to provide water for drinking. Can be a free-standing or wall-mounted structure. In public parks, they are often have decorative value and may commemorate an event or person.

Drive

A route within a park, intended originally for horse-drawn carriages.

Druid's Cell

A rustic structure or hermitage, usually dating from the 18th century when there was considerable antiquarian interest in the Druids. Also known as a ?druid?s cave?.

Druid's Temple

A stone circle, made of upright, large stones, such as at Stonehenge, Wiltshire.

Dry Moat

A wide ditch surrounding a building or garden. May have been originally designed to be filled with water. [See also Feature>water feature>moat]

Dutch-Style Garden

A garden in the Dutch style: usually flat and compact, with an emphasis on small canals, hedges, topiary, lead statuary and flowering shrubs and bulbs. First became fashionable in Britain in the 17th century.

Early 17th century

From 1600 to 1633. Note that people can mean 1600 to 1639, or 1600 to 1650 when they use the term 'early 17th century.'

Early 18th century

From 1700 to 1733. Note that people can mean 1700 to 1739, or 1700 to 1750 when they use the term 'early 18th century.'

Early 19th century

From 1800 to 1833. Note that people can mean 1800 to 1839, or 1800 to 1850 when they use the term 'early 19th century.'

Early 20th century

From 1900 to 1933. Note that people can mean different periods when they use the term 'early 20th century:' eg from 1900 to 1914; or from 1900 to 1930.

Early 21st century

From 2000 to 2033.

Early Bronze Age

From 2500 B.C. to 1500 B.C.

Early Iron Age

From 800 B.C. to 400 B.C.

Early Medieval

From 410 to 1066.

Early Neolithic

From around 4000 B.C. to 3000 B.C.

Earthwork

An artificial landscape feature, created by excavating or mounding soil.

Edging

Used to mark out the edges of paths or to surround flower beds. They can be either openwork (hooped wood, iron, wire or basketwork) or solid (boards, brick, stone).

Education

Land or buildings used for educational purposes.

Educational

Parks or gardens which have a main purpose of educating people about plants, animals, or ecology.

Edwardian

From 1901 to 1910. The period during the reign of King Edward VII.

Egyptian-Style Garden

A garden incorporating Egyptian architectural features such as sphinxes and tomb-like features, etc.

Elizabethan

From 1558 to 1603. The period during the reign of Elizabeth I.

Embankment

Specifically in gardens, a bank or mount built up to protect an area of the garden, or to provide a raised viewing area. An embankment is often formed from spoil from excavated lakes, and can be formed into terraced walks.

English Landscape Garden

A garden on a large scale, being naturalistic in appearance with no regularity of design. A great deal of art in planning and planting often lay behind these gardens. [See also'Brownian' and 'Classical landscape' under 'Style.']

Entrance

An opening, especially in a wall or fence.

Environment

A garden typified by specific environmental conditions.

Espalier

A tree trained to grow flat against a wall, trellis or other support, with its branches spread out, approximately horizontally. Can also mean the support against which a tree is grown in this manner.

Estate

A large area of land and the buildings upon it, usually owned by one person, trust, company or institution. Use narrower term where known.

Estate Village

A purpose-built model village for the workers on a country house estate.

Exedra

An area of a garden with a semi-circular backdrop formed by an ornamental, architectural structure or a natural feature grown to the required shape, for example, a hedge.

Exotic Garden

A garden in which plant species from other countries are grown.

Factory

A building or complex housing powered machinery and employing a large workforce for manufacturing purposes.

Farm

A tract of land, often including a farmhouse and ancillary buildings, used for the purpose of cultivation and the rearing of livestock, etc.

Feature

Fence

A construction of wood or metal used to enclose an area of land, a building, etc.

Ferme Ornee

A rustic building of picturesque design, often associated with a model farm, country house or estate. Although ornamental in design the building was intended to be functional. The term was used to mean ornamental farm buildings from the 1790s onwards.

Fernery

Area of a garden for the cultivation of ferns.

Fernery (Garden)

Area of a garden for the cultivation of ferns.

Fernery [Glasshouse]

A glasshouse for the cultivation of ferns.

Fig House

A greenhouse for the growing of figs.

Finial

An ornament placed on top of a roof, pinnacle, pediment, arch or column. In gardens often on gate piers, arches, columns, balustrades, garden buildings, walls and pedestals.

Fish Farm

A farm with a pond, river, lake or tanks where fish are kept and bred for commercial purposes.

Fishing Lodge

A garden building on an estate used by fishing parties.

Fishing Pavilion

A waterside building from which one could fish.

Fishing Tabernacle

A small hut or pavilion for the use of anglers, such as the fishing tabernacles at Studley Royal, North Yorkshire.

Fishpond

A pond used for the rearing, breeding, sorting and storing of fish.

Flats

A purpose-built tenement, usually multi-storey. Also known as 'block of flats.'

Fleur-De-Lys Finial

A finial in the shape of a fleur-de-lys.

Floral Clock

A 20th century feature found in public parks and seaside resorts. The face of the clock is planted with low-growing flowers and plants, while the moving hands are covered with small foliage. [See also 'ornamental clock' under 'garden ornament']

Flower Bed

A plot of earth used for the raising of flowers and shrubs.

Flower Box

A stone, terracotta, wooden or metal receptacle used to grow flowers.

Flower Garden

A garden in which flower beds are the primary focal point.

Flowery Mead

A medieval term for a clover lawn or rich meadow sown with different sorts of flowers. Today, a meadow deliberately planted with wild flowers.

Fog House

A summerhouse lined with moss.

Folly

A structure, often found in 18th-century landscape gardens, that demonstrates eccentricity or excess rather than practical purpose. They can take many forms - ruins, sham castles, towers, hermit's cells or grottoes. Use more specific term where known. [See also: Feature>building>garden building>folly

Food/drink Production

Land used for the production of food and drink.

Forcing Pit

A hotbed kept warm or hot for the cultivation of tender vegetables and fruit. Also known as a 'forcing bed' or 'forcing ground.'

Forestry

Large areas of land used predominantly for growing trees, often for commercial purposes

Form

Formal

A style using regular, linear or geometric design.

Formal Garden

A style using regular, linear or geometric design. Formality is most closely associated with the traditional French, Italian and Dutch styles.

Fortified House

A house which bears signs of fortification. These often include crenellated battlements and narrow slit-like windows. Includes 'bastle,' 'fortified manor house,' 'pele tower,' and 'tower house.'

Fountain

An artificial aperture from which water springs. The water supply usually came from a lake or reservoir higher up in order to ensure the necessary flow and pressure. More recently fountains have been powered by pumps.

Fountain House

A building, in a garden, park or open space, either housing a fountain or the machinery which powers one.

Fragrance Garden

A garden specifically planted with sweet smelling, fragrant plants.

Frame Yard

An area of the kitchen garden containing hotbeds with covering frames for growing tender fruit and vegetables. [See also 'features, structure, hotbed']

French-Style Garden

The characteristics of a grand French garden are parterres adjacent to the house, with flowers and plants in regular beds, and fountains; stonework, balustrades and statuary, formal basins and canals with cascades; bosquets with walks, broad avenues on grids or axes leading back to the house.

Friary

Houses specifically for men and of chiefly mendicant religious orders.

Fruit Garden

An orchard or area where fruit is grown.

Fruit-Growing Wall

A wall, usually south-facing, used for the cultivation of fruit plants or trees.

Funerary Site

An area of ground belonging to a church, often used as a burial ground.

Game Larder

A small building in which game is hung up and kept cool.

Garden

An enclosed piece of ground devoted to the cultivation of flowers, fruit or vegetables and/or recreational purposes. Use more specific type where known.

Garden Bench

A bench found in a garden, either fixed or movable, and commonly made of wood, stone or metal.

Garden Building

Includes some structures that are not strictly buildings. Use a more specific term where possible.

Garden City

An city designed with many spacious green spaces and gardens. The first garden city, started in 1903, was Letchworth (also known as Letchworth Garden City) in Hertfordshire, England.

Garden Feature

Unspecified landscape feature. Use more specific type where known.

Garden Festival Site

Large area of land, usually in urban area (often including land previously used for heavy industry), landscaped for a garden festival (usually a one-off event).

Garden Furniture

Furniture designed specifically to be used in the garden, usually made of weather-resistant materials.

Garden Gnome

A small figurative sculpture, usually painted in bright colours, of a gnome. The gnome is a mythical being that features in folk tales in northern Europe and is usually depicted as a very small bearded man in a pointed hat. Garden gnomes, made in Germany, were first introduced to Britain in the mid-19th century at Lamport Hall in Northamptonshire.

Garden House

A small ornamental building in a garden, usually one-storeyed and consisting of one room. Use a more specific term where known.

Garden Of Remembrance

A public garden designed to commemorate the dead, especially designed as a quiet place to sit and contemplate.

Garden Of Rest

Garden associated with a crematorium where the ashes of the deceased are scattered or buried.

Garden Open By Ticket Or Subscription

A garden that was developed as a commercial concern, from the 18th century onwards. Usually a pleasure garden, park or arboretum.

Garden Ornament

A decorative or ornamental structure purposefully situated in a garden. Such as sculptures, sundials, bird baths, gnomes etc.

Garden Porch

A roofed, lightweight structure, usually attached to a house, provdiing access from and to the garden.

Garden Retreat

A structure or building, often within a secluded area of a garden, where people could go for quiet reflection.

Garden Screen

A vertical structure which can be of hard material or plants which serve to conceal or partly-conceal views within, out of or into a garden or park.

Garden Seat

A type of garden house, usually in the form of an open-fronted shelter with seat.

Garden Shed

A structure in a garden used to house gardening implements.[remove etc.]

Garden Suburb

A residential area of a large town or city laid out systematically with spacious and garden-like surroundings.

Garden Table

A table found in a garden, either fixed or movable, and commonly made of wood, stone or metal.

Garden Terrace

A flat, level area of ground within a garden. Often raised and accessed by steps.

Garden Village

A village laid out systematically with spacious and garden-like surroundings.

Garden Wall

A stone or brick wall either in, or enclosing, a garden.

Gardeners' Tunnel

A tunnel for use by the gardners to prevent the owners seeing them as they went about their work. Connecting their basic working area (kitchen garden ) with the ornamental garden.

Gardenesque

A term coined by J.C. Loudon in 1832. A style which allowed each plant to develop naturally and fully and to be displayed to its best advantage.

Gate

A movable barrier, usually external, within an opening in a wall, fence, hedge or similar. [See also: 'gate' under 'garden ornament']

Gate Lodge

A dwelling, located at the entrance, or gates, to an estate or park. [remove etc.]

Gate Piers

A pair of upright posts or pillars, one either side of an entrance gate. Often designed in the same architectural style as the house.

Gatehouse

A gateway with one or more chambers over the entrance arch, and flanking towers housing stairs and additional rooms, especially when associated with medieval buildings such as castles and abbeys. Later gatehouses were more ornamental structures at the main gateways to country houses or parks.

Gateway

An opening or gap that has or originally had a gate of pair of gates.

Gazebo

A garden house situated to provide a commanding view.

Gazon Coupe

Turf in which shapes have been cut out and filled in with coloured earth, sand or gravel, especially in the 17th century. [French]

Geodesic Dome

A dome constructed of short struts that link together to form an open framework of triangles or polygons, filled with a transparent, waterproof material.

Geometric

A layout where straight lines and circles form a pattern for paths, rows of trees or statuary, beds and water. Also known as formal.

Georgian

From 1714 to 1830. The period during the reigns of King George I (reigned from 1714 to 1727), King George II (reigned 1727 - 1760), King George III (reigned 1760 to 1820), and King George IV (reigned 1820 to 1830).

Glade

A clearing in a wood.

Glasshouse

A building made mainly of glass, in which plants are grown. Use more specific type where possible. [See also: 'greenhouse']

Gloriette

A pavilion away from the house which could be used as a summerhouse or a look-out for defensive purposes. An example is Queen Eleanor's gloriette, built around 1280, which still stands on an island at Leeds Castle.

Golf Course

A prepared area of ground on which the game of golf is played.

Gothic

The Gothic revival in gardens in the 18th century saw the re-use of some medieval features, such as pointed arches, crenellation, buttresses and ogee curves in garden buildings. Referring to the former age of supposed virtues and to assert British traditional style of architecture.

Government Office

The offices of a Government Department responsible for the administration of the country. [See also 'local government office' under 'civil,' 'commercial office' under 'commercial' and 'office' under 'unassigned']

Grand Hotel

A large, luxuriously appointed hotel.

Grand Manner

A variation of Baroque style, fashionable in the 17th century, with large scale formal layouts but with awareness of the countryside and incorporating views of it.

Grange

An outlying farm or estate, usually belonging to a religious order or feudal lord. Specifically related to core buildings and structures associated with monastic land holding.

Gravel Garden

A garden with a thick gravel mulch and often little or poor-quality soil. Usually features drought-resistant planting. A type of garden which became popular from the 1970s onwards with the growth of ecological awareness, and the need to conserve water. For example, at the Beth Chatto Gardens, Colchester.

Great House

A large house dating from the 16th century onwards, built as a symbol of the wealth and status of the owner but not intended to be defensible unlike the castles and manor houses it replaced.

Greenhouse

A building with extensive use of glass to protect plants (originally greens) from the cold and to permit maximum sunlight. The term 'greenhouse' was first used in the 17th century. [See also: 'glasshouse']

Grille

An open grating of wrought iron, bronze or wood, forming a screen to a door, window or other opening, or used as a divider.

Grotto

A shady cavern built as a garden feature. In the 18th century it usually took the form of an artificial rocky cave or apartment decorated with stalactites and shells in a wild part of the grounds.

Grove

A small wood or collection of trees grown for ornamental appearance. A grove is often synonymous with a bosquet or wilderness.

Ha-Ha

A dry ditch or sunken fence which divided the formal garden from the landscape park without interrupting the view.

Hanging Garden

A garden planted as a series of rising terraces.

Hanging Wood

From an Anglo-Saxon term meaning "a wood on a slope or a hill". Also used to mean a planting where the trees lean over and the roots overhang lower ground, sometimes a road or path.

Health And Welfare

Land or buildings used for health or welfare purposes.

Health/medicine

Land or estate used for medicinal or therapeutic purposes.

Heated Wall

A wall in a flower or kitchen garden, containing conduits or pipes for heating the wall. May also be called a 'flue wall.'

Heath House

A primitive garden building mainly of wood with heath used between the wooden slats and as thatch for the roof.

Heather Garden

An acidic peat-based garden where various types of heather are grown.

Hedge

A line of tightly growing trees or shrubs to delineate a boundary or act as a screen within a garden. May be composed of a wide range of species, both evergreen and deciduous.

Hedge Maze

A complex maze with tall hedges enclosing the paths. A popular feature of 16th and 17th century gardens. [See also: 'labyrinth']

Heliochronometer

A sundial capable of giving an accurate reading of standard time to the minute.

Herb Garden

A garden for the cultivation of herbs used for medicinal or culinary purposes.

Herbaceous Border

A long bed planted with perennial flowers and plants.

Herbarium

A building or room containing a collection of preserved plants (usually pressed and dried specimens).

Heritage Site

Land or buildings of heritage importance.

Herm

Rectangular stone pillar, often tapering towards the base, topped by a carved head of Hermes or other deity. [See also: 'term']

Hermitage

A small hut or dwelling in a secluded spot, usually built in a park, as a resting place, retreat or viewing point.

Historic House

A house considered significant for its historic architectural style, associations with historic events or people, or its social or. Usually legally protected as listed buildings. Often large houses with grounds attached.

Historic Industrial Site

An area or defined space once used for trades and/or manufacturing activity, which remains largely intact and functional but used for educational and cultural rather than commercial purposes.

Horticultural

Land used for the cultivation of plants

Hospice

An establishment providing care for the terminally ill.

Hospital

A building for the care of the sick, aged, infirm and poor. Use narrower monument type if possible.

Hospital Estate

The lands or estate attached to a hospital.

Hostel

A building, usually containing several dormitories, used as a cheap, short term residence. Use more specific term if known.

Hotbed

A garden bed that is hollowed out, like a trough, and filled with materials such as manure and tanner's bark which heat up and nourish the plants grown in the bed. It can be covered with a glass frame.

Hotel

A large building used for the accommodation of paying travellers and guests.

Hothouse

A glasshouse used for the cultivation of tropical plants.

House

A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known.

Housing Estate

A residential district planned as a unit.

Hunting Lodge

A building used as a temporary place to stay for when hunting, or as a viewing station for the chase.

Hunting Park

An enclosed area of parkland used almost exclusively for the hunting of deer.

Icehouse

A structure, usually underground, used for storing ice.

Indian Pavilion

A structure, often ornamental, in a garden, park or area of recreation, designed to reflect the style of Indian architecture. The most famous example of which is the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

Indian-Style Garden

A Western garden which is characteristic of courtly Hindu or Mogul gardens. There is an emphasis on richly-scented plantings, trees with dark spreading foliage for shade, use of striking colour and water in a central position, often with fountains.

Indoor Swimming Pool

A large, artificial pool, usually lined with tiles, rubber or similar materials. An enclosed feature, usually subterranean, constructed to contain water for public or private recreation and sporting activities. Often part of a larger sports centre. Use "outdoor swimming pool" for unenclosed pools.

Industrial

Land or buildings used for industrial purposes.

Industrial Monument

An area or defined space believed to have been used for trades and/or manufacturing activity. Only use when evidence for more specific site type is lacking

Industrial Site

An area or defined space used for trades and/or manufacturing purposes.

Infectious Diseases Hospital

An isolation hospital for infectious diseases and leprosy, sometimes known as a Pest House; commonly situated on the edge of a town.

Informal

Design of planting and layout without regularity or geometry.

Inter War

From 1919 to 1939. The period between World War 1 and World War 2.

Ionic Temple

A garden building, designed in the style of a classical Ionic temple, used for standing or sitting in, and fashionable in the 18th century. The original classical Greek Ionic style has fluted columns with an egg-and-dart moulding at the top and the capital above has a pair of volutes (ending in a spiral at each end).

Iris Garden

A garden area in which varieties of iris are grown. After much hybridisation in the 19th and 20th centuries, elaborate displays were made possible. Many public parks and horticultural gardens have iris beds and gardens.

Iron Age

From 800 B.C. to A.D. 43. Note that this is English Iron Age. The timespans used for Iron Age can vary across the United Kingdom.

Ironwork

Elements, such as railings and gates, made of iron, especially wrought iron.

Islamic Garden

A typical Islamic garden is divided into four quarters, separated by canals in the shape of a cross, often with a pavilion at the centre.

Island

A piece of land, sometimes man-made, completely surrounded by water.

Island Bed

A bed of plants surrounded by lawn, looking like an island in a sea of grass.

Italianate Garden

In England this refers specifically to the High Victorian revival of terrace gardens. Usually with the characteristics of the Italian garden of the Renaissance, such gardens had formal, geometrical layouts of lawns and paths, with much use of stone steps, balustrades and statuary.

Jacobean

From 1603 to 1625. The period during the reign of King James I of England (he was also James VI of Scotland from 1567 to 1625).

Jacobean-Style Garden

A garden style following the style of Tudor gardens, still formal in layout, containing topiary, knots, herb gardens, and flower parterres. Elaborate Italian Mannerist water effects and grottoes were introduced.

Japanese Pavilion

A light, ornamental structure in a garden, park or place of recreation built in the Japanese style.

Japanese-Style Garden

A garden incorporating features of traditional Japanese gardens such as a pool, an island, stepping stones or a bridge, cherry trees and other shrubs and flowering plants grown with the emphasis on line.

Jardinet

An ornate circular basin in which plants and shrubs are grown, usually placed on a terrace. Particularly associated with Victorian gardens. [French term, literal meaning of 'little garden.']

Kale-Yard

A cabbage garden or, more generally, a small kitchen garden, usually attached to a cottage. Also spelt 'kail-yard.' (Scots)

Kennels

A house or range of buildings in which dogs are kept, such as hunting hounds. Ornamental kennels were fashionable in the late 18th to early 19th century, and appear in a number of pattern books of the period.

Kiosk

A small garden shelter, first used in 18th-century gardens.

Kissing Gate

A small gate swinging in a U- or V-shaped enclosure, which allows only one person to pass through at a time.

Kitchen Garden

A private garden established primarily for growing vegetables and herbs for domestic consumption. [See also Form>garden>kitchen garden, Purpose>food/drink production>kitchen garden, Plant type/environment>plant type, and Style>kitchen garden].

Knot Garden

An intricately designed garden in which ground cover plants, low shrubs or coloured earths are arranged in interlacing patterns resembling knots.

Labyrinth

An intricate pattern of paths, often winding paths cut through woods or wildernesses, creating a difficulty reaching the centre. The original labyrinths (for example in ancient Crete and Egypt) were in buildings or underground structures. 'Labyrinth' is based on an ancient Greek word, and was used to describe garden mazes in written English from at least the 18th century. [See also: 'maze,' 'hedge maze' and 'turf maze']

Laiterie

A decorative building in the form of a dairy, used for recreation.

Lake

A large body of water surrounded by land.

Landscape Garden

A garden on a large scale, naturalistic in appearance and having no regularity of design. It was developed in the early 18th century and could embrace both, the pictorial, temple-clad landscapes. Eg Stourhead, Wiltshire, and park landscape of Capability Brown and his followers. [See Style>Brownian, Style>classical landscape, and Style>English landscape style].

Landscape Park

Grounds, usually associated with a country house, laid out so as to produce the effect of natural scenery.

Late 17th century

From 1668 to 1699. Note that people can mean 1660 to 1699, or 1650 to 1699 when they use the term 'late 17th century.'

Late 18th century

From 1768 to 1799. Note that people can mean 1760 to 1799, or 1750 to 1799 when they use the term 'late 18th century.'

Late 19th century

From 1868 to 1899. Note that people can mean 1860 to 1899, or 1850 to 1899 when they use the term 'late 19th century.'

Late 20th century

From 1968 to 1999. Note that people can mean 1960 to 1999, or 1950 to 1999 when they use the term 'late 20th century.'

Late Bronze Age

From 1000 B.C. to 700 B.C.

Late Iron Age

From 100 B.C. to A.D. 43. Note that this is English Iron Age. Late Iron Age finishes at a later date in other parts of the United Kingdom.

Late Mesolithic

From around 7000 B.C. to 4000 B.C.

Late Neolithic

From around 3000 B.C. to 2200 B.C.

Laund

A medieval term (from French) for an open space among woods.

Laundry Yard

An area for the drying of laundry. Also known as 'drying yard'.

Lawn

A flat, and usually level area of mown and cultivated grass, attached to a house.

Lawn Cemetery

A form of cemetery (from the mid-20th century onwards in Britain) which has memorials flush with the ground, to give the impression of an uninterrupted lawn.

Library

A building, room or suite of rooms where books, or other materials, are classified by subject and stored for use by the library's members.

Lido

A public recreational complex centred around an open-air swimming pool.

Lighthouse

A tower or structure, with a powerful light or lights at the top, usually erected at an important or dangerous point on or near the sea-coast for the warning and guidance of mariners, but can also be erected inland for the guidance of travellers.

Lime Walk

A walk or path lined with lime trees.

Local Government Office

A building which houses the administrative functions of a local authority.

Loggia

A covered arcade, often attached to a building, open on one or more sides. [Italian, meaning 'lodge']

Mall

A public promenade lined with trees to provide shade.

Managed Woodland

An area of cultivated, managed woodland producing wood which is used for a variety of purposes.

Manor Farm

A farm on the estate of a manor.

Manor House

The principal house of a manor or village.

Mansion House

Traditionally, the chief residence of a land owner, and later used specifically to describe a lord mayor's residence.

Maritime

Land or buildings used for marine purposes.

Market Garden

A piece of land used to grow fruit, vegetables and flowers to be sold at markets.

Mausoleum

A decorative tomb or building that houses a number of tombs. [See also 'mausoleum' under 'Context/principal building']

Maze

A puzzle of a confusing and baffling network of winding paths which connect and cross at points, or end in blind alleys. The paths are often bordered by high hedges, tall plants or walls. Some early examples are believed to have had ritual uses. 'Maze' is from a Middle English word that meant dazed or confused. Use more specific type where known. [See also: 'labyrinth']

Medicinal Bed

A bed in which plants used for medicines are grown.

Medieval

From 1066 to 1540.

Medieval Garden

A style which included the monastery garden (see Form: garden: monastery garden) and a type of enclosed garden (sometimes known as a 'hortus conclusus'), described by contemporary sources. The garden was usually surrounded by a hedge or wall, often laid out in geometrical form, and may have featured fountains, walks, arbours and turfed seats.

Medieval-Style Garden

A garden where the design and planting is intended to be typical of medieval period gardens.

Melon Pit

A hotbed which was kept warm or hot for the cultivation of melons.

Memorial Garden

A public garden, usually containing flower beds and seating, with a large commemorative monument as a focal point (often commemorating those who died in a specific war).

Menagerie

An enclosed space which may include smaller enclosures and buildings used for keeping and displaying live wild animals. A feature usually associated with royal or aristocratic residences, and most common before the mid-19th century.

Mental Asylum

Traditionally a hospital where patients suffering from mental disability and psychiatric disorders were confined away from society. Many patients received minimal medical care or attention. Term in use during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Mid 17th century

From 1634 to 1667. Note that people can mean around 1640 to 1659 when they use the term 'mid-17th century.'

Mid 18th century

From 1734 to 1767. Note that people can mean around 1740 to 1759 when they use the term 'mid-18th century.'

Mid 19th century

From 1834 to 1867. Note that people can mean around 1840 to 1859 when they use the term 'mid-19th century.'

Mid 20th century

From 1934 to 1967. Note that people can mean around 1940 to 1959 when they use the term 'mid-20th century.'

Middle Bronze Age

From 1600 B.C. to 1000 B.C.

Middle Iron Age

From 400 B.C. to 100 B.C.

Middle Neolithic

From around 3500 B.C. to 2700 B.C.

Military Airfield Site

Buildings, structures and sites directly associated with the operation of military airfields. See also 'air transport site' in the 'transport' Class.

Military Base

A building or group of buildings, often surrounded by a system of fortifications, used as a residential and training site by members of an armed force.

Military Camp

A site where a body of troops is temporarily or permanently lodged, with or without entrenchments and fortifications.

Military Garden

A garden with features common to earthworks for military purposes such as ditches and ramparts eg Blenheim Military Garden which has an enormous regular structure with fortified walls of rubble and eight massive circular bastions.

Military Headquarters

A building used as the command centre of a military operation.

Mill Race

A channel of water that provides a current of water to drive a millwheel.

Miniature Garden

A small-scale garden.

Minster

A complex of buildings, often within an enclosure, housing a pre-Benedictine Reform secular religious community. Now commonly used to describe the main church within such a complex, which over time attained higher status.

Mixed Border

A border in which different species and colours are mixed.

Moat

A wide ditch filled with water, surrounding a building. [See also 'dry moat' under 'earthworks.']

Model Farm

A farm building erected in the 18th and 19th century which were architect-designed rather than built in the local vernacular style.

Model Settlement

A planned village, town or settlement, varying from picturesque arrangements of estate cottages to workers villages and utopian community villages.

Modern

From 1901 to present.

Monastery

Houses specifically of monks, canons or religious men but not friars.

Monastery Garden

In Medieval times they were gardens around a monestery or a nunnery. Recreational areas with trees and walks with functional areas of orchard and kitchen gardens. Herbs were grown for medicinal purposes. [See also 'style>medieval style']

Monastic Precinct

The area surrounding a monastic house including conventual buildings, outbuildings, cemetery, fishponds, etc, usually marked out by a bank and/or ditch or precinct wall.

Moon Gate

A circular opening in a door or wall. Originally a feature in high status Chinese gardens.

Moorish Pavilion

An often light and airy garden building in the Moorish style that was used for recreational purposes.

Moorish-Style Garden

A garden incorporating features of Moorish-influenced Spanish gardens - water features, patios, benches, walls and compartments, evergreens, etc.

Mosque

A Muslim temple or place of worship.

Moss House

A rustic garden building made of wood with moss pressed between the wall slats. The mosses could be of different types, forming a mossery.

Motte

An artificial, steep-sided mound constructed during the medieval period as part of a castle. Sometimes reused later as the basis for a garden mount.

Mount

An artificial hill designed to provide a good view, particularly fashionable in Tudor period. A mount sometimes has a spiralling walk and a gazebo on top.

Multiple Dwelling

Buildings designed for the accommodation of large numbers of people, rather than single families

Museum

A building, group of buildings or space within a building, where objects of value such as works of art, antiquities, scientific specimens, or other artefacts are housed and displayed.

Mushroom House

A windowless shed with divided shelves for the growing of mushrooms, often on the north-facing outside wall of a walled garden.

Natural Landscape

A natural feature incorporated into a designed landscape.

Nature Reserve

Area of land set aside and managed for the preservation of flora, fauna, their natural habitats and physical features.

Neolithic

From around 4000 B.C. to 2200 B.C.

Niche

A shallow ornamental recess, often arched and semi-circular in plan, in a garden wall or hedge, Often contains a sculpture or a seat. A large niche is usually called an alcove.

Nonconformist Meeting House

A building used for services by a nonconformist protestant sect, especially by Quakers and Presbyterians.

Nunnery

Houses specifically of nuns/canonesses or religious women. Also known as a convent.

Nursery

An area for the nurture of young plants prior to permanent planting elsewhere; in the commercial sense, an aaarea where plants are grown for sale.

Nursery Garden

A horticultural site where trees, shrubs and plants are grown for sale and transplanting elsewhere.

Nursing Home

A home for the elderly. Use for homes established since 1947 and state-funded. For earlier homes for the old, use almshouse or cottage home.

Nuttery

A wood of nut trees.

Nymphaeum

A grotto or shrine dedicated to nymphs, composed of fountains designed to imitate a natural grotto.

Obelisk

A tall, tapering pillar with a pyramidal top, generally square on plan. Used in Britain from the late 16th century as a public, funerary or garden monument. Usually made of stone but can be of other materials, including topiary.

Octagonal Temple

A garden building, octagonal in plan, designed in the style of a classical temple, used for standing or sitting in.

Office

A building or room where business, administrative or professional activities are conducted. Use specific type where known. See also 'Government office' and 'local government office' under 'civil,' and 'commercial office' under 'commercial.'

Open Air Theatre

An outdoor theatre for the staging of dramatic productions.

Orangery

A gallery or building in a garden, usually south facing, used for the growing of oranges and other fruit.

Orb Finial

A finial in the shape of a sphere with horizontal raised band round the middle.

Orchard

A small plantation of fruit trees, usually enclosed.

Orchard House

A building used for the cultivation of fruit trees.

Orchid House

A glasshouse for the cultivation of orchids, which generally need much warmth and moisture. They preserve the right tropical conditions of humidity and temperature.

Ornamental

A park or garden designed for ornamental purposes.

Ornamental Bridge

A bridge built to enhance or compliment the surrounding landscape. Mainly found on estates or in parkland and usually 18th and 19th century.

Ornamental Canal

An artificial stretch of water, usually rectangular in shape, used decoratively, particularly in formal gardens, eg. Long Water, Hampton Court. Occasionally used to supply water to cascades.

Ornamental Clock

A functioning clock designed to serve also as an ornamental feature or sculpture. [See also 'floral clock' under 'planting.']

Ornamental Fountain

A decorative fountain often with or of an architectural or sculptural form.

Ornamental Garden

A decorative garden, often landscaped, laid out with intricate flower beds and hedges, and often containing ornate sculptures, fountains and garden ornaments.

Ornamental Lake

An artificial lake, often made by damming a stream. A common feature of landscape parks. A body of water of 1 hectare or more.

Ornamental Pond

A small artificial pond of water often found in parks and gardens, for decorative purposes.

Outdoor Swimming Pool

A large, artificial pool, usually lined with tiles, rubber or similar materials. An unenclosed feature, usually subterranean, constructed to contain water for public or private recreation and sporting activities. Sometimes part of a lido complex. Use "indoor swimming pool" for pools with a covering structure.

Overthrow

The decorative wrought-iron framework on top of an iron gate.

Pagoda

A tall, polygonal structure with ornamental roofs at each storey, based stylistically on a Buddhist temple but adapted as an eyecatcher and pavilion in the 18th century in England.

Palace

A substantial house belonging to a person or office of particularly high status in town or the country.

Palisade

An enclosure of stakes driven into the ground, sometimes for defensive purposes. See also 'palissade' under 'hedge.'

Palissade

A hedge clipped to form an even wall [derived from French]. See also 'palisade' under 'structure.'

Palladian Bridge

A bridge designed in Palladian style which was fashionable in Britain during 17th to 18th centuries. This style was inspired by the work of, and named after, the 16th-century Italian architect, Andrea Palladio.

Palm House

A glasshouse in which palms and/or other tropical plants are grown.

Park

An enclosed piece of land, generally large in area, used for hunting, the cultivation of trees, for grazing sheep and cattle or visual enjoyment. Use more specific type where known.

Park Pale

A wooden stake fence, often associated with deer hunting.

Park Shelter

A shelter in a public park.

Park Wall

A stone or brick wall enclosing a park.

parks, gardens and urban spaces

Any designed open space

Parks, Gardens And Urban Spaces

Any designed open space

Parks, Gardens And Urban Spaces

Any designed open space

Parterre

A level space in a garden occupied by ornamental flowerbeds.

Parterre A L'anglaise

A turf lawn with the design cut into the turf [French term meaning 'parterre in the English style'].

Parterre En Broderie

An early 17th-century variant of parterre that resembled embroidery of the period, typically using patterns based on leaves or flowers. Also called 'parterre de broderie.' [French]

Path

A route made for pedestrians, especially one merely made by walking (often not specially constructed).

Patio

A small paved area attached to a building. Originally, an inner court, open to the sky, in a Spanish or Latin-American house.

Patte D'oie

A feature where several straight allees radiate forwards from a single point. Patte d'oie is a French term which means 'goose foot' in English. [See also Feature>designed route>allee].

Pavilion

A light, sometimes ornamental structure in a garden, park or place of recreation, used for entertainment or shelter. Use specific type where known.

Peat Garden

A garden area based on peat, often raised above surrounding garden, used for growing woodland plants and heathers. The wall enclosing it may also made from peat blocks.

Pedestal

A block on which am urn or figure stands for enhanced display.

Percee

A cutting through a wood to open up a view or establish an allee.

Pergola

Timber or metal structure consisting of upright and cross members designed to support climbing plants.

Period

Peristyle

A row of columns surrounding an open space such as a courtyard or a building.

Persian-Style Garden

The Persian garden was enclosed and had shallow water channels that crossed, dividing the garden into four equal parts (a layout known as the 'chahar bagh', meaning 'four gardens'). There was often a central pool or fountain, trees and sometimes a pavilion for shade, fruit, and flowers for scent. There might be a further area of enclosed parkland beyond the garden wall. Conquering Arab armies adopted the style from the 7th century AD onwards, and the Persian garden became the basic form for the Islamic garden from Spain to India. [See 'Islamic garden'].

Pet Cemetery

An area within a garden for the burial of pets (usually dogs) with headstones commemorating the animal.

Pheasantry

Cage and often an ornate building to keep and display pheasants bred for ornamental appearance.

Physic Garden

A garden maintained for the study and cultivation of plants for medicinal purposes.

Picturesque

A style of landscape or garden, especially in the 18th and 19th century. Featured spectacular scenery which was broken, irregular and varied, with sense of wildness in the planting. William Gilpin first used the term in 1748. It was defined further by Uvedale Price and Richard Payne Knight as scenery suitable for painting. Few gardens were created in this style.

Pigeon Cree

A single-storey building, usually rectangular, in which pigeons, especially racing or homing pigeons, are kept.

Pigeon Loft

A building or structure, usually rectangular, in which pigeons, especially racing or homing pigeons, are kept.

Pine Cone Finial

A finial in the shape of a pine cone.

Pine Pit

A hotbed, usually filled with tanner's bark, which was kept warm or hot for the cultivation of pineapples. Also sometimes called a pineapple pit.

Pineapple Finial

A finial in the shape of a pineapple.

Pinery

A glasshouse used for growing pineapples.

Pinetum

An arboretum devoted mainly to the growing of conifers.

Place Of Worship

A place where appropriate acts, rites and ceremonies are performed to honour or revere a supernatural being, power or holy entity. Use specific type where known.

Plant Nursery

A place, including buildings (often large glasshouses) where plants are bred and grown for sale.

Plant Type

A garden typified by specifc types of plants.

Plant Type / Environment

Plantation

A group of planted trees or shrubs, generally of uniform age and of a single species.

Planted Walk

A route for walking in a park or garden lined with trees or other plants. [See also 'walk' under 'designed route.']

Planter

A decorative container for growing plants.

Planting

A grouping or line of trees, shrubs and/or plants grown in a specific area.

Plat

A flat area of plain grass, perhaps with a statue in the centre.

Playing Field

A field or piece of ground used for the playing of games and other activities.

Pleached Trees

A line of trees planted at regular intervals, their main branches interwoven with those of the adjacent trees, so that the crowns of the individual trees merge to look like a hedge on stilts.

Pleasance

An area attached to a house, or part of an estate used for pleasure and recreation.

Pleasure Garden

A private garden, run as a commercial enterprise, where people could meet to eat, drink, promenade, listen to music, masquerade and enjoy other entertainments. Such gardens were popular from around 1660 to 1850 (with particular success in the 18th century). For example: Vauxhall, Ranelagh and Marylebone. Can also be a general term for 'pleasure ground.'

Pleasure Ground

A large area of garden laid out with cultivated lawns, ornamental plantings, and walks. The pleasure ground was usually for walking in, as opposed to the park which would be enjoyed on horseback or in a carriage.

Plump

A group of between three and six trees of the same species, planted almost as one.

Policies

The enclosed, usually landscaped, park or lands associated with a large country house. [Scotland]

Pollarded Tree

A tree that has had its branches removed, leaving the trunk, resulting in regrowth of a mass of fine branches.

Pommel Finial

A finial in the shape of a ball (smooth or faceted) common on gates and walls.

Pond

A small lake or pool, often artificial.

Pool

A small body of water, either natural or artificial.

Porter's Rest

A small structure comprising of a 'shelf' of wood or metal sitting on pillars and erected for the benefit of porters to allow them to rest their burdens.

Post War

From 1945 to 2000.

Post-Medieval

From 1540 to 1901.

Potager

A garden in which vegetables, fruits and herbs are grown. [See also: 'kitchen garden.'

Potting Shed

A shed in which delicate plants are reared from seedlings for planting out later.

Preceptory

A manor or estate owned and run by an order of knights and governed by a preceptor.

Priory

A monastery governed by a prior or prioress.

Prison

An establishment where offenders are confined.

Prisoner Of War Camp

A prison site for the containment of servicemen captured in war.

Private Square

A square where the open space is inaccessible to the public. [See also 'form>designed urban space>square,' and also'context/Principal building>domestic>communal garden'].

Privy

An outside earth closet, in a small hut

Privy Garden

A private garden for the prime or sole us of the owner

Promenade

A place for strolling, public walks, etc. Usually associated with coastal resorts.

Prospect Mound

An artificial mound, generally conical, placed within a garden or park to provide a viewing point to overlook the garden or park. It may also serve as a visual focus in the garden or park layout.

Prospect Tower

A tower built on a prominent part of an estate to provide panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.

Psychiatric Hospital

The modern term for a hospital where patients suffering from psychiatric disorders receive medical care and attention. The term gradually replaced ?mental asylum? during the 20th century as psychiatric knowledge and care improved and social attitudes changed.

Public Buildings

A building used for public purposes, usually administered by a national or local government body or agency.

Public Park

A park for the use of the public for exercise, entertainment and relaxation.

Public Square

A square where the open space is accessible to the public. [See also square]

Pulhamite

A naturalistic rockwork feature made in artificial stone produced by James Pulham & Son from the 1830s to at least the 1870s, made from aggregate with a cement-based render.

Pump Rooms

A spa building to which water was pumped from springs or wells; usually also serving a social function as an assembly room, for instance at Bath.

Purpose

Pyramid

A building in the style of Egyptian funerary pyramids, usually with a square base and four triangular sides sloping up towards a point.

Quadriga

A sculptured group comprising a chariot drawn by four horses.

Quarry Garden

A garden made in a quarry where the steep sides are used for spectacular effect, as at Belsay, Northumberland.

Rabbit Warren

An artificially constructed area for the breeding and control of rabbits. It may form a distinct feature in a garden.

Railings

A fence or barrier made of metal or wooden rails.

Railway

A line or track consisting of iron or steel rails, on which passenger carriages or goods wagons are moved, usually by a locomotive engine.

Railway Cutting

A man-made trough or valley through a hill, carrying at its base a railway.

Railway Embankment

A man-made ridge to carry a railway across a declivity or area subject to flooding.

Railway Station

A place where railway trains regularly stop for taking up and setting down passengers or for receiving goods for transport.

Railway Transport Site

Buildings, sites and structures associated with railway transport.

Raised Bed

A bed raised above the level of the surrounding walks. A common feature of medieval and Renaissance gardens.

Recess

A hollow space inserted into a flat, vertical plane. Often of a regular shape.

Recreation Ground

A public ground with facilities for games and other activities.

Recreational

Land or buildings used for recreational purposes.

Recreational Route

A route that has been designated for recreational exercise, such as a path, a towpath or a cycle path.

Recreational/sport

Land used for recreation or sport.

Refreshment Pavilion

A type of pavilion sometimes found in public parks or country house estates.

Regency

From 1811 to 1830. This period is named after the Prince Regent who became George IV, and covers the period during which he was Regent (1811 to 1820) and then monarch (1820 to 1830).

Religious House

Use only for a monastic house of unknown status, religious order and uncertain authenticity. Use specific type where known.

Religious Ritual And Funerary

Land or buildings used for religious, ritual or funereal purposes.

religious, ritual and funerary features

Artefacts, buildings or structures usually found in cemeteries or the grounds of a building used for worship.

Religious, Ritual And Funerary Features

Artefacts, buildings or structures usually found in cemeteries or the grounds of a building used for worship.

Religious, Ritual And Funerary Features

Artefacts, buildings or structures usually found in cemeteries or the grounds of a building used for worship.

Renaissance

The Renaissance is used infrequently to refer to British culture between the mid-15th century and the early 17th century. It is more usually used to describe a cultural style and period in Continental Europe that began in Italy around the 13th century.

Reposoir

An ornamental arch, possibly of stone or wood, that can be quite deep and in a mixture of styles. Humphry Repton used such features in a number of his designs.

Residential Building

Buildings designed for the accommodation of large numbers of people, rather than single families

Restoration

From 1660 to 1688. This period gets its name from the restoration of the monarchy after the English Commonwealth and Protectorate periods. It covers the reigns of Charles II (from 1660 to 1685) and his brother, James II (from 1685 to 1688).

Retirement Home

Residence for retired people, often in the form of an apartment complex, differing from a nursing home as the residents live independently.

Retreat

A house or centre used for meditation, contemplation and/or prayer.

Rhododendron Garden

A garden in which the principal plants are various hybrids and species of rhododendron and azalea.

Ride

A road or route for riding on horseback within a park or estate.

Rifle Butts

A target range used for rifle and small arms practice and recreational purposes.

Rill

A stream or brook, artificial and contrived, where water is channelled and directed, for example, at Rousham, Oxfordshire.

River

A substantial channel of water, usually flowing into another channel or body of water, such as a lake or the sea. Rivers were often shaped and diverted to meet designer's requirements as it flowed through a garden or park.

Riverside Walk

A walk laid out beside a river.

Road

A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles.

Road Transport Site

Buildings, sites and structures associated with road transport.

Rock Bridge

A bridge constructed using rockwork to create a craggy, naturalistic appearance. A feature of 18th-century rococo gardens and parks.

Rock Garden

A garden consisting primarily of rocks and rock plants.

Rockery

An area of garden which is rocky, or into which natural or artificial rocks have been placed, used for growing plants, especially alpine plants.

Rockwork

A landscape feature created using natural or artificial rocks.

Rococo

Garden comprising rockwork features including grottoes, cascades and arches, often in different architectural styles ie. Gothic, Chinese and rustic. In use from the mid-18th century.

Roman

From A.D. 43 to 410. Note: there are different timespans used for Roman eg 43 - 450, and some areas of the United Kingdom were either never or only briefly under Roman control.

Rond Point

An open circular area where avenues converge.

Roof Garden

A garden or collection of potted plants on the flat roof of a house or other building.

Root House

A picturesque garden building decorated with tree roots, often serving as a HERMITAGE or ARBOUR.

Rosarium

Formal rose garden, often a circular area bounded with arches of trelliswork on which some roses were trained.

Rose Border

A long bed containing rose plants.

Rose Garden

A garden, often geometrical in layout, or area for the cultivation of roses.

Rotunda

An isolated building, circular in plan, generally consisting of one apartment with a domed roof, such as the Mausoleum at Castle Howard, Yorkshire.

Row

A row of buildings built during different periods, as opposed to a 'terrace.'

Royal Park

Originally a large tract of wooded country, owned by the monarchy, for the purpose of hunting. The royal parks of London, eg. Greenwich, are all open to the public and have been for centuries.

Ruin

A partially demolished building, or a structure purposely built to look like a ruin. Often used as an eyecatcher in a designed landscape, especially from 18th century [see also Context>principal building>heritage site and Feature>structure>sham ruin. [deleted landscaped park or garden]

Rustic Bridge

A bridge constructed to appear roughly made. For example, tree branches not stripped of bark to form the handrails and roughly trellissed sides.

Sacred/ritual/ Funerary

Green spaces designed for sacred, ritual or funerary purposes.

Safari Park

An enclosed park where exotic wild animals are free to roam and can be seen by the public. Often created from a historic landscape park.

Sanatorium

A hospital for convalescents or consumptives.

Sarcophagus

A stone coffin, often carved with lettering, decorative reliefs or a sculpture. Sometimes used as an ornament in a garden with other classical remains.

School

An establishment in which people, usually children, are taught.

Scientific

Land used for scientific purposes

Scratch Dial

A set of marks found on the wall of a building, thought to be a form of sundial.

Scree Garden

A garden, generally sloping gently, which is covered in rock fragments and stones, recreating the natural scree environment of a mountain slope, and planted with scree-dwelling plants. [See also 'gravel garden']

Screen

An ornamental frame of wrought ironwork

Sculpture

A figurative or abstract design in the round or in relief, made by chiselling stone, carving wood, modelling clay, casting metal, or similar processes.

Sculpture Garden

A garden designed to display sculpture, publicly or privately.

Secret Garden

An enclosed, self-contained area of garden.

Semi-Detached House

A house joined to another to form one building.

Sensory Garden

A garden planted for the use of people who rely chiefly on senses other than sight, designed to appeal to the senses of touch, smell and hearing.

Sepulchre

A burial chamber, made of stone or sometimes cut into rock, or a cavernous structure for interments.

Serpentine Path

A winding path in a garden or park, common in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Serpentine Walk

A winding walk, common in early 18th century Rococo gardens and parks.

Serpentine Wall

A wall with multiple curves (like a snake moving) for growing fruit, dating in Britain from the mid-18th century. Its curving lines gave added strength, thus avoiding the need for buttressing. [See also: 'crinkle-crankle wall']

Sham Bridge

A structure that appears to be a bridge, but is used just as a decorative termination of a piece of water.

Sham Ruin

A structure purposely built to look like a ruin. Often used as an eyecatcher in a designed landscaped park or garden, especially during the 18th century [see also Context>Principal building>heritage site and Feature>building>ruin].

Shed

A slight structure built for shelter or storage, or for use as a workshop, either attached as a lean-to to a permanent building or separate. Use more specific type where known. [See also: 'potting shed' under 'garden building']

Shell Bridge

A bridge decorated with shells forming an ornamental feature.

Shell Fountain

A fountain decorated with shells forming an ornamental feature.

Shell Grotto

A grotto decorated with shells, sometimes a room in a house, sometimes a detached building.

Shell House

An ornamental building, usually decorated with or displaying shells.

Shell Seat

A seat decorated with a mixture of shells, and often corals, minerals or cystals. Fashionable in 18th-century Britain.

Shelter Belt

A belt of trees or very high shrubs planted specifically to shelter another area of planting, especially from prevailing winds. Used to create a warmer microclimate in a garden or area of park.

Shrine

Originally, a sacred place marked by a structure or building, or a niche or container for holy relics. In gardens, shrines may be used as artefacts or structures that are part of the landscape design rather than as sacred places.

Shrub Border

A long bed planted with mixed shrubs, usually found near the house.

Shrub Feature

A feature in a park, garden etc using shrubs.

Shrubbery

An area planted with shrubs through which a path winds (particularly 19th-century gardens), or a border planted primarily with shrubs.

Signal Box

A building on a railway system housing levers used to regulate trains on the tracks using signals and to change the points to enable a train to transfer from one track to another.

Single Dwelling

Building designed for the accommodation of a single family.

Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI)

A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is a formal conservation designation. Usually, it describes an area that's of particular interest to science due to the rare species of fauna or flora it contains - or even important geological or physiological features that may lie in its boundaries

Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs)

SINC's (or Wildlife Sites) are sites of substantive nature conservation value. Their designation is a non-statutory one but they are vital for enabling the planning system to recognise, protect and enhance special sites

Skating Pond

A pond used for skating when frozen.

Slip Garden

A narrrow garden or corridor, usually the ground outside the kitchen garden walls, cultivated for hardy vegetables or small orchards or nursery trees.

Souterrain

An underground chamber, store room or passage.

Specimen Tree

An unusual or interesting tree planted for effect.

Sphinx

A sculptured, carved or moulded representation of an imaginary creature with a human head and breast combined with the body of a lion.

Spinney

A small wood or thicket.

Sports Pavilion

A type of pavilion sometimes found in public parks or country house estates.

Sports Site

Buildings, sites and structures associated with sporting activities.

Spring

The point at which a water course emerges from the ground.

Spring Garden

A garden planted to look at its best in spring, planted with spring-flowering shrubs, bulbs and other plants.

Square

An open space or area, usually square in plan, in a town or city, enclosed by railings and gates, and surrounded by buildings. Sometimes paved or cobbled but frequently containing a garden or laid out with grass and trees.

Stable

A building or an individual stall within a building in which a horse is accommodated.

Stable Block

A building in which horses are accommodated. May also be known as 'stables.'

Stable Yard

A ya+K334rd associated with stables for horses, often surrounded by stable buildings.

Standard

A tree or shrub with a clean stem or trunk below a network of branches.

Statue

A three-dimensional representation of a living being, allegorical personage, eminent person or animal, made of materials such as marble, metal or plaster.

Steps

A series of horizontal surfaces, usually of stone, brick, or wood, which assist in the transition between different ground levels, for instance between terraces.

Stewpond

A fishpond usually associated with monastic gardens, for breeding, rearing and keeping fish for consumption. Often changed into designed water features in the post-medieval period.

Stream

A small river, or less substantial channel of water, usually flowing into another channel or body of water, such as a river or lake.

Structure

An artificial construction, usually in a fixed location. Use more specific type if known.

Stud Farm

A farm where stallions and mares are kept for breeding.

Stumpery

A feature, fashionable during the 19th century, composed of tree roots and stumps placed upside down into earth banks with trailing plants festooned around them.

Style

Sublime Landscape

An extreme type of Picturesque landscape featuring wild and precipitous scenery, abysses and cataracts.

Summerhouse

A building in a garden or park designed to provide a shady retreat from the heat of the sun.

Sundial

A structure used to show the time of day by means of the sun shining on a 'gnomon', the shadow of which falls on the surface of the dial which is marked with a diagram showing the hours. Can be freestanding, usually on a pillar, or fixed to a building.

Sunken Garden

An often secluded garden set below the level of surrounding ground, usually surrounded with terraces.

Sunshine Recorder

A glass sphere in a metal frame standing on a small pillar. A card is placed behind the sphere which focuses any sunlight, marking the card and thus indicating how many hours of sunlight there was on that day.

Swimming Pool

A large, manmade pool, usually lined with tiles, rubber or similar. Can be placed in the open air, eg. a lido, or in a building.

Swiss Chalet

A picturesque building in the Swiss style, usually 19th- century, with rough-cut timber walls, and a steeply sloping, roof with projecting eaves.

Swiss Cottage

A chalet designed in the Swiss style such as the one in the grounds of Kenwood House, London.

Swiss-Style Garden

A garden with real or supposed Swiss features, including Swiss chalet-type buildings and plantings. Often in a precipitous area.

Synagogue

A place of worship for Jewish people.

Tazza

A shallow bowl mounted on a stem or other support for display of plants and flowers. Popular in the 19th century.

Tea Garden

Garden or open-air enclosure, usually connected to commercial premises, where tea and other refreshments are served to the public.

Tea House

A refreshment house in a public park or country house garden.

Temperate House

A building with a regulated moderate temperature for the cultivation of plants.

Temple

A term used to describe a place of worship in a number of religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism.

Tenement Block

Use for speculatively built 19th century "model dwellings", rather than those built by a philanthropic society.

Tenement House

Originally built as a family house. Converted into flats during the 19th or 20th century.

Tennis Court

A prepared area, traditionally grass, where tennis is played.

Tennis Lawn

A lawn on which tennis can be played.

Term

A statue comprising a head of the ancient Roman god Terminus on a pillar that tapers slightly towards the bottom. Terms were used for marking the boundary of area or estate by ancient Romans. [See also: 'herm']

Terrace

A flat, level area, sometimes raised.

Terraced Garden

A garden with one or more platforms with walks, often on different levels, usually close to the house.

Terraced House

A house in a line of houses attached to and adjoining one another and planned and built as one unit.

Terraced Lawn

A raised lawn in a garden or park.

Terraced Walk

A walk, common in 18th century gardens, providing a view across the surrounding countryside.

Tomb

A structure which is a burial place, or which is constructed over a burial place. Can be made of stone.

Topiary

Trees and/or shrubs pruned and trained into shapes, particularly geometric or stylised bird or animal forms.

Topiary Avenue

A tree-lined way or approach where the trees have been cut into various forms and shapes.

Topiary Garden

A garden containing trees or shrubs pruned and trained into various geometric, zoomorphic or fantastic shapes.

Tortoise House

A building for keeping and viewing tortoises and/or terrapins.

Tower

A tall building, often with castellation, usually placed to give a commanding view. Also designed to be a point of visual interest in the landscape, particularly when viewed from the house. [See also: 'prospect tower']

Town Garden

A garden which, historically, was mainly regular in layout, (partly because of the smallness of scale) and set out with regular formations of walks, shrubs and trees. For example, back gardens in London and Bath.

Town Hall

A large building used for the transaction of the public business of a town, the holding of courts of justice, entertainments and other activities.

Town House

A gentry house in a town or city, either detached or in a terrace.

Town Square

The principal open space, usually square in plan, in a town or city centre, usually but not exclusively associated with a town hall, council offices or building that was formerly the town or city hall.

Transport

Land or buildings used for transport purposes.

Tree Avenue

A road or street lined with trees along either side.

Tree Belt

An alignment of trees planted as part of a designed landscape. For a belt lining a road use 'tree avenue.'

Tree Clump

A group of trees planted as part of a designed landscape.

Tree Enclosure Ring

A circular bank in which trees have been planted for ornamental purposes or to create an enclosure. May exist purely as a bank which has been formed over the stumps of the trees which had been planted to form the enclosure.

Tree Feature

A feature in a park, garden etc using a tree or trees.

Tree House

Ornamental garden building constructed within the branches of trees.

Tree Mound

An earthen mound, usually within an ornamental garden, on which a tree was planted.

Tree Preservation Order (TPO)

A Tree Preservation Order is an order made by a local planning authority in England to protect specific trees, groups of trees or woodlands in the interests of amenity. An Order prohibits the the cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, wilful damage, wilful destruction of trees without the local planning authority’s written consent.

Tree Ring

Trees planted in an ornamental circle. For earthwork surrounding trees use TREE ENCLOSURE RING.

Treillage

A more elaborate form of trellis, often highly architectural, with columns, alcoves and wings. [French]

Trellis

A framework used as a support upon which fruit-trees or climbing plants are trained.

Trick Fountain

An automata or water device which surprises the unwary onlooker with water. Particularly a feature of 16th and 17th century gardens.

Triumphal Arch

A free-standing monumental arch, built to commemorate a triumph, especially in war or battle, or a garden folly designed to resemble a classical triumphal arch.

Tropical House

A glasshouse in which tropical plants are grown.

Tudor

From 1485 to 1603. The period during the reigns of the Tudor monarchs of England and Wales: Henry VII (reigned from 1485 to 1509), Henry VIII (reigned from 1509 to 1547), Edward VI (1547 to 1553), Jane (reigned for 9 days in July 1553), Mary I (1553 to 15

Tudor-Style Garden

A garden where the design and planting is intended to be typical of Tudor period gardens The principal characteristics of this period were mazes, mounts and knots.

Tunnel

An underground channel with a vaulted roof.

Tunnel Arbour

An extended arbour, often with a rounded top, and usually covered with a single plant species, such as beech, yew, wisteria or laburnum. [See also Feature>structure>pergola].

Turf Maze

A maze created by cutting shallow pathways into deep lawns, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. [See also: 'labyrinth']

Turfed Seat

Seats or benches covered in turf, built against a wall, tree or fountain, were a common feature of medieval enclosed gardens.

Turfed Steps

Garden steps covered in turf.

Turkish Tent

A pavilion designed in the Turkish style.

Turning Seat

Small garden pavilion set on a base so it can revolve to catch the sun.

Ty Bach

Welsh term for a hut containing up to three earth closets

Umbrello

A light structure consisting of a central stem with a circular canopy on top. A seat may be formed around the base of the stem.

Unassigned

University

A high-level educational institution in which students study for degrees and academic research is done.

Urban Estate

An area of land in a large town or city with a single owner (often a local authority, trust or company), incorporating buildings and landscaped areas.

Urban Park

The concept of a purpose-designed public park dates from the 19th century. They were areas for public recreation, totally accessible, and considered to be the 'lungs' of an industrial city.

Urn

A container, usually of stone, metal or ceramic, often designed in the form of a Classical vase with two side handles and a foot or pedestal. Traditionally used to contain the ashes of the dead.

Valley Garden

A garden constructed along a valley

Vantage Point

A position or place that allows a wide or favourable overall view of a scene or situation.

Vase

A large, decorative garden container. Often taller than it is wide, and usually of symmetrical, cylindrical form. Can vary greatly in style and detail. Materials can include stone, metal or ceramic.

Vegetable Garden

A garden devoted to growing vegetables.

Versailles Case

A box-like case up to a metre high with small ball or acorn finials at the corners, for containing a shrub or small tree. Sometimes the sides can be opened for root pruning and soil change.

Victorian

From 1837 to 1901. The period during the reign of Queen Victoria.

Villa

A term for a type of house, with varying definitions according to period. Roman villas were high-status and usually associated with a rural estate, whereas Georgian and later period villas were often semi-detached, town houses.

Village Green

An area of common grassland in a village used for grazing cattle, recreational purposes, etc.

Vinery

A glasshouse or hothouse in which grapevines are cultivated.

Vineyard

An area of land and associated buildings where vines are cultivated. The grapes produced are then used to make wine.

Visitor Centre

A building or collection of buildings which offer information and interpretation of a site open to the public. May also include ticket sales, refreshment and shopping facilities.

Walk

A place or path for walking in a park or garden. [See also 'planted walk' under 'planting']

Wall

An enclosing structure composed of bricks, stones or similar materials, laid in courses. Use specific type where known.

Walled Garden

A garden derived from the medieval monastery garden, with herbs for food and medicine. Later developing to include flower and kitchen gardens.

War Memorial

A monument to those killed in war, usually the First and Second World Wars.

Water Course

A channel along which water flows. May be artificial or natural.

Water Disposal Site

Sites and structures associated with the disposal of waste water and waterborne refuse.

Water Feature

A feature using or related to water, either natural or artificial

Water Garden

A garden incorporating fountains and pools in which aquatic and other water-loving plants may be grown.

Water Lily House

A glasshouse or garden building, containing a pool or pools in which water lilies are grown.

Water Pavilion

A type of pavilion situated on an island in a garden lake or canal or, more generally, by any waterside.

Water Supply And Drainage

Land or buildings used for water supply or drainage.

Water Supply Site

Site and structures associated with the supply of clean water.

Water Wheel

Used to raise water in a garden, used for the purpose of feeding fountains, powering machinery. Can be an ornamental feature.

Water Works

The control of water often referred to as hydraulics.

Waterfall

A fall of water. Use for artificial waterfalls if naturalistic in form, otherwise use 'cascade.'

Well Head

The structure at the top of a draw well.

Well House

A building over a well housing machinery for raising the water. Often consisting of a donkey wheel or horse gin.

Wild Garden

A garden where woodland and meadow flowers grow in an apparently natural way.

Wilderness

A designed grove or wood with paths cut through it (bosquet). Can also refer to informal gardens some distance from the house beyond the parterres.

Wildlife Garden

A garden with planting and features designed to encourage wildlife to live in and use it.

Window Box

A long, narrow container, placed on or fixed to an external window sill, in which plants (especially those with colourful flowers and herbs) are grown. The use of window boxes dates back to at least the medieval period.

Winter Garden

1. An area planted for winter display, with evergreens or winter-flowering plants. 2. A large glasshouse for public entertainment. The original purpose was also for the display of plants in the winter.

Witch's House

A rustic hut with emblems of the supposed inhabitant (the witch), such as a broom and a cat.

Wood Shed

A building or room in which wood is stored.

Wood-Pasture

A mix of woodland and grassland which has developed through a long history of grazing under open-grown trees. The trees were pollarded so that grazing animals, which were part of the wood pasture system, could not browse off the regrowth.

Woodland Garden

A garden created within woodland where imported species such as camellias, magnolias and rhododendrons are grown.

Workhouse

A 19th century establishment for the provision of work for the unemployed poor of a parish; later an institution administered by Guardians of the Poor, in which paupers are lodged and the able-bodied set to work.

World War 1

From 1914 to 1918. Also called the 'First World War,' the 'Great War' (especially prior to World War 2) or written as 'World War I' or abbreviated to 'WW1' or "WWI.'

World War 2

From 1939 to 1945. Also called 'Second World War,' or written as 'World War II' or abbreviated to 'WW2' or 'WWII.'

Yard

A paved area, generally found at the back of a house.

Yew Garden

A garden where yew and other coniferous trees are grown.

Yew Walk

A garden walk lined with yew trees and hedges.

Zen Garden

A garden in the style of 'dry landscape' gardens at Japanese Zen Buddhist temples, with rocks, pebbles and raked sand or gravel.

Zoological Garden

A garden or park, with enclosures and buildings, in which wild animals are kept and reared for scientific study, conservation and educational purposes, usually open to the public.

Zoological Gardens

A garden or park, with enclosures and buildings, in which wild animals are kept and reared for scientific study, conservation and educational purposes, usually open to the public.