Orangery Ruins, England

The Orangery Ruins, or Winter Garden, are and fine example of Georgian architecture. This location was once the grand entrance-way to a wealthy estate in northern England. Woodland surrounds the entire site.

A large stone coat of arms, including two life-sized stone wolves, lies above the triple-arched Porte-Cochère entrance. Despite the dilapidated nature of the ruins, they

The building is a single storey Italianate-style arcade; a succession of arches and columns supporting a stone ceiling. The Orangery Ruins is semi-circular in shape, originally enclosing an Italian garden. The arches feature large windows and must have formerly been exquisite to behold. The grating on the floor suggests there was once underfloor heating. Parts of the crescent-shape building were have used to grow orange trees. Here they would be protected from frost during the winter months. Several large French doors lead out into the Italian garden in the centre of the semi-circular arcade.

Originally there was an Elizabethan manor house at this location. The former manor was demolished to make way for the construction of the later Georgian hall. Incidentally, the lake at the heart of the extensive gardens is manmade. Engineers diverted a nearby river to provide the water source for this lake. This lake gardens were once a beautiful paradise, lush and verdant. It would have been the perfect place for an evening stroll, or afternoon tea in the sunshine. The winter garden would have been a centrepiece of the gardens.

The end of the Winter Garden

The nearby industrial city had many pottery works in the 1900s. This potteries polluted the river and waterways. These industries indiscriminately dumped dirty water into waterways, as a result of poor regulations. As this tainted water fed into the main lake within the grounds, the land and gardens became contaminated. Consequently, the main hall was abandoned amid health concerns. The hall, along with most of the outbuildings, was subsequently demolished in the 20th Century. Only the Orangery Ruins and a few scattered Georgian buildings remain.

I visited the Orangery Ruins twice in 2017, and I took my first ever fisheye lens shot on my revisit.