Essex Organisations Give Help to Repair the Lake

Published: August 2009

At Marks Hall Gardens and Arboretum, near Coggeshall, there is an excellent example of a number of local organisations working together to maintain the county’s heritage and to enhance the conservation of our landscape.

It is believed that the lakes at Marks Hall were dug by Parliamentarian troops under the command of Sir Thomas Honywood. Sir Thomas had inherited Marks Hall in 1631 and been knighted by Charles I the following year. Despite this he became a staunch Parliamentarian and his militia were encamped at Marks Hall during the siege of Colchester in 1648.  

Both the walls and the sluice system (housed in a handmade elm box), which are normally unseen below the water level, are part of the original construction. Although they were repaired in the 1980’s, now sections of the walls adjoining the weir need to be partially rebuilt and more extensive sections will be repointed.  

As the lakes have considerable historic significance, the Essex Heritage Trust has made a generous grant to the Thomas Phillips Price Trust at Marks Hall for the work to be carried out using traditional skills and traditional materials. The work is being undertaken by C R Parker Earthworks of Finchingfield, using lime mortar just as was used in the original construction. 

At the same time a team of British Trust for Conservation Volunteers are working with Marks Hall staff on stabilising the 200m bank of the lake alongside the Millennium Walk using steel gabions, filled with stone. Essex County Council have kindly given Marks Hall a grant to enable the BTCV team to assist Marks Hall in this project. 

The gabions are needed to prevent further erosion of the bank so that planting in that area will not be threatened. The use of the natural stone and the gaps between the stones will create a good habitat for a range of fresh water species and plant material, particularly Purple Loosestrife, will be encouraged to cover the area in due course to replace the marginal habitat which has been lost.  

Agent to the Trustees at Marks Hall, Richard Ramsey, tells us: “The Trust is very grateful to the Essex Heritage Trust, Essex County Council and the BTCV for their support. With their help we are now able to safeguard both the historic heritage of lakes built more than three hundred and fifty years ago and the important natural environment that has been built up in and around this area of water and planting.”