IN 1923, Feilding Lecky Watson and his family moved temporarily to Altamont while the drains were being repaired at their home, Lumclone. The Watsons came to Carlow in the 1640's, became Quakers and built Kilconnor, Ballydartin and Lumclone near Fenagh. (See J. O'Toole's book - The Carlow Gentry). They fell in love with the house and garden at Altamont, especially as the soil was better suited to ericaceous plants, and subsequently purchased it.
THEREAFTER, Feilding Lecky Watson began extending his collection of rhododendrons which he had started on his return from Ceylon, from where he was invalided by malaria during World War l. Due to his incapacity, he devoted himself to growing rhododendrons from seed sent back by various expeditions and exchanged seedlings with many well-known gardeners including Sir Frederick Moore, then curator of the National Botanic Garden in Glasnevin. Feilding and his wife continuously extended and planted up the garden which had become completely overgrown. He is also responsible for erecting the Myshall Gate behind the promontory at the far side of the lake. The gates were a salvaged gift from Myshall House, one time home of the Cornwall Brady's, which was burnt down during The Troubles. (Feilding was a cousin of this family through one of the Brady's marrying a Watson.) The pillars were erected by Feilding and the two granite balls atop them moved from either side of the Archery Lawn (now the lawn by the Azalea Walk.)
View of the rear of the house with the owner, Mrs. North standing
FEILDING died in 1943 and, after the war, his youngest daughter Corona returned home and spent many years trying to retrieve his rhododendrons from the jungle that had enveloped them. In about 1950 she planted the Davida and Tulip trees, and the Taxodiums and Cornus Kusa which now make such features. In 1952, with only the assistance of one "strong" man, a flat-bottomed punt and a grappling hood, Corona cleared the lake of lily roots and reeds and continued clearing and planting up until her marriage to Gary North. Upon her marriage in 1966, she and her husband built on to the Keeper's Cottage overlooking the river (Altamont Lodge) and made a new garden there. During this period, Corona planted a new arboretum and created the Bog Garden, and a walk was completed from the Lodge to the house. In 1983, Corona and Gary North pooled resources with Corona's mother, Mrs. Lecky Watson, in a final bid to return the lake to its former glory. The draining and subsequent mechanical clearing of the lake, necessitating the removal of 4½ feet of mud, roots and reeds over 2½ acres and over 60 fallen trees, was eventually completed in 1985.
UPON the death of her mother in that same year, Corona and Gary North moved back into the big house and resumed the renovation and reclamation of the garden which, once again, had fallen into virtual dereliction. This included the restoration and refurbishment of what are now 'The Stewards House', 'The Granary' and 'The Mews'. The latter, which had been turned into stables in the 1850's, had become so derelict that everyone then thought it should be bulldozed. A new public entrance with a tea garden was created, and a tea room and kitchen were made in part of the Lower Courtyard. Both of the Coachhouses had to be re-roofed as they had fallen in completely. Corona North also rebuilt the 18th century vinery greenhouse and started the Garden Centre in part of the Walled Garden which first had to be cleared of the jungle it had become. Other works included levelling the lawns and making the Goldfish Pond beside the house, and designing and planting the conifer and shrub beds to either side of this.
Another view of the lake
LATER, with the help of a FAS Community Employment Scheme, an Art Gallery/Lecture Room was incorporated in another of the old Coachhouses and a Craft Shop established in part of the old kennels. Further alterations were made to provide offices, toilets, a canteen etc. and a new stone bridge was built as a focal point at the upper end of the lake.
1998 has seen the completion of a Temple/Folly in the Sunset Field and a Pergola/Wisteria Walk joining the two bridges on the lake.
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History Students
Herbs
Plant Collection
