Did you know that the monumental gates shown in the photograph above, located on Chicken Valley Road once marked the original entrance to Planting Fields when the Coe Family lived on the property? When private ownership of the property ceased, the main entrance was moved to Planting Fields Road, which has remained the current visitor entrance. The view to the gates is emblematic of how the Coes and the designers and architects they hired crafted an extraordinary masterpiece that marries the built and natural world. The gates frame a sweeping vista designed by the Olmsted Brothers Firm that altogether impart a sense of grandeur suitable for the Gilded Age.
The Carshalton Gates, as they are known, were purchased by William Robertson Coe in 1921 from the dealer Charles of London. The gates were originally installed in Carshalton Park and a quick internet search will show several historic photos of the gates in their original location. According to recollections from Coe, he purchased the gates soon after WWI after he saw them lying in a barnyard near Oxford. His purchase price was £3000 and after it became public that an American had purchased the gates, Coe was offered £10000 to cancel the agreement. Ownership of the gates out won any profit Coe stood to make.
Currently, many daytime visitors mark their walking route with a stop at the Carshalton Gates, which are nearly a mile from the main visitor parking lot. Upon a next visit, take notice of the remarkable trophies below the two statues that depict a decorative assortment of hunting paraphernalia and game. The iron gates date to the early eighteenth century and the sculptures of Diana and Aceton that flank the gates are attributed to John Nost, a Flemish sculptor who lived and worked in England. Found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the story of Diana and Acteon is often featured in sculptures, paintings and decorative ornamentation. In the myth, Acteon the hunter stumbles upon a bathing Diana and her nymphs. Startled by the encounter, Diana transforms Acteon into a stag who upon running away is chased down by his own hounds and killed. The hunter becomes the hunted in this story. Allegorical representations abound, but our Acteon is captured right at the moment of transformation and upon closer inspection, one can see antlers growing from his forehead as he stands in contrapposto repose.
There is much to see at Planting Fields and as the trees become bare this season, drive a little slower and enjoy the view past Chicken Valley Road.
Planting Fields Foundation Staff