Coombe Pool
Brown was an expert at making serpentine lakes that looked like natural rivers.
At Coombe Abbey the Smite Brook flows from the north east to the south west through a shallow valley, north and west of the house. Brown dammed the brook to create the main lake, Coombe Pool, and the smaller Top Pool. This impressive sheet of water is 1.5 miles long, covers 90 acres and forms an L shape or ‘dog-leg’ that makes it appears endless – an effect Brown often achieved with his sinuous water features.
Brown’s extensive planting, including many deciduous trees, created a belt of woodland stretching from Little Wrautam along the north and west sides of Coombe Pool and along the trees in the park, but he also kept some of the trees from the existing formal avenues as part of his new scheme.
In the pleasure grounds Brown laid lawns and planted single trees around the house, replacing the walled garden, parterre (flower beds) and other formal features shown in early 18th-century illustrations of Coombe.
Coombe Abbey Park
Address: Coombe Abbey ParkBrinklow Road
Binley
Coventry
CV3 2AB
