At Soulton Hall, the art of topiary takes on a fascinating dimension, one rooted in mathematics and geometry.
Many of the yew specimens are clipped into cubes, with a pyramid “floating” above.
Topiary clipped in a careful way to invite you to think about geometry
This is not mere fancy.
it is a deliberate echo of the rhombic dodecahedron, a 12-faced solid with diamond-shaped faces.
This geometric form held particular significance for Plato and was cleverly incorporated into the architecture of Soulton Hall by Old Sir Rowland Hill, who embedded a series of codes within the building. Many of these codes are linked directly to the rhombic dodecahedron’s mathematical properties.
This shape’s influence extends beyond the gardens, forming a cornerstone of Soulton’s hidden geometric language, woven into the fabric of the building and the culture of thsi house for centuries —a testament to Sir Rowland Hill’s vision and the curious cleverness of geometric allegory and its hold on a class of very elite Tudors.
But why these specific cube and pyramid shapes, when they aren’t a rhombic dodecahedron themselves?
One reason is to demonstrate, in a classically Platonic fashion (you can only build the perfect ones in your head), how to construct such a complex form from simpler elements, a principle also explored in this video.
Furthermore, this unique topiary points to a lost feature of Soulton Hall: its original pyramidal roof, which itself was a subtle nod to the rhombic dodecahedron.
Scholarly reconstruction of Soulton Hall at the accession of Elizabeth I, created by James D. Wenn and James R. Syrett of Byrga Geniht Ltd for Soulton Hall in 2024
