Interesting article on the possible beliefs implicit in the garden at Biddulph Grange [dead link removed, not re-findable], from Paul Baker of the Garden History Society…

The concept of a link between the Millenarian belief of the imminent second coming [of Christ] and the layout of the garden at Biddulph has been the subject of some literary discussion. […] Brent Elliott in his book Victorian Gardens writes ‘… the garden at Biddulph Grange, by evoking vanished and alien civilizations, served as an affirmation that the millennium was coming.’

However, Peter Hayden’s Biddulph Grange, Staffordshire: A Victorian Garden Rediscovered (1989) is more cautious…

“While religion was an important factor throughout Bateman’s life, it is difficult to gauge to what extent the garden was created as an expression of faith”