Five Secret Gardens You Must Visit
The Lost Gardens of Heligan - Cornwall
The gardens of Cornwall benefit from the counties unique climate, allowing many exotic and rare plants to flourish in the many stunning gardens of Cornwall. Perhaps the counties most famous garden however, is the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Having been created by the Tremayne family throughout the 18th century, the gardens fell into a quite slumber during the war years. A restoration project has been gently restoring the gardens whilst maintaining the wild magical character, that the garden created for itself. Home to vast exotic plants and trees, sleeping stone giants, meandering streams and bubbling fountains the gardens are utterly unique.
Gresgarth Hall - Cumbria
Gresgarth is the private home and Elysium of Italian born, legendary garden designer Arabella Lennox-Boyd, perhaps the greatest garden designer of her generation. Located in Cumbria, Gregarth is simply breath taking, fusing traditional Italian & British gardening styles. Surrounding the stunning gothic house sits formal herbaceous borders, manicured lawns & topiary and a large reflective lake. Crossing the charming oriental bridge that connects the formal gardens to the woodland garden, you enter a magical world of specimen trees wildflowers and sculpture.
Wormsley Park - Oxfordshire
Wormsley is the former home of collector & oil tycoon Sir John Paul Getty and is still lived in by his descendants. Guests of the renowned Garsington Opera can experience the secluded magic of Wormsley’s parkland, lake and gardens, as part of an evening of music. Its greatest gem is its hidden walled garden which you can only visit by boarding a vintage bus. As you enter through the gates, you see the great axis of the garden that divides it into four sections: a vegetable garden, manicured croquet lawn, productive plots for fruit, veg & flowers, and herbaceous borders and formal rose beds. It is utterly magical with views that leap out at you including charming follies and sculpture and a full-blown theatre stage with wings and lights made of yew hedge.
Iford Manor Gardens - Cotswolds
Iford is renowned as a garden of immense beauty. Designed by the great 20th century gardener Harold Peto who lived there until his death in 1933; Peto is best known for his use of the Italianate style. Iford’s gardens are set on multiple levels and feature the hallmark traits of the Italianate style, with Corinthian columns, neo classical follies and Cyprus trees. Were it not for the gently undulating Cotswold Countryside surrounding the house, you would feel transported to a romanesque garden in Italy.
Kiftsgate - Cotswolds
Kiftsgate in Gloucestershire is famed for its collection of roses, the stunning cotswold-stone Kiftsgate Court and the development of the gardens by three generations of women. The gardens you see today were started in the 1920s by Heather Muir before being taken over by her daughter. Today Heather’s granddaughter Anne Chambers is responsible for the care and evolution of the stunning gardens at Kiftsgate. The traditional layout of the gardens with topiary and beds near the main house, and sunken herbaceous borders, leads on to views of the Cotswold countryside and gently shimmering pools. The gardens however are not entirely traditional, featuring a number of surprising contemporary touches.