The Oregon Garden, Silverton via Gardening Fans
I was privileged to be invited to the opening of a ‘new’ glasshouse at Peckover House, Wisbech last week.You may recall that I spent some time here as a Heritage Gardening Trainee last year, and really learnt a lot from the Gardener in Charge, Allison and her cheerful accomplices, Jenny and Janet. I wrote a lengthier piece about the garden earlier in the year (see link below), and at that time it wasn’t yet certain that the fast – decaying Orangery in this superb Victorian Garden was going to be saved. But thanks to some local fundraising and additional funds and wisdom of the owners, the National Trust, I’m very pleased to say that this focal point in the garden has been saved. Or rather, recreated, as the original was in such a poor condition, that further repairs weren’t possible. The replacement is a faithful rendition of the old structure, with a few minor amendments to make life easier for the gardeners. The former tiled floor, surrounding walls and walled containers with three ancient Orange trees have been retained, now with a new covering made, as was the original, in timber and glass. It includes sash window ventilation and roller blinds to help with temperature and light control.
During the rebuild the 300 year old orange trees were exposed to the elements and what a stroke of luck that we had one of the best summers in recent years, for they have obviously benefitted from that exposure to fresh air and sunshine!
The overall feeling is of a light, colourful and inviting atmosphere. The old Orangery had a typically Victorian air of ‘gothic gloom’ about it, especially as some of the older specimens accompanying the oranges were mature and shaded the interior. I guess the replacement plantings alongside the outer wall will eventually make their mark, but for now I do like the open, bright interior. The inner, sun – facing side of the Orangery is once more populated with a colourful array of terracotta pots containing a wide variety of tender specimens, all laid out on benches ans shelves in the spirit of the Victorian passion for collecting the unusual and exotic. Here are some pictures of the opening event and the new Orangery.
Congratulations National Trust, the Peckover House Gardening team and all those others who contributed to the project!
Related article- ‘Banker’s bonus: Secret Garden Gem’
Chateau de Hautefort, Dordogne, France – via Richard Wright
Oh, and towards the end a large, speeding helicopter suddenly emerged from behind the bluff on which the theatre sits – congratulations to the actors who seemed unmoved by this sudden intrusion!
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Over the coming weeks I’ll do a photo feature on each of these as well as Killerton Gardens (near Exeter, Devon) and will throw in a couple of very special places – the Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden in St. Ives and Chysauster Ancient Village, both in Cornwall. I begin where we began our tour, at Trerice near Newquay, a place we visited en route to our destination of St. Ives. This Elisabethan house and gardens is described by the National Trust as:
‘An intimate Elizabethan manor and a Cornish gem, Trerice remains little changed by the advances in building fashions over the centuries, thanks to long periods under absentee owners.’
The house is certainly delightful to look at, with its rust coloured granite stone, ‘dutch’ gables and ancient leaded windows – many of which are cracked from the test flights of ‘Concorde’ 50 years ago! These ‘sonic booms’ must have been especially noticeable in what is otherwise a very quiet, peaceful place, far away from busy roads or settlements (we managed to get very lost in some frighteningly narrow country lanes trying to find our way to our next destination).
A formal approach to the house sets it off beautifully and the other garden areas include a grass labyrinth, ancient bowling alley, a woven – fenced kitchen garden and some more recent sloping borders containing a mix of food and ornamental plants – I imagine this might be something of a challenge at harvest time! Of particular interest is an Elisabethan garden in the making, based on a ceiling design in the house as a nod to the sort of layout the original might have been based on, records of what actually existed not being available. This was in the course of setting out when we visited, but a very good artist’s impression shows how this will look – a formal pattern of Box hedging enclosing lavender and roses, which will be a great addition to these lovely gardens.
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Whilst visiting friends recently, we were fortunate to be given a guided tour of an historic garden and house in the course of renovation.Copped Hall, close to Epping in Essex, is a substantial Georgian mansion which I remember visiting about 30 years ago.
At that time I can remember the house being a gutted shell, having no roof and pigs being kept in what remained of the ground floor!
There has been a grand house here since Norman times, with the current building dating from the middle of the 18th century. It has a fascinating history, culminating in the near destruction of the latest house by fire in 1917. Since then, various attempts have been made to redevelop the site, but local opposition has fought these off. The outcome was the formation of a charitable trust which raised funds to purchase the site with the aims of:
An active ‘Friends’ group supports the trust, including a small band of gardening volunteers, 2 of whom (Marion & John), kindly showed us around. The house itself has been made wind and weatherproof and some progress has been made in reinstating the interior structure. As anything portable and of value was stripped out of the buildings and grounds in the 1950’s, much of what remains are functional, structural features such as the brick piers supporting former stone steps and stairs. These tumbled down ruins are interesting in themselves, and with the still significant columns of clipped Yew give a gothic, romantic ruin feel to what was once a grand, formal, elevated approach to the house along with parterres and clipped hedges and bushes.
This space gives way to a wooded walk to the walled garden. There are some open archaelogical excavations in these grounds, adding further interest, and some more recent large scale landscaping projects in areas on the site of what was once the Tudor Manor house. Originally built in 1740, the 4 acre walled garden (one of the largest in Britain), is clothed on the approach to its outer wall with a glorious herbaceous border. Several metres deep, with excellent variation in height, this border also features large groupings of plants providing a strong structure and rhythm through their repetition, along the full 100 metres or so of its length.
Herbaceous border at Copped Hall, Essex 
The scale of the renovation task, especially here, is enormous, but the small band of volunteers is making steady progress, though could perhaps do with an overall ‘Conservation Plan’ to help to channel their efforts and encourage others along. We wish them well, and but for the distance from home, would offer to help them!
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Ox Eye Daisies and Cornflowers make a wonderful display at Myddelton House
Covering eight acres Myddelton House Gardens were occupied by Edward Augustus Bowles from 1865 to 1954. He dedicated himself to transforming the gardens with unusual and exotic plants. Originally built circa 1812, and completed in 1818, the House was built by Henry Carrington Bowles, one of five generations of London print and map makers. Bowles built the new house in the then fashionable white brick from Suffolk and named it Myddelton House in honour of Sir Hugh Myddelton, an engineering ‘genius’ who created the New River, a section of which had bisected the garden from 1613 until 1968.
The youngest son of five children to Henry Carrington Bowles and his wife Cornelia was Edward Augustus “Gussie” Bowles, who became one of the great gardeners of the 20th century. He originally trained for the church, but family tragedies caused him to change course and he remained at Myddelton House and developed the remarkable garden as a self-taught horticulturist. For many years people came from all over the country to visit. He became an expert on many plants, particularly the Crocus and was dubbed “The Crocus King”.
Crocus ‘E.A. Bowles’
Today’s gardens have an impressive range of flora with something to stimulate the senses each season, from colourful spring crocuses to dazzling summer irises. In spring 2011 a newly restored Myddelton House Gardens were unveiled, following a two year Heritage Lottery Fund enabled project.
The gardens are home to a beautiful carp lake, a Victorian conservatory and a number of historical artefacts collected and treasured by E A Bowles, including pieces from the original St Paul’s Cathedral and the Enfield Market Cross. There’s a 111 year old Wisteria which turns a brilliant blue when it flowers during May. A beautiful newly created Victorian Glasshouse Range retains unique details, such as four climatic zones, a vine house and a sunken glasshouse that would have been used to grow fruit such as melons and cucumbers.
The gardens have been well restored and further work is obviously in hand. It is a typical Victorian pot pourri of different gardens and areas of historical or other interest. I was particularly impressed with the glasshouse area with its clean – cut display of irises in a gravel – covered bed, cutting flower beds in lovely colour combinations and areas of wildflower planting which look like a soft, frothy sea which I was tempted to dive into! The House is the headquarters of the Lea valley Regional Park Authority and apart from the gardens there is a museum about E.A.Bowles. All are open to the public and there’s free entry.
The audience awaits…
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picture from ilandscape
Yesterday I had the privilege of walking through Minter Gardens in Rosedale, BC. What a wonderful garden to visit with 32 acres of garden exquisitely designed. Minter Gardens has been open since 1980 and is obviously the passion of Brian Minter. The colours and design elements are outstanding. It was sad news when we heard recently that this garden would close in October of 2013. The garden is made up of twelve theme gardens with vistas I can only dream about.
The first one we saw was the lake garden with its beautiful waterfall. As we walked through the gardens it was a warm 31C and just seeing the water made it seem cooler outside.
What I loved about this garden is, it was like walking through a series of garden rooms. You have to love this arbor and how it leads the eye way down to the arbor far…
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Nigel Boldero aka 'Old School Gardener'
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