The Gardens and Woodland Walk
The house is surrounded by spectacular gardens and grounds which were laid out in the 17th Century. They have evolved since then, but the basic elements as shown in the Kip Engraving of 1705 can still be seen.
The Walled Garden
The beautiful Walled Garden has a wide ranging collection of bulbs, herbaceous plants, annuals and roses set against the backdrop of old pear and apple tree.
Terraces and Topiary
Fine terraces to the South and West of the house act as a plinth for the massive strength of the architecture and were considerably restored in the 19th Century. Lady Vane was responsible for much of the topiary dating from the 1890s, reflecting the arts and crafts revival of interest in topiary.
Low Garden and Ponds
A decade ago the Low Garden was cleared of rhododendrons and a wild-flower meadow was planted in its place. This has opened up the view to to the cascade, lake and William Sawrey Gilpin’s early 19th Century planting. We love to see how the character changes every year.
On the south and west, the house is bounded by a beck. Advantage was taken of the running water to create three ponds with cascades of which the oldest and largest, the Middle Pond, dates from the mid 18th century. It was originally stocked with fish for the table.
The Woodland Walk
One of our winter projects this year has been to clear the rhododendrons at the beginning of the Woodland Walk so that the magnificent American conifers, planted as a small arboretum in the 1860s, can now properly be seen. The Woodlands Walk take you through a mixture of mature hardwoods (some more than 200 years old) and more recent planting by the present Lord Inglewood and his father. You can identify the most impressive specimens by their numbers, which are listed in the The Woodland Walk leaflet.
These mixed aged woods were intended to recreate the effect of the medieval forest of Inglewood and are the habitat of all kinds of wildlife, including the now-rare red squirrel, roe deer and many species of bird.
The Walled Garden
The Walled Garden is a spectacular flower garden with beds and borders of spring bulbs, herbaceous and annual flowers, set against the dramatic backdrop of the house and trees. In its present form the garden owes much to Henry Vane Fletcher. The Kip engraving shows an enclosed Dutch garden to the north of the Gallery. He walled in two sides in the 1730s to encourage fruit trees while the other two sides are bounded by yew hedges planted by Lady Vane over a century ago.
Terraces and Topiary
Fine terraces to the South and West of the house act as a plinth for the massive strength of the architecture and were considerably restored in the 19th Century. Lady Vane was responsible for much of the topiary dating from the 1890s, reflecting the revival of interest in topiary.
The Low Garden and Ponds
A formal rhododendron garden, known as The Low Garden, was laid out in the 1870s. It had become very overgrown and, in 2010, an exciting new project got underway to open up the 18th Century view to the cascade, lake and William Sawrey Gilpin’s early 19th Century planting. The rhododendrons were cleared and a locally-seeded wild-flower meadow planted.
On its south and west, the house is bounded by a beck. Advantage was taken of the running water to create three ponds with cascades of which the oldest and largest, the Middle Pond, dates from the mid 18th century. It was originally stocked with fish for the table.
The Woodland Walk
A Woodland Walk is laid out through the woods to the north and west of the house. It contains a mixture of mature hardwoods, many more than 200 years old and sadly coming to the end of their lives, ‘American’ conifers over a hundred years old, and more recent planting by the present Lord Inglewood and his father. These mixed aged woods were intended to recreate the effect of the medieval forest of Inglewood and are the habitat of all kinds of wildlife, including the now rare red squirrel, roe deer and many species of bird.
