The Secret Gardens of Sandwich
This England|Summer 2017

Whilst walking along the picturesque quayside in Sandwich, Kent, the visitor may encounter the beautiful Secret Gardens, tucked away behind part of the ancient town walls. The gardens surround the majestic Salutation manor house, designed and built by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1911-12. Lutyens designed many English country houses, and was renowned for his ability to ingeniously modify time-honoured architectural styles to meet the demands of his era. In Another Six English Towns (BBC Books, 1984), the English architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor wrote that Lutyens must surely be recognised as “the greatest English architect of the last hundred years at least”.

Janice Lawford
The Secret Gardens of Sandwich

Although Lutyens was influenced by the work of Sir Christopher Wren, Lutyens’ Queen Anne-style manor house was on a much smaller scale. The Salutation, named after an inn that once stood on the same land, was commissioned by the wealthy London Farrer family as a weekend retreat. The three brothers suffered from respiratory problems and chose Sandwich for its bracing sea air. The new house was built near a gasometer, the effects of which were thought to alleviate breathing disorders. In 1950 the Salutation became the first 20th-century house to be granted Grade 1 listing.

In completion of his work at Sandwich, Lutyens devised a bold but fitting 3½-acre garden plan. This would have been challenging as the plot lacked parallel boundary walls, was rectangular and had a triangle positioned on the south side. Despite these irregularities, Lutyens formulated an ingenious, apparently symmetrical, garden design.

Lutyens had met Gertude Jekyll, a naturalistic garden designer, artist and writer, prior to working on his commission in Sandwich. He designed Jekyll’s house at Munstead Wood in Godalming, Surrey, completing it in 1896. At this time the battle raged between advocates of two very different styles of garden design: formal versus naturalistic. Architect Sir Reginald Blomfield, a contemporary of Edwin Lutyens, took the formal stance, believing only architects could design gardens whilst gardeners raked the gravel and grew gooseberries. Conversely, gardener and journalist William Robinson advocated informal herbaceous borders and wild gardens, spurning Victorian formal planting schemes. Thus the world of garden design was at odds with itself.

Esta historia es de la edición Summer 2017 de This England.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición Summer 2017 de This England.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE THIS ENGLANDVer todo
The Glorious River Thames
This England

The Glorious River Thames

At 215 miles in length the iconic waterway has long been a source of transport, trade and inspiration. It makes its way through fi ve counties — Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire — and into London

time-read
5 minutos  |
Spring 2017
Aspects Of English Towns
This England

Aspects Of English Towns

Wetherby, Yorkshire History and Hospitality on the Great North Road.

time-read
7 minutos  |
Spring 2017
Askrigg And The Yorkshire Dales
This England

Askrigg And The Yorkshire Dales

Looking for a holiday cottage for a quiet week in the Yorkshire Dales was proving a vexing experience.

time-read
7 minutos  |
Autumn 2017
Elihu Burritt: An American's View Of Victorian England
This England

Elihu Burritt: An American's View Of Victorian England

It is always interesting to read what others think of us. In recent years we have had Bill Bryson giving us his thought-provoking views on England and the English, but a century and a half ago one of his compatriots did the same thing, albeit for a specific area of the country.

time-read
5 minutos  |
Autumn 2017
Beautiful In Black And White
This England

Beautiful In Black And White

England’s landscape and landmarks as they have never been seen before

time-read
2 minutos  |
Autumn 2017
All The Fun Of The Fair
This England

All The Fun Of The Fair

There is nothing quite like the joy of a brightly painted, brilliantly lit English fair with excited children grasping their candyfloss sticks and toffee apples, young men trying to win a prize at the darts stall and impress their girlfriends by handing them a giant cuddly toy and dads sportingly agreeing to take a turn on the big wheel even though they are still feeling the effects of a heavy lunch. Yes, we just love all the fun of the fair.

time-read
5 minutos  |
Autumn 2017
Sticky Toffee Cartmel
This England

Sticky Toffee Cartmel

Visitors to the Lake District can be crudely classified into two broad types: there are the fell walkers, climbers, canoeists, sailors and other outdoor enthusiasts, and then there are the gentler souls who follow the Wordsworth trail, who haunt tea shops, go on shopping crawls and crowd onto steam trains and lake cruises. And there’s nothing wrong with either of these types…

time-read
4 minutos  |
Autumn 2017
Walking The South Downs Way
This England

Walking The South Downs Way

My daughter was the catalyst for my passion for walking after I retired and moved to West Sussex from Somerset to be near her and my two sons. After the normal settling in process I was feeling restless and bored, wondering what to do with my new freedom, and with a niggling guilt that “I should be doing something”. She showed me an article in a magazine about a local ramblers group, saying “You would love this, Mum!”

time-read
7 minutos  |
Summer 2017
The Roads of Old England
This England

The Roads of Old England

Our motorway system means that today we think little of embarking on a journey across the country, confidently expecting to reach our destination the same day. Our ancestors would have taken weeks to complete such a trip, in considerable discomfort. Off the motorways, our roads follow routes laid down hundreds of years ago, and alongside them are fascinating objects which survive to tell the story of road development.

time-read
7 minutos  |
Summer 2017
Aspects Of English Towns
This England

Aspects Of English Towns

BUXTON — A Derbyshire Gem and an Opera Festival too!

time-read
6 minutos  |
Summer 2017