The gabled house had become hemmed in on two sides by overgrown beech and yew trees and untidy mixed woodland of mainly larches, which had grown uncontrolled for decades. Indeed, to call the surroundings a garden would have been overstating things, such was the advanced state of decay.
‘I was a city girl from Chicago, working in finance. I had no idea,’ says Mrs. Stainer, who freely admits her previous lack of gardening knowledge. However, two decades later, she’s reeling off plant names and explaining how different species were chosen for specific places and associations.
She highlights one strength they brought to the creation of their garden: ‘Robin has an unfailing eye for design and structure.’ This is revealed in what have become two or three of the garden’s signature features.
I love the story of the house’s origin. Towards the end of the Civil War, in one of the last sieges of the conflict, 100 Royalists took refuge in what was then a medieval tower. They were besieged by Parliamentarians, one of whom fired a grenade so accurately into the top of the tower that it fell to the armoury in the basement and destroyed the whole structure. The present house is its replacement.
Denne historien er fra September 25, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra September 25, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds