THE Cotswolds are not short on famous gardens, nor on tourist coachloads. Upton Wold, only a few fields from Chipping Campden’s tea rooms, holds a rare, precious serenity amid the hordes. Sitting low and secretive in a valley fold, hugged by grassy slopes on three sides, the Jacobean Grade II*- listed manor has film-star good looks, with its symmetrical façade, mullioned windows, caramel stone, mossy slate roof.
When owners Ian and Caroline Bond arrived in 1973, it was less promising. The buildings form part of the Northwick estate and had been occupied by tenanted farmers. The approach was a muddy track and the garden an open field falling directly away from the house. Mrs Bond wrote to the Institute of Landscape Architects for help and received a recommendation for Brenda Colvin and Hal Moggridge. When Colvin arrived, Mrs Bond remembers, she ‘looked at the view, saying: “Hal, dear boy, if they agree to keep the sweep of the view, take the job. If they don’t, don’t.”’ The view stayed and Mr Moggridge did, too, helping develop the six-acre garden for more than 45 years.
As do its neighbours Kiftsgate and Hidcote, the garden at Upton Wold wraps around the manor in a series of rooms, divided by formal hedging and strong axis paths. Using stone quarried on the estate, the Bonds built boundary walls and an east-facing terrace, levelling the ground and anchoring the house. From this platform, three wide stone steps drop down to two tiered lawns, flanked on either side by vast, immaculately clipped yew hedges and ending with a ha-ha.
Preceding pages: Hundreds of Camassia leichtlinii are added to the orchard each year. Beyond the field gate lies a wildflower meadow.
The view from the dovecote: yew topiary, the canal garden and a spring border brimming with honesty, forget-me-not and tulips
Denne historien er fra April 01, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra April 01, 2020-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.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery