BUILT by a young Edwin Lutyens for garden designer Gertrude Jekyll in 1896-97, Munstead Wood at Busbridge, near Godalming in the Surrey Hills AONB, was the first of more than 100 major collaborations between Lutyens and Jekyll that have graced the pages of COUNTRY LIFE since the magazine's founder, Edward Hudson, visited in 1899.
For sale for the first time in more than 50 years at a guide price of $5.25 million through Knight Frank, Grade I-listed Munstead Wood, with its trademark long roofs, dormers, tall ornamental chimneys, and 'Surrey-style' Arts and-Crafts interior, is widely regarded as one of Lutyens's most important country houses. Its just over 11 acres of gardens, originally laid out by Jekyll and restored in the 1990s, are independently listed Grade I in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The sale is being handled by Tim Harriss of Knight Frank's Guildford office (01483 617910) and Julia Meadowcroft of the firm's country department (020-7861 5390).
Historically, the site occupied by Munstead Wood was part of the former open common of Munstead Heath, a typical south Surrey landscape described by Jekyll as 'this country with its great tracts of wood and heathland, beautiful wild ground and soil of bright yellow sand and rock'. In 1878, she moved with her mother to their newly built Munstead House at Busbridge and, four years later, in 1882, acquired the roughly 15 acres of Munstead Wood that lay across the road.
The transformation from pine woods and rough heathland to famous woodland garden took place over many years, during which Jekyll allowed felled woodland to grow, as well as thinning the young trees create areas of different varieties, each with its own under-plantings of flowers and shrubs. The resulting woodland garden was viewed via a series of long walks. Later, the woods would merge gradually into lawns near the house, with seasonal gardens flowering in succession through the year.
Denne historien er fra July 20, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra July 20, 2022-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
