An overgrown garden has been reinvented for a new generation, writes Tiffany Daneff, with a new pool house and ingenious reuse of a derelict wing as an outdoor eating area
AFTER living abroad for several years in Sydney and Amsterdam, Mr and Mrs Paul Hilgers were looking for somewhere to settle and bring up their young family when they discovered exactly the place they were looking for in a quiet rural valley within easy distance of Tunbridge Wells in Kent.
In 2019, they moved into Pembury Hall, which had been built in 1803 and was home for 170 years to the Woodgate family, three members of which were vicars of the 14thcentury old parish church of St Peter's a few minutes' walk away. Push open the gate at the far end of the main lawn and a rutted track leads through a dappled tunnel of coppiced hazels and snaking rhododendrons-the same path the clergymen would have taken on their way to morning service. A yew treeechoing many in the garden overhangs the iron gate that leads into a small churchyard.
When Hilgers moved here, however, all was overgrown. The gardens and grounds had been neglected for many years with the usual results: 19th-century plantings of Cupressus leylandii and rhododendron had become overgrown, knotweed and other persistent weeds had taken hold in the gardens and tree shaving been left for decades unchecked-completely blocked the best view over meadows to the distant tree line beyond.
Denne historien er fra February 28, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra February 28, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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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
