Rodmarton Manor is a fabulous arts and crafts house with a delightful garden built at the beginning of the 20th Century, there are many descriptions of the place, this one from the Telegraph gives a nice summary:
'The people who built the house and garden at Rodmarton from scratch between 1909 and 1929 were Claud and Margaret Biddulph, a stockbroker and his wife with “progressive” views and the money to realise their ideals. They envisaged a large village house (it was only dubbed a “manor” later on), which would be an experiment in communitarian living, with people coming every day from the village to the house to work on serious craft projects, such as carpentry and tapestry. The garden’s bones were laid out by the house architect Ernest Barnsley, while Margaret Biddulph and her head gardener William Scrubey filled in the horticultural detail. Margaret herself was a trained horticulturist, having attended Studley Horticultural College for Women, one of several such institutions which flourished in the Edwardian period.'
It's well worth having a tour of the house as well as looking round the garden, please click on the link above to find out when it's possible to do this. A couple of weeks ago I visited for a Rare Plant Fair
it was lovely to see the circular lawn at the front of the house filled with plant stalls on a baking hot day. The photo below doesn't do it justice. When not covered in stalls, the lawn has 'circular stripes' although probably not visible just now when the grass is brown after weeks without rain.
After buying a few choice plants, I had a look round the garden, and took a few photos of my favourite parts like the urn below
and the path along the back of the house with views to the Marlborough Downs
The staddlestones are in abundance
as are the stone troughs
I'd love one of those in the garden
Someone photographing a plant down this long path
and some fantastically blue delphiniums
and campanula in the long borders
Looking back at the photos, I realise the importance of urns, troughs and paths in a garden
look at how these urns frame the path towards the house
Do visit if you haven't already done so, and make a note that the next Rare Plant Fair is in Wells on 19 August, perfect time to buy some plants to give the garden some autumn zing.
'The people who built the house and garden at Rodmarton from scratch between 1909 and 1929 were Claud and Margaret Biddulph, a stockbroker and his wife with “progressive” views and the money to realise their ideals. They envisaged a large village house (it was only dubbed a “manor” later on), which would be an experiment in communitarian living, with people coming every day from the village to the house to work on serious craft projects, such as carpentry and tapestry. The garden’s bones were laid out by the house architect Ernest Barnsley, while Margaret Biddulph and her head gardener William Scrubey filled in the horticultural detail. Margaret herself was a trained horticulturist, having attended Studley Horticultural College for Women, one of several such institutions which flourished in the Edwardian period.'
It's well worth having a tour of the house as well as looking round the garden, please click on the link above to find out when it's possible to do this. A couple of weeks ago I visited for a Rare Plant Fair
it was lovely to see the circular lawn at the front of the house filled with plant stalls on a baking hot day. The photo below doesn't do it justice. When not covered in stalls, the lawn has 'circular stripes' although probably not visible just now when the grass is brown after weeks without rain.
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