Today our Walled Garden is a horticultural gem, with beautiful herbaceuos borders, prarie planting, cutting borders for our floral displays in the hall and on tables in our food and beverage outlets; not to mention the beautiful produce grown and harvested each year.
Look out for arches of brickwork on the front of the Soane 'Pinery-Vinery' Glasshouse these are vine arches for planting the roots of the grape vines outside while training the plants up inside the house, thereby keeping the roots cool while allowing the warmth of the house to ripen the fruit. Pineapples were also grown inside in a pineapple pit, one of which you can see in the left hand range.
Restoration
When the National Trust took over in 1976 the19th century glasshouse had disappeared and the garden itself was grassed over. Repair, re-use and restoration began in the early 1990s; with pathways reinstated; espalier fruit frames installed and planting of 6000 box plants, culminating with the reinstatement of the eighteenth century Soane-designed ‘pinery-vinery’ in 1999.
Surrounding the the late eighteenth century red brick wall is a later pale brick wall built c.1850 which provide a protective area for the orchard growing apple, pear, apricot, plum, greengage, medlar and quince crops – all of which are used in the estate’s shop and restaurant.
