HINTON AMPNER MANOR HOUSE

Hinton Ampner House is a country manor with gardens within the parish of Hinton Ampner, near Alresford, Hampshire, England.

The 12 acre garden, set in 80 acres of unspoilt parkland, combines a formal layout with varied and informal plantings of shrubs interspersed with herbaceous plants. 

There are magnificent vistas both within the garden and over the parkland and rolling Hampshire countryside. 

Previously, the parkland came directly up to the house, which was designed to be a hunting lodge.

Picture opposite: Gate to church garden. 

The house and garden are owned by the National Trust and are open to the public. 

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hinton-ampner.

The garden was created by Ralph Stawell Dutton (1898–1985), the 8th and last Baron Sherborne, starting in 1930, making this a modern 20th century garden.

Photograph of Ralph Dutton courtesy of Wikipedia.www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Stawell_Dutton,_8th_Baron_Sherborne

It was remodelled again by Trenwith Wills and Lord Gerald Wellesley for Ralph Dutton between 1936 and 1939 to his vision of what it would have been like had it been built on its current scale in 1790 - a Georgian country house. 

It was badly damaged by fire in 1960, and restored again much as it had appeared in 1936.

The house contains Ralph Dutton’s fine collection of Regency furniture, Italian paintings and hardstone items.

Ralph Dutton wrote the book "A Hampshire Manor" that chronicles the history of the manor at Hinton Ampner and its gardens. Other books by Ralph Dutton include:

• The English Country House
• The English Garden
• The Land of France - with Lord Holden
• The English Interior
• Wessex
• London Homes

• The Age of Wren
• Normandy and Brittany
• The Victorian Home
• The Chateau of France
• English Court Life

With no direct heirs, he gave the estate to the National Trust, on his death in 1985. 

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinton_Ampner

www.hintonampner.alresford.org.

GREAT DIXTER MANOR HOUSE & GARDENS

Great Dixter House was built in the middle of the 15th century.  It is best known for being the family home of Christopher Lloyd - 1921-2006, the innovative garden designer and television personality.

Christopher's father, Nathaniel, commissioned Sir Edwin Lutyens to restore and enlarge the house in 1910.  

Picture below, main door of Great Dixter House.

Picture above, part of the main house, window circa 1595, and view of oast house and great barn. 


Nathaniel Lloyd loved gardens, designed some of the garden himself, and imparted that love to his son.

Christopher Lloyd learned the skills required of a gardener from his mother Daisy, who did the actual gardening. 

He wrote several acclaimed books about gardening, The Mixed Border in 1957,  followed by Clematis in 1965, and his best known work, 'The Well Tempered Garden,' published in 1970.

But it was his own garden that caught the imagination of thousands of visitors every year. Great Dixter is one of the most documented of gardens, its most celebrated feature being the immense Long Border, measuring 210ft x 15ft.  Picture right: Long border, and details from adjoining border beds.

                                                          

The garden is in the arts and crafts style, and features topiary, a long border, an orchard and a wild flower meadow. The planting is profuse, yet structured, and has featured many bold experiments of form, colour and combination.   

The garden is currently managed by Fergus Garrett, who worked closely with Lloyd up until his death in 2006 as Head Gardener and introduced a number of innovations into the planting scheme. 

Christopher Lloyd was noted for his bold juxstaposition of strong colours. He planted and maintained the garden in his innovative style until his death.


Picture right: Early oast house and barn; border plants against topiary.

Picture below: Ornamental daisies, blue flowers and poppies.

In 1979 Christopher Lloyd received the Victoria Medal of Honour, the highest award of the Royal Horticultural Society. 

He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Open University in 1996 and was appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2000. 

Picture right:Rodgersia; Hare's Tail; ornamental plant with purple sepals.

The house and garden are open to the public from April to the end of October. Study days, workshops and lectures are held frequently. A charity called the Great Dixter Charitable Trust has been established to ensure that the property is preserved.

Great Dixter House is in Northiam, East Sussex close to the South Coast of England. It has a famous garden which is regarded as the epitome of English plantsmanship. Wikipedia.

Address: Rye, Northiam, Rye, East Sussex TN31 6PH
Phone: 01797 252878

www.greatdixter.co.uk
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Dixter

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lloyd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lloyd_(gardener)

www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/jan/30/pressandpublishing.booksobituaries