The House... The Old Vicarage is a typical Arts and Crafts house built in 1913 by a Surrey architect and was featured in the 1914 edition of "The Architect's journal".
We
purchased the property in 1973 but were not able to live in the house
full-time until 1986, and the existing garden layout commenced 1988.
As can be seen from the photograph, the house had not been occupied for some years and there was no garden in existence, the house being surrounded by tussocky grass up to 4 feet high. The only trees were the 5 lime trees to the north and scrub oak trees on a strip of land running through the centre of the garden. There is only a small change of levels in the garden which occupies the top of a low hill or ridge running approximately east-west with the southern part being south and the remainder north facing.
The Garden... The principal parts of the garden lie around the house; by making a circuit of the garden you have made a circuit of the house. The areas immediately adjoining the house are much smaller and more intimate than those leading away towards the boundaries and, in some parts, the
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structure which we first established in the 1970s still remains, though much altered. In 1988, there were no trees in the garden and all the shelter belts were planted at that time; an important and fundamental feature. The shelter belts, make it possible to garden in the manner we do. The principal sheter belt trees are Pinus radiata (the Monterey Pine), Alnus cordata (the Italian Alder) and Eucalyptus coccifera.
Within those belts, a number of evergreen shrubs are used for more intimate shelter including Phormium tenax Cordyline australis, various hollies, Phillyrea angustifolia and others. These shelter belts, plus the internal hedges, subdivide the garden into a large number of separate and distinct gardens which lead from one to another.
We have personally designed the layout of the garden and its architecture without any outside assistance. A master plan was prepared for the initial layout with the principal vistas and features but has been considerably altered and intensified since, which process is still continuing.
We suggest that you view the garden in the sequence set out in this guide using the plan provided. There are, however, many alternative destinations and vistas, and you may well wish to take other routes.
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