Claremont Landscape Garden

 

Address – Portsmouth Road
Esher
Surrey
KT10 9JG
Phone01372 467806
Opening times

1 Feb–31 Mar 07 10–5 Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
1 Apr–31 Oct 07 10–6 Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
1 Nov–28 Feb 08 10–5 Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
NB – if dusk falls before the official closing time, the garden will close at dusk.

Collection/special featuresvistas
Dog friendly?On short leads (ie no extending leads) 1 Nov–31 March. No dogs April to Oct because of livestock
Child friendly?

Pushchairs admitted. Children's quiz/trail and lots of events in the summer holidays.
DescriptionThe first gardens were begun in 1715 and the delights of Claremont were famed throughout Europe. Since 1975 the Trust has been restoring the original layout. The many features include a lake, island with pavilion, grotto, turf amphitheatre, viewpoints and vistas. Landscape Gardens were a reaction to the formal planting of earlier generations and featured vistas where people could stroll in apparently natural surroundings, but which basically comprised of a series of carefully planned views. Each view was designed to evoke a different sensation.  Some of the vistas remaining at Claremont include The Amphitheatre, created to complement a round pond formed in the valley below and the Grotto intended to induce a mood of agreeable melancholy.

Claremont photograph by lostajy used under a creative commons licence