Gardens to visit in spring and summer – Mapperton

Mapperton Gardens is a romantic valley set deep in a hidden Dorset valley among tumbling hills and unspoilt countryside. The gardens descend from the great lawn, through the formal topiary, down to the valley floor and are linked by the various buildings on the estate, namely the Tudor/Jacobean manor house and All Saints church, stable block, coach house, dovecote and courtyard, all made of glowing apricot-coloured sandstone.

For those who care about such things, the valley gardens reflect three distinct historical epochs. The first is that of the upper level and comprises an Italianate garden laid out by Ethel Labouchere in her husband's memory in the 1920s – it has grottoes, stone birds and animals and a fountain court. Below the wall and summer house are seventeenth century fish ponds. The most modern level dates from the 1950s and consists of an orangery added by Victor Montagu, former Member of Parliament for South Dorset, who also extended the lower garden with specimen shrubs and trees and planted a wild garden in the 1960s.

The gardens by their very structure tend to contain secret paths and walks which often veer off into the surrounding countryside, which is an area of outstanding natural beauty, with many bridle paths and public rights of way. Mapperton’s age and beauty have made it a natural choice for film location work, with Emma and Tom Jones both featuring in the garden’s TV credits and Restoration in its film c.v. The gardens are open to the public from March to October.

Mapperton photograph by greenacre8, used under a creative commons attribution licence

 

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