Vann

A five-acre English heritage Grade 2* listed garden which surrounds and complements a historic family home dating from the 16th Century, and added to every century since, giving a series of garden rooms of great variety, from the formal old ‘cottage garden’ at the front, with delightfully informal planting, continuing south past a hedge of sweet smelling azalea pontica, to a robust pergola of Bargate stone by W.D.Caröe, leading to the enlarged field pond.

The beautiful Water Garden by Gertrude Jekyll (1911) comprises a succession of small ponds crossed by stone paths and bridges, and planted with many damp-loving plants that she supplied, including ferns, leucojum, gaulteria, pulmonaria, trachystemon, peltaphyllum, rodgersia, caltha, and more recent re-planting with newer varieties of hosta, hemoracallis hellebores, and astilbe among others.

Heading north, a stream feeds the pond, running through the orchard and into the ‘Yew Walk’, enclosed by large yew hedges (1909) recently reduced in width. Originally planted as a rose garden the depredations of the wild deer have led us to remove the roses and re-plant with foliage plants to give round the year interest.

Three island beds have been made to give added interest in the old orchard and allow use of more ‘modern’ plants. Double borders have been created in the vegetable garden for the 150th Jekyll celebrations in 1992, the north border using her colour gradients, and an opportunity to use plants of special interest.

A crinkle-crankle wall behind the greenhouse supports newly replanted peaches and pears. A ‘centenary garden’ was created in 2008 to celebrate 100 years of the Caroe family resident at Vann with yew ‘pavilions’, seats locally made from our own planked oak, and floored with glass bottles to reflect the medieval glass-works in the adjacent Glasshouse Copse, with locally made metal arches for climbers.

The vegetable garden recently replanted as a jardin potager with yew divisions, and yew also used as a back-drop for the herb garden with topiary cats and a mouse!

Pre-booked groups are most welcome. We recommend 1-2 hours to visit the garden, all of which is open to the public. All groups (15 minimum) must be pre-booked – please contact [email protected].

Private group entry with owner’s talk – £15 per head.

Refreshments available for group visits including:

Morning tea, coffee or homemade elderflower cordial with home-made biscuits.
Lunch
Afternoon tea with home-made cakes.