Wiltshire gardens with a view
Today we go to the picturesque village of Seend near Devizes, which commands a ridge-top position with uninterrupted views across the vale to Salisbury Plain. Here we are fortunate to be able to visit three beautiful, contrasting gardens in one location. We begin with coffee at Brow Cottage, home of garden designer Alexandra Gray, a charming half-acre contemporary cottage garden created over the past 22 years with a potager, sunken pool, wildlife pond and well-stocked borders. It has evolved as Alex’s family has grown and is used as a place to experiment with planting combinations and landscaping materials, including green roofs.
From here we take a scenic footpath to stunning Seend Manor where we are guests of Stephen and Amanda Clark for lunch and a garden tour. Julian and Isabel Bannerman helped with the initial layout of the cleared walled garden where a quatrefoil of four different gardens, evoking significant parts of the world in the owners’ lives, have been created. England is a romantic parterre of roses, peonies and lilies with bespoke teak trelliswork; Italy has a stone loggia and long swimming pool; Africa is a favourite with children, with palm trees, sphinxes and a concealed mud hut; and China centres on a red-lacquered pavilion. Beyond these are a fern walk and grotto, two smaller walled gardens with glasshouses, a folly and extensive topiary. A stunning garden with some of the best views in Wiltshire.
Lastly, we walk via the churchyard, past beautiful Holy Cross church, to Seend House, an inspiring six-acre garden created with great flair and imagination by owners Maud and Simon Peters. The gardens are arranged around the Grade II listed Georgian house and employ astute plant choices with a contemporary twist. Chic block planting features include a river of lavender with a peony-filled parterre beyond and there are formal borders, a burgeoning rose garden and a walled garden with a glasshouse. Maud will be our host in this very special garden and we will have afternoon tea here before we leave.
This event has been organised by the Garden Museum’s Garden Visits committee. We recommend you read our Garden Visits Attendee Charter and Refund/exchange policy before booking your place on any of our Garden Visits. All tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable.
