Shute House, Donhead St Mary & Spilsbury Farm, Tisbury
We will meet at Tisbury Station and travel the short distance to Shute House, a beautiful old rectory on the border of Wiltshire and Dorset, distinguished by its gardens created by Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe. Sir Geoffrey, one of our finest landscape architects, was commissioned in 1969 to create a water garden for Lady Anne and Captain Michael Tree. The result he considered his favourite work and has been acclaimed as his finest.
The River Nadder rises at the top of the garden and is diverted into canals, waterfalls, rills and mysterious pools through a series of atmospheric rooms. There is a parterre of box hedges containing six distinct gardens with a different theme: a camellia walk with over 100 varieties, a canal of arum lilies overlooked by Chinese balconies, an amphitheatre in Box behind a double bridge swathed in Wisteria and Ivy, a ‘beastly’ garden full of menacing Arisaemae and Orthiopoga. There is also the world-famous rill that tumbles musically via beautiful Kashmiri bubble fountains.
These unique gardens have been restored and developed by the present owners, Sir John and Lady Lewis, who enabled Sir Geoffrey to complete the gardens when they came to the house in 1994. The work continues to this day.
After refreshments on arrival, we are fortunate enough to have a tour conducted by Lady Suzy. The tour will be followed by lunch with wine served in the house which we hope to be able to consume alfresco. The garden’s original plans are held in the Garden Museum archive so facsimiles will be available for guests to peruse.
Our next stop, within a quarter of an hour’s drive will be world-renowned garden designer Tania Compton’s Spilsbury Farm.
The 10-acre garden at the farm is a mixture of formality and wildness. Focused on ancient oak trees, an orchard next to the house leads to vistas lined with clipped blocks and pyramidal hornbeams in long meadow grass peppered with perennials. The house is approached by a gravel garden planted with Perovskia, Euphorbia and Santolina. Borders billow with Eryngiums, Delphiniums, Cardoons and Roses. The tennis court has been transformed by Tania’s husband, plant-hunter Jamie into an enclosure of the Compton’s wild collected plants. There is plenty to explore: Tania will give us a talk about the garden, before a chance to wander at will after which tea will be served in the greenhouse. Other highlights include a river path, a hazelnut walk, an area where plants are grown for dyeing and the ‘Ring of Fire’.
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.
