In a most secluded Cotswold location is a rare garden of refined elegance, its structure and planting honed by designer Rupert Golby so that it pulses with wave after wave of spring loveliness
WORDS ANNETTE WARREN PHOTOGRAPHS CLIVE NICHOLS
Nestled in the heart of the Cotswolds, far from the madding crowd, there exists a sheltered village, a hidden haven where a meandering river weaves a liquid ribbon of serenity through a wooded valley. As spring breathes new life into this secluded village garden, nature’s beauty unfolds in a symphony of soft colour accompanied by the sound of birdsong.
It takes skill and vision to create a garden on a sloping hillside and, with the initial help of the designer Rupert Golby, the knowledgeable owners of this 17th-century stone farmhouse have gently transformed the grounds into an elegant necklace of gardens that delicately complement the house. Understated and restrained, with no shouty ‘look at me’ colour combinations, the serene and tranquil garden folds into the surrounding natural landscape.
The five-acre garden is an area of contrasts: all formality at the front, becoming wilder towards its boundaries. A haze of lilac wisteria and pale yellow Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’ is draped across the facade of the handsome Grade II listed house, framed by mature yew topiary. Bordering the house are generously wide beds planted with over 150 hellebores and hundreds of snowdrops for interest in the colder months. In spring, the foliage forms a green understorey beneath the pollarded lime trees that line the gravelled courtyard. Purple irises are planted around a central square pond that’s framed with limes and punctuated with topiary box balls. Zingy green Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii froths abundantly around the ancient staddle stones that line the drive, indicating the house’s former life as a farm and, above, wisteria is trained across the facade of the former stables, now repurposed as a potting shed.
Behind the potting shed, a neat potager provides the family with plentiful fruit and vegetables throughout the year. In summer, salad leaves and potatoes make up the main crop, along with soft fruits such as strawberries and gooseberries. A pair of handsome Griffin greenhouses are tacked on to the back of the potting shed: the first is home to the owner’s large alpine collection, while the other houses pelargoniums and various cuttings taken from around the garden.
To the side of the house, low stone walls are planted with numerous alpines and dotted in spring with a sea of b
