A tranquil, sheltered hideaway in the Wiltshire countryside, Little Chalfield’s garden has been planted in the most soothing of colour schemes to create a haven both for wildlife and its delighted owners
WORDS CONSTANCE CRAIG SMITH PHOTOGRAPHS SUSSIE BELL
There has been a dwelling on the site of Little Chalfield since the Bronze Age, and the nearby Roman-era mill is mentioned in the Domesday Book. By those standards, the present house is a relative newcomer, built in 1830 in the beautiful mellow Bath stone that was so beloved of the Georgians. “It’s the perfect backdrop to a garden, because the golden colour of the stone just sings when the sun is out, and anything you plant against it looks wonderful,” says Julia Fuller.
Julia’s husband, Anthony, has owned the house and its surrounding farmland since 1964, but the Fullers only moved to Little Chalfield in 1978. The house needed plenty of work – although it had half a dozen bedrooms, there was only one bathroom – and the grounds were also in need of some care and attention. “There really wasn’t much of a garden here,” says Julia. “Before we moved in the house had been let for quite a long time and the walled garden, which is about half an acre, was mostly used to grow vegetables and as an orchard.”
The Fullers knew that they wanted to grow flowers rather than edibles, but with little gardening experience between them they knew they needed help with the designing and planting of the garden. Much of that work was done by Rosie Abel Smith, the designer who is now garden consultant at nearby Bowood House. “Rosie helped enormously with ideas for the garden,” Julia says. “I trusted her completely and I’ve always loved what she’s done.”
Julia envisioned a garden with a palette of pink, white, cornflower blue and silver. “I wanted soft colours. I don’t like orange, and I only like yellow if it’s a very pale shade. I pictured a garden that looked very English and very romantic, and Rosie understood instinctively what we wanted.”
Roses are a particular favourite of Julia’s, cropping up all over the garden. The rambler ‘Phyllis Bide’, yellow flushed with pink – “it’s the right sort of yellow”, she notes approvingly – romps up a wall of the house, while a farm shed is covered by the unstoppable ‘Rambling Rector’, whose sprays of semi-double white
