Croombe revisited - the walled garden

A couple of weeks ago when we visited Croombe, the walled garden was not open. Marianne wanted to see it as well as go on the tour of the Red Wing which is the house for servants adjoining the main building.

There is a separate fee of five pounds to enter the garden which is privately owned.

Entry times and days.

The entry gate.

I did not know what to expect but this expanse was unexpected. Most English walled gardens are chock-a-block with plants even in late June. This seemed almost empty.

However closer inspection revealed that there were still plenty of plants as well as a few bee-hives.

Remains of a well. Remember much of the garden was originally designed before Capability Brown came along. The garden fell into dis-repair and the restoration only started in 2000 when the current owners arrived. The garden opened to the public in 2014.

If you click on the photo you can see how the wall was gradually repaired and re-planted.

Lots of different varieties of tomatoes, each with its own row. We wondered what happened to all of the fruit and vegetables that would be harvested.

Rhubarb.

These raspberries seemed to be past their prime.

We were intrigued by these crinkly hoses. Perhaps they don't kink as much.

The largest glasshouse was being restored for possible use as a tea-room or shop.

The former gardeners cottage which is now the house of the people who bought the garden. You can see what it looked like when they bought it here.

One of the smaller glass-houses.

Old path behind the glass-houses. When the restoration process began, the brick paths were covered with debris and great care had to be taken to get the path to this restored state. 

Lettuce.

This reminds me of fireworks.

Click on the photo to see how the glass-houses were restored.

More restoration photos.

The dipping pond. This was a Capability Brown addition.

Algae (pond scum) on top of the water.

Photos of the restoration of the pond. Below are some closeups of the photos in the above picture.

Looking up the hill with another well in the foreground.

There were plans to turn this building into a toilet block until they discovered what was called the Vinery where they grew grapes.

Inside.

Click on the picture to read the story.

A gate leading to another part of the walled garden which was just an expanse of grass at this stage.

Arches under the back of the Vinery.

The brochures mentioned a tunnel you could walk through so we asked one of the volunteers who took us back to a green house where I donned a hard hat. I had noticed them when I had walked though the glass-house earlier and wondered why they were there.

I definitely needed the hard hat because the ceiling was quite low.

There was a network of tunnels that were used to hold pipes that took hot water to parts of the garden that needed to be heated in winter for the plants to survive.

Spiffy staircase leading up into the largest glasshouse.

Finally we sat down to enjoy a piece of free cake and a cup of tea before we headed over to the main house to join the tour of the Red Wing.

It would be very interesting to come back every year to check on progress and you have to admire the vision and work of the couple who are restoring this garden.