The Manor House Garden, Bledlow

Lord Carrington, whose family have owned the Manor House, Bledlow since the 18th century, describes the renovation of the gardens there that have been undertaken since 2018, following a devastating fire that destroyed a 15th Century tithe barn adjacent to the house. - 04 July 2025

A major renewal programme was commenced at the Manor House Garden in 2018. The original garden surrounding the house was mainly laid out by Robert Adam, the landscape architect in the 1960s and 1970s, following a devastating fire that destroyed a 15th Century tithe barn adjacent to the house. Every effort has been made to preserve his design whilst reinvigorating the planting scheme.

Away from the house, the biggest task was to remove, or crown raise, trees planted over the past 40 years when the Sculpture Garden and Lyde Garden were created to let in more light to encourage the underplanting, after the removal of unwelcome understory in the shape of grasses and ivy. The second task was to severely prune, reshape or replace shrubs that had become overgrown, and the third task was to selectively replant shrubs and perennials where space allowed and when new longer flowering or more exciting varieties of those species were available. An ongoing programme to reduce the height and width of the large beech and yew hedges to their original planned size has also commenced. Although initially unattractive the hedges that have already been reduced are quickly recovering.

A major feature of the garden is the old Walled Garden which traditionally had been reserved purely for vegetables and espaliered fruit on the walls. We have introduced more cross paths to provide better access and rows of flowers for picking like dahlias, gladioli, asters, iris, phlox and alstroemerias.

The original central (east to west) double border planted with peonies, delphiniums, asters and Nepeta has been preserved and provides interest throughout the season but a thick beach hedge on either side has been replaced by yew columns to enable views of the length and breadth of the garden. The north/south path has been replanted on both sides with Prunus lusitania leading the eye to the central pagoda covered in R. 'Phyllis Bide' and the mural of Vertumnus in the manner of Arcimboldo by Owen Turville at the south end.

The most recent and dramatic replanting scheme has taken place in one of the yew-lined ‘rooms’, designed by Robert Adam, called the coracle garden after the William Pye water feature in the centre. The decision was taken to remove all the original planting dating back to 1969 consisting of various varieties of shrubs such as Mahonia, rosemary, Viburnum, Potentilla, Hemerocallis and Yucca and introduce a modern planting scheme in contrast to the rest of the garden. Great support and advice were given by designer and plantsman Sean Walter and a Mediterranean garden has been the result.

Cypresses of varying sizes have been scattered across the outer part of the garden together with Hibiscus ‘Woodbridge’, Raphiolelpsis 'Coppertone', Heptacodium, various grasses like Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster', alliums and varieties of Indigofera. For the central sections, lower growing plants have been selected like Echinacea pallida, Dianthus carthusianorum and Eryngium zabellii 'Big Blue', together with spring bulbs.

In the south facing garden, where the original avenue of highly scented Viburnum carlesii has seen some casualties, replacements have been secured, and two topiaries of the family’s pugs are seen on the surrounding gravel. The planters at the back of the reflecting pond are planted with Cornus 'Pagoda' and below the old granary, with its staddle stones, the previous plantings have been replaced by Rhus and Grevillea, providing a setting for a sculpture by Matt Maddocks called Vision. On one of the walls around the reflecting pond there is a new lead sculpture in the shape of a roundel depicting Bocca della Verita (Mouth of Truth) by Anne Cordery. The very ancient original is set in the wall of a church in Rome.

The Sculpture Garden which contains wonderful works by Paul Vanstone, Peter Randall-Page, Terence Coventry, Michael Cooper, and Patricia Volke and others has seen some interesting new additions including a life-size adolescent Indian elephant made in Kerala from an invasive weed called lantana camara. A more discreet small composite elephant (that used to cover a drain by the house) in the shape of the family crest peers out of a forest of Symphytum and a bronze fish that smiles on one side and frowns on the other by Marzia Calonna overlooks the garden.

Finally on the north facing side of the house, newly planted beds with Mahonia 'Soft Caress', Anemone 'Ruffled Swan' and hydrangeas have been established alongside the old rose beds with their R. 'Compte de Chambord'.

An adjacent newly built brick planter facing towards the four reflecting ponds with their lead herons is full of R. 'Olivia Rose Austin' surrounding a Lonicera 'Baggeson's Gold' topiary of a Griffin which is a supporter on the family coat of arms.

Bledlow Manor House has been owned by the Carington family since the 18th Century. The garden came into existence in 1967 as the brainchild of the 6th Lord and Lady Carrington who commissioned the landscape architect, Robert Adams to create the garden. After the 7th Lord Carrington inherited the garden, he commissioned the plantsman and designer (and long-term friend of Rare Plant Fairs!) Sean Walter in 2019 to lead an extensive replanting and rejuvenation project throughout the gardens.

Website: http://www.carington.co.uk/gardens/manor-house-gardens/