East Lambrook Manor

East Lambrook Manor is a small 15th-century manor house in East Lambrook, Somerset, England, registered by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.[1] It is surrounded by a "cottage garden" planted by Margery Fish between 1938 and her death in 1969.[2] The garden is Grade I listed in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.[3]

East Lambrook Manor

House

The two-storey house, Grade II* listed in 1959, was originally an open hall-house. It was built of Somerset hamstone in the 15th and 16th centuries.[4] It was a disused chicken farm, which had fallen into disrepair until the restoration in the 1930s.[4][5]

Garden
East Lambrook Manor Gardens
TypeCottage Garden
LocationEast Lambrook, Somerset, England
Coordinates50.9667°N 2.811°W / 50.9667; -2.811
Area2 acres (0.81 ha)
PlantsGeraniums, euphorbias, helleborus, snowdrops, roses, rare and unusual cottage garden plants
CollectionsNational Collection of Geraniums
Websitehttp://www.eastlambrook.co.uk/

Margery Fish and her husband Walter Fish bought East Lambrook Manor in 1937 for £1000. They had several terraces constructed in 1938.[6] She described the informal planting style as "jungle gardening".[7] She wrote several books on cottage gardens. She laid out the 2 acres (0.81 ha) gardens, which hold the National Collection of Geraniums,[8] and a collection of snowdrops.[9]

Several varieties of plants are named after the garden, including a silver-leafed wormwood, Artemisia absinthium 'Lambrook Silver',[10] a spurge, Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii, 'Lambrook Gold', and a primrose Primula, 'Lambrook Mauve'.[11]

The garden has been restored since 1985 into the state it was left at the time of Fish's death in 1969.[12] It was awarded Grade I status by English Heritage in 1992.[13] In 2011, the gardens were opened for a horticulture course, the East Lambrook Diploma in Horticulture, which covers both theoretical and practical gardening.[14]

East Lambrook Manor gardens are open to the public for nine months of the year, usually from Tuesday to Saturday.[15] It is entered through the Malthouse, a stone building within the gardens which also contains a gallery and a café. Behind the Malthouse is an area known as the Ditch, which originally had water flowing through it. There Fish planted moisture-loving plants, but as the water no longer flows through the Ditch, it has been replanted as a sunken garden. To the east of the house is the Silver Garden, which includes Mediterranean plants, often with silver leaves.[16]

External source

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to East Lambrook Manor.
  1. Historic England. "East Lambrook Manor and forecourt wall (1264346)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  2. "East Lambrook Manor Gardens". Visit Somerset. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  3. Historic England. "East Lambrook Manor (1001247)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  4. "East Lambrook Manor Garden, East Lambrook". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  5. Ford, Sarah (1 June 2015). "East Lambrook Manor Gardens". Somerset Life. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  6. "East Lambrook Manor, Taunton, England". Parks & Gardens UK. Parks and Gardens Data Services. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  7. Bond, James (1998). Somerset Parks and Gardens. Somerset Books. p. 140. ISBN 978-0861834655.
  8. "East Lambrook Manor Garden". Gardenvisit.com. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  9. Bourne, Val (4 January 2008). "Snowdrops: White magic". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  10. Plumptree, George (1985). Collins Book of British Gardens. London: Collins. pp. 272–273. ISBN 0002166410.
  11. Howcroft, Heidi (2015). First Ladies of Gardening: Designers, Dreamers and Divas. Frances Lincoln. ISBN 9781781011959.
  12. "East Lambrook Manor Garden". Sisley Garden Tours. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  13. "East Lambrook Manor Gardens leaflet" (PDF). Somerset Routes. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  14. Sowden, Steve (27 August 2011). "East Lambrook diploma is a hit with students". This is the west country. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  15. Admissions Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  16. Clayton, Phil (June 2014). "The Garden: East Lambrook Manor Gardens" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. pp. 42–43. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
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