English Country Estate Garden, Dover, Kent, UK
A Long-term Country Estate Garden Project to Redesign Different Areas of the Estate
A country estate garden in need of some love and attention and the wonderful opportunity to create a thriving business of a deer park and homegrown produce/working garden. Working alongside the client, who is a keen gardener, the brief is to bring the old garden back to life, while still maintaining its beauty and elegance.
The country estate of Waldershare is a nine-bay brick Queen Anne house built for Sir Henry Furnese, who purchased the Estate in 1705 and who died in 1712. Sir Henry’s architect is unknown, though Talman could have done the Garden Façade, with its giant Corinthian pilasters and attic story above the entablature. In 1913 the House was gutted and refitted by Reginald Blomfield, who inserted higher roofs and larger chimneystacks.
The brick Stables are extant, as is a very large Palladian Belvedere erected by Sir Robert Furnese. The Belvedere was built 1725-27 at a cost of £1,703 and is a double cube of plum-coloured brick embellished with carved Portland stone.
This new country estate garden will form part of the Gardener’s Cottage and will be formally divided into a herb garden, a vegetable garden, a cutting garden and a working orchard. An old, derelict wooden greenhouse will be left for rewilding, alongside a formal terrace with pathways and lavender edges. A swimming pool will be linked to the new garden. Taking inspiration from the architecture and the history of this beautiful estate, parallel pathways will lead you around the garden, under pergolas clothed with vines and gourds. Bright, bold colours will be used throughout the space with clear sightlines to feature urns and decorative pieces found on the estate.
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