the walled garden
The main feature of this very special garden has to be the wall; the double-skinned wall of flint and brick surrounding three sides of the hugely productive vegetable and fruit garden. It’s a fantastic construction of hand made crumbling bricks and very hard local flint or ‘chert’, full of old nails and in need of repair; this was started in late summer 2025 when two precious pieces of stonework, two beautiful carvings of the Four Evangelists, were rescued and installed. The other two are embedded in the outer walls of the yard.
The wall keeps the deer, rabbits and wind out, provides a great place for climbing and wall plants, creates a micro-climate for plants within and without, radiates heat and houses families of blue-tits with squirrels using the top as a private A-road.
the lake
Feature number two must be the stream-fed lake, frequented by ducks, kingfishers, canada geese and otters. A huge, ancient Silver Fir dangles its branches down to the water on one side, while an extraordinary, massive branch extends from the trunk at right angles on the other.
The garden is open under the National Gardens Scheme for several weekends in April, June and October and many local gardening groups visit too, with visitors frequently commenting on the tranquility and calm of Regency House. I’m biased, of course, but it is a very special place. Visits to Romania have inspired the small haystacks, which are all part of the scheme to introduce yellow rattle, a plant that parasitises grass roots, reducing its growth and consequently the amount of mowing and grass-collection needed.
