Clinton Lodge

About Clinton Lodge

The Caroline house was enlarged by the Earl of Sheffield for his daughter, who married Sir Henry Clinton, one of the three generals at Waterloo. The 18th Century façade is set in a tree-lined lawn, flanked by a water canal of pools and fountains and overlooking parkland. The 1987 storm removed old oaks but these have been replanted in a Repton-style landscape leading to a stone column on the distant hill. The garden itself is approx 6 acres of clay soil and is divided into rooms reflecting English garden design from the 17th Century to 21st Century. The 17th Century herb garden has camomile paths and turf seats, and four knot gardens. The Victorian era is represented by tall white and blue herbaceous borders, the pre-Raphaelites by an alley of white roses, clematis, purple vines and lilies, the 20th Century by an unusual swimming pool garden encircled by an arcade of apples and the 21st Century by a garden of clipped beech with a newly built classical stone folly. A wildflower meadow has been replanted with magnolia trees and a pleached lime avenue leads to the medieval herb garden and potager. An enclosed garden of old English roses, trained high so that you are enveloped by the scent, surrounds a water feature by William Pye. Gardens of interest include a small shady glade, small knot garden, canal garden and orchard planted with crinums, and folly garden enclosing a classical temple.