East Lambrook Manor Gardens

About East Lambrook Manor Gardens

The celebrated plantswoman and gardening writer Margery Fish created the garden between 1938 and her death in 1969 and it became famous through her many books including ‘We Made a Garden’, first published in 1956 and still in print. Undoubtedly influenced by the writings of William Robinson, Fish wanted to create a garden in keeping with the old medieval manor house and, with no prior gardening knowledge, turned a derelict farmyard and orchards into a cottage garden, the style which Fish championed. The garden has changed remarkably little over the years and it is still essentially her original creation. After she died the garden passed to her nephew before being sold in 1985. Since then successive private owners have nurtured and cared for it so that today it is regarded by many as a ‘national treasure’. The garden was given Grade I status by English Heritage in 1992 and it is renowned worldwide as the premier example of the English cottage garden style.

The garden extends to around an acre and a half, yet with its many winding paths and different areas such as the Terraces, Silver Garden, Lido, Ditch and Woodland Garden, all packed full of plants, it appears much bigger. Keen gardeners who visit often say they haven’t given themselves enough time to take in all the planting but find it inspirational and inevitably take away ideas for their own gardens.

The Festival of Snowdrops in February, featuring around 160 species and named cultivars, is always popular. In April the garden is bursting into life and as May advances the garden becomes sublime, remaining so until the end of July.

Also within the garden, the excellent Margery Fish Plant Nursery specialises in cottage garden plants and interesting perennials with many, including hardy geraniums for which the garden is renowned, propagated from plants in the garden and grown in peat free compost. We also sell numerous named snowdrops in February and offer a range of our own seeds collected from plants in the garden. The Malthouse Gallery has exhibitions of work by local artists.