Goddards Green

About Goddards Green

Goddards Green is listed grade II* and belonged to one of the principal clothier families of Cranbrook, the Courthopes, for more than 400 years, before it was sold in the 1920s to the novelist and playwright, Temple Thurston. It is likely that the the earliest surviving features of the garden, notably the Water Garden, date from his ownership. Later the property was owned for many years by the Pearson family who planted many scented roses which remain in the garden. The present design of the garden has evolved since John and Linde Wotton bought Goddards Green in 1992. Garden designers Edward and Nicky Flint created in the 1990s the Fountain Garden (linked by a rill to the Water Garden), Swimming Pool Garden, Fern Garden and several new borders. The gardens surround the house and extend to about 7 acres, including an arboretum, a mature apple, plum, cherry and nut orchard and a wilderness. Although it is very close to Cranbrook, the setting of the garden is utterly rural, looking over fields to woods in the distance. The planting is an extremely varied mix of bulbs, perennials, shrubs, trees, hedges, ferns, grasses and exotics. We try to make it interesting every day of the year. The various parts of the garden are in contrasting styles, among them: rural informality around the pond; a traditional long border, shading into a meadow and birch grove; formality of structure in the Water Garden and Fountain Garden; and a distinctively modern design, featuring grasses and willows, around the swimming pool and vegetable garden. We have planted an avenue of flowering cherries in the arboretum, increased the area managed as meadow and are now managing two acres as a ‘wilderness’. We try to be environmentally responsible and use almost no pesticides or herbicides. We feel that the garden as a whole suits the ancient, timber-framed house which sits in its midst. The house is not open, but is lovely to look at!