Mill Barn

About Mill Barn

Then there’s the semi-ruined, folly now incorporating a sauna, after which it’s on past lily pond, mowed herbage, naturally planted flowerbeds, a stone circle to the Secret Garden. From there walk up the curved, enclosed path and along the stilted ‘hyperspace bypass’ walkway. At the top of this the covered sitootery offers a chance to pause for a moment or two. The gentle pathways of the wooded hillside now beckon. Visit the contemplative Japanese Tea House atop the entrance to the Secret Garden, before following the woodland paths back to the river where the house’s conservatory and river viewing platform await.
The garden is surrounded by sterile green fields of perennial ryegrass fertilised with dung containing insecticides from the cattle and cut for silage two or three times a year, free from mice and voles. Here you will find those and hedgehogs. I am increasingly aware that gardens are the last refuge in many parts of the country for insects. Where are the towers of Chironomid flies that were here in the 1970s? I try to do my part to provide a refuge for arthropods, including screwflies that eat my polygonata after flowering in this garden.

A garden developed on the site of old mills gives a fascinating layout which evolves at many levels. The garden jungle provides a smorgasbord of flowers to attract insects throughout the season. Children enjoy the garden very much.