Old Manor Farmhouse

About Old Manor Farmhouse

The gardens surround a 17th Century Dutch gabled Grade 2 listed farmhouse rescued from dereliction in 1990. The gardens had been lost and really there was only a field surrounding the house when we began. Shortlisted for NGS Nations Favourite Garden 2023

The house and thatched Norfolk tithe threshing barn won the Graham Allen Award for Conservation in 1991.

Our concept was to create a garden which would have been in keeping with the period of the house. Our design was based on a series of rooms all interlinked with walks or lawns.
The rear of the house features a large south facing open box knot garden with central fountain and terrace surrounded by pleached hornbeam. Paths from here interconnect with a lawned herbaceous garden with rooms leading from it consisting of a shade garden, a purple beech room and a folly garden. The front of the house features a further small knot garden with central flower urn and box topiary. The main drive is lined with pollarded London planes. A clematis and rose walk lead to the paddock and tennis court. A lavender walk leads to the extensive formal potager garden, enclosed by pleached apple and pear trees. Initially a productive fruit and vegetable garden it now serves as a cutting garden for flowers. A previous bullock yard is now a working courtyard.

The joy for us is the gardens functionality. It needs to be explored and enjoyed by resting on the various seats around the rooms catching the sun at all times of the day.

Regional Finalist, The English Garden Magazine’s The Nation’s Favourite Gardens, 2023