Sandridge Park

About Sandridge Park

The current house at Sandridge Park dates from 1805, when Lady Ashburton (née Baring) employed John Nash, the celebrated Regency architect, to construct a villa there on a site that had been inhabited since Domesday. Sir Walter Raleigh owned the estate in the late 16th century and there is evidence that Adrian Gilbert, his half-brother, designed a formal garden when living there in the 1590s, though nothing remains of it today. Nash created a Picturesque villa that sits in a remarkable location with fine views across and up the River Dart.

The current gardens and landscape, which had received little attention since the house had been requisitioned by American troops in WW2, were laid out by the present owners during an extensive renovation and restoration project between 2007-9. The drive was returned to its original position and a formal garden created to the east of the house. A walled kitchen garden and walled pool garden were built to the west and a new orchard planted to the north. A number of other ponds, an extensive collection of roses and specimen trees were also installed and a fern garden has recently been created.

The owners have planted some 13,000 trees to re-establish areas of older woodland that had been lost over the years, together with a significant number of new parkland trees across the estate. Walks through this new woodland, as well as the ancient woodland that dates back over 400 years, permit fine views of the river and of Dittisham as well as, further upstream, of Sharpham.
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