About Scotney Castle
From the terraces of the Victorian mansion house which are a-bloom with rare green-winged orchids in late spring and early summer, sweeps of rhododendron, azaleas and kalmia cascade down the slope towards the moat. But there is so much more to explore. The Quarry Garden, with its azaleas, acers and winding walkways, was created from the spoils of the quarrying undertaken to provide stone for the building of the mansion house. Amongst the Old Castle ruins, the herb beds around the 14th century Venetian wellhead and herbaceous borders provide a place for tranquil reflection. Statuesque trees, including a Sequoiadendron giganteum planted in the 1850s, inhabit the West Glade, while the one-acre octagonal Walled Garden with its wall-trained fruit trees, vegetable beds, cut-flower beds and herb garden gives an indication of how the Hussey household lived over 180 years ago. The whole represents one of the last and most successful representations of the Picturesque movement in landscape design.
