The Old Rectory

The garden surrounds the Georgian Old Rectory. It contains many species of trees, ranging in age from centuries-old to very young saplings. This year we open when the roses are at their best, other attractions are the wisteria, the hostas, and the woods around the gravel paths. Recent additions are a greenhouse and a box parterre.

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Gianni and Kate De Fraja

About The Old Rectory

Last year was (probably) the bicentennial of the Old Rectory (hence the twitter handle @oldrectory1822). Its garden has many ancient trees, though some were lost recently. The large rose garden is now well established and flowers from June to October. Hostas thrive in many flower beds, protected by the vast frog population, which use the pond as their basis and are numerous enough to survive the army of newts feeding on tadpoles after spawning. Many trees planted in the last decade (oaks, horse-chestnuts, mulberry, poplar, birch, olive) are becoming established, as are the grapes from Devon in the greenhouse, and the box parterre. Behind the compost enclosure, new cuttings are growing, including several sweet chestnuts. The lawns are maintained by Ingrid, our Swedish robotic pet. Modernist sculptures include “Untitled engine”, “Jimmy, the smiling wheel”, “Four glass globes and a baby one”, a double Moebius strip, and the last addition, a large armillary on top of the dead cedar stump.