.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
About Torry Hill
Perched on the edge of the Downs overlooking the North Kent marshes, Torry Hill is positioned with spectacular views across the Isle of Sheppey, the Kemsley energy plant, the Thames and Medway estuaries and, on a clear day, Southend on Sea. The gardens were laid out in the mid-19th century and the grass terraces created to take advantage of the view remain today. Specimen trees and large rhododendrons from the original Victorian lansdcaping survive, and have been added to with camellias and flowering cherries. Much of the extensive lawn has recently been turned over to meadow.
Three formal walled gardens to the south of Torry Hill House are the creation of Rose, Lady Kingsdown, who brought the gardens to life after she and her husband Robin built the current house in 1958. These include herbaceous borders, a collection of some 500 roses in the rose garden, an almost constantly-flowering display of shrubs and climbing plants, and an orangerie that actually grows oranges !
