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Emmett's Garden, Kent

 

Emmett's Garden on Ide Hill in Kent is a lovely example of a late Victorian garden. Farmland purchased in 1890 by Frederick Lubbock was turned into a six acre garden reflecting a characteristic taste for rare and exotic plants. This was a time when technological advance was making long distance travel much easier. Only twenty years earlier Jules Verne had written Around the World in 80 Days, dramatising how much smaller the world was becoming as speed and ease of travel improved. The changes Verne wrote about were also dramatised in garden design. Many exotic plants can be seen at Emmett's, brought back from the far east by European collectors. The garden is particularly notable for its beautiful collection of Japanese maples.

By the time Lubbock died in 1927 Emmett's was a well established exotic garden, with over five hundred species of plants. Interestingly the present garden has a very direct link with the original, since Charles Boise Watson, owner from 1927 to 1964 propagated directly from Lubbock's plantings. This gives Emmett's a real continuity. Even when new species of plants were added, care was taken to select from the same genus of plants already present. This makes Emmett's a particularly authentic historic garden.

The garden has been owned by the National Trust since 1964.

 

 

 

Opening Times: Opening hours for National Trust properties can be complex. Please use contact details below.

Address: Emmett's Garden, Ide Hill, Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 6AY

Directions: Emmett's is four miles from the M25 exit 5, off the B2042, one and a half miles north of Ide Hill. Click here for an interactive map centred on Emmett's Garden.

Access: Grounds are only partly accessible. There are some steep slopes and uneven paths. Transport is available from car park to garden. Adapted toilets are provided.

Contact:

telephone: 01732 751509

e-mail: emmetts@nationaltrust.org.uk

web site: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-emmettsgarden