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Sissinghurst, Kent

The name Sissinghurst refers to a clearing in the woods. Early settlers in Britain, hacking out a clearing in all enveloping woodland seemed to have felt little sentimental attachment to nature. The woods were dark and deep, a fearful environment which has its echoes in folk tales. Woodland clearings was the first gardens, the first patch of nature shaped by man as a refuge.

According to National Trust sources there has been a settlement at Sissinghurst since at least the twelfth century. A stone manor house surrounded by a moat was built in the early middle ages. Walls from this building can still be seen in today's garden. New owners, the Bakers, purchased the house in 1480, which they than allowed to fall into ruin. Meanwhile they built a new impressive property in fashionable and expensive brick., of which the long front range and the tower survives today. The Bakers lived here until a change in fortune forced a sale to the government in 1756, after which Sissinghurst was used as a prison for French prisoners of war.

 

 

 

 

The buildings of Sissinghurst were badly damaged at this time, and two thirds of the impressive Elizabethan mansion was lost. Those buildings that remained were used in the nineteenth century as accommodation for farm labourers. Then in 1930 came a crucial moment in the history of Sissinghurst, when the property was sold to writer Vita Sackville West. Together with her husband, Harold Nicolson, Vita created a garden on land surrounding the house. This garden was opened to the public in 1938, and is now one of Britain's most famous gardens. It has a twentieth century combination of formal and "natural". Large scale garden design in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries had often involved landscaping huge open areas. In the twentieth century there was almost always less space to play with. The garden at Sissinghurst gives a sense of space by creating a variety of different landscapes, along with tricks of perspective to give a constant sense of variety and surprise. The original woodland clearing has come a long way. With trees in the garden's meadow and orchard, it is as if roles are reversed: the clearing in the trees, has become a refuge of trees and nature in surrounding open farmland. The garden tower is a wonderful place to look around at the various landscapes.

Sissinghurst is a result not so much of a "theory" of garden design, but of the contrasting personalities of the garden's two creators. Nicolson was a diplomat and writer, the biographer of George V. His taste was classical, preferring geometrical patterns and symmetry. Vita was more romantic, and enjoyed a looser scheme in the garden. Working together Harold and Vita came to produce a garden where one style sets off the other beautifully.

Vita Sackville West died in 1962. Harold decided that the best way to preserve the garden was to sell the property to the National Trust. The sale was completed by 1967. The National Trust continue to run Sissinghurst, providing a shop and an excellent restaurant. A large vegetable garden at Sissinghurst now provides the restaurant with produce.

 

 

 

 

 

Address: Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Sissinghurst, near Cranbrook, Kent TN17 2AB

Opening Times: Garden:

March 15th to November 2nd, 11am - 6.30pm, Friday to Tuesday. 10am opening at weekends.

From 27th October, Friday to Tuesday, 11am - 4pm. 10am opening at weekends.

The library and study are open from March 14th to October 26th, 11am - 5pm and from 27th October to 1st November 11am - 4pm.

Directions: Sissinghurst is on the A262, one mile east of Sissinghurst village in Kent. Click here for an interactive road and satellite map centred on Sissinghurst.

 

Access: Wheelchair access is good for most of the garden. There are adapted toilet facilities.

Contact:

telephone: 01580 710700

infoline: 01580 710701

e-mail: sissinghurst@nationaltrust.org.uk

web: www.nationaltrust.org.uk

 

For plants to complete your garden click on the link below.