Garden Visits Summer 2026 & AGM

This moated manor house (Grade II*) takes its name, not from the flower, but from a family of medieval barons from Columbières (ie ‘dovecotes’) in Normandy, who owned it down to 1317. Rising dramatically from the water of the moat is a gatehouse range of c.1400 that was built by their successors, the Hotot family. After a long period as a farmhouse, it was bought in 1993 by Hew Stevenson and the late Leslie Geddes-Brown (gardens editor for Country Life and author of numerous books on gardens), who both restored the house and developed the magnificent gardens, employing the Chelsea gold medallist, George Carter, to design the formal garden which stands on the one-acre island. High hornbeam and yew hedges divide the area into separate lawn spaces with eight formal flower beds and a herb garden. Vistas across the moat embrace the parkland and distant views of the countryside beyond.

Beyond the moated area, the mood is natural and understated. Cow parsley is allowed to run riot on the moat banks, and there is a bog garden with a stream and waterfall, a series of ponds and orchards, a grassy walk through woodland, and the Moat Walk from which the Hall is seen reflected. One of the highlights is the formal vegetable garden adjoining an 18th-century timber-framed barn. It was created on the site of a partially demolished modern farm building whose brick walls were left standing to enclose a walled garden.

A new walled flower garden has recently been created and a new bridge built across the moat. Head gardener Kate Elliott gave a fascinating talk to the SGT in February about her time spent lovingly developing the garden with the owners.

Photo: Kate Elliott

The house is drowning under mountains of roses! That was our first impression when we visited Humphrey Brooke’s Rosarium in June 1980. Here were roses that appeared to be untamed beasts, riots of colour and perfume that left one stunned – these were not the tame hybrid-tea roses that one was used to! I wanted to know more!

The house is timber-framed (much disguised under later brickwork) and dates from the mid-15th century, a date which probably equates with its acquisition by a yeoman named John Hill in 1439. Now called Lime Kiln House, the house sits on the edge of a roughly square former chalk pit that covers about nine acres. 1954 marked the transfer of Lime Kiln from the count to his daughter Nathalie and her husband Humphrey Brooke. After a distinguished career and retirement In 1971 he established a Rosarium for the preservation and conservation of roses at Lime Kiln. He stocked the garden with over 500 varieties of ‘old’ roses:. Humphrey ‘discovered’ a number of roses and was responsible for re-introducing them back into cultivation, eg the ‘Woolverstone Church Rose’, ‘Sophie’s Perpetual’, ‘White Flight’, ‘Limekiln’ and ‘Hunslett Moss’. He did not believe in pruning or spraying, so his roses climbed and cascaded.

After Brooke’s death in 1988 the gardens were still important enough to star amongst twenty top-flight gardens in David Wheeler and Nick Meers’ Panorama of English Gardens (1991), but decline set in afterwards. The gardens are now in the capable hands of Robert and Clare Kempkens who are working to restore them. Many of the roses are still an impressive size and hopefully will be in full bloom and scent for our visit on the 14 June. Robert and Clare have identified large numbers of the roses, but some are still unknown or uncertain – if you are a rose expert, this is your chance to help! Labels and pens will be available on the day if you are able to help with identification

Photo – Robert Kempkens: Rosa ‘Königin von Dänemark’ (1826) or perhaps ‘May Queen’ (1898) – or perhaps you know better ….

The garden party this year will be held in the delightful grounds of Leaven Hall, a 16th-century farmhouse on the outskirts of Leavenheath. The house sits in 15 acres which comprise meadows, orchards and formal gardens of around 3.5 acres with lawns, a walled garden, bog garden, large ornamental pond, a cutting garden and a circular garden in front of the house.

The formal gardens were already established and had been tended by a long line of avid gardeners when Holly moved there in 2020, but with a young family the entire grounds were developed to suit the way their lifestyle, alongside a strong focus on wildlife and nature.

The walled garden has been redesigned to ease entertaining and children’s play, grassing over an island border and planting borders with a wide range of plants which, just as elsewhere in the garden, give an abundance of colour, shape and year-round interest, and a naturalistic feel within a formal structure. Holly ‘wanted the garden to feel natural, whimsical and cottagey, as if you were stepping into a Beatrix Potter book.’

They have introduced bee hives and planted more fruit trees alongside existing apples, pears and plums in the orchard. The meadow has been planted with wildflowers, grasses and over 300 native trees, many donated by the Sicon Foundation. We will have the use of the stable block which has been converted into a fully equipped venue for creative workshops and art exhibitions.

Photo: Patience Shone – Leaven Hall

This is a rare opportunity to visit the series of gardens (registered Grade II) that were laid out round Bawdsey Manor between 1885 and 1909 by Sir Cuthbert and Lady Quilter in a dramatic position overlooking the sea, which forms the south-eastern boundary.

We will end our guided visit with teas atop a series of four large, Italianate red-brick terraces on the south-west side of the house, with a chance to sit beneath loggias or in a wonderful octagonal Tea House with a copper-domed roof and Italian tiled interior. It should be possible to visit some of the downstairs rooms within the Manor.

Photo: Patience Shone – The Tea House, the Red Tower and the original seaside villa.

This is an opportunity to have a detailed guided historical and horticultural walking tour of the Abbey Gardens and Ruins led by Paul Marsh and Simon Hobson. The tour will encompass the history of the site, including the creation of Bury Botanical Gardens created by Nathaniel Shirley Harness Hodson in 1820; his plants and horticultural connections; the array of characters involved and the unusual entertainments and shows and provided to encourage visitors; and the evolution of the public park.

Paul, who many of you will remember from his excellent talk to the SGT, is Chair of the Friends of the Abbey Gardens and will be concentrating on the historical details and buildings whilst Simon, manager of the Abbey gardens, will be talking more about plants and gardening.

Photo: Aerial view of the Abbey Gardens. (Google Earth).