(Photo: Sarah Jackson)
More photos
Open:
Saturday 11:00–17:00
Description:
Built in the 17th century, Ham House is one of the most outstanding surviving Stuart houses in the country. The formal gardens are gradually being restored to their original 17th-century splendour.
A 1671 plan by Slezer and Wyck, displayed in the Library Closet, shows garden designs used as the basis of the restoration project, started in 1975.
On the eastern side of the house, the much-photographed Cherry Garden has geometric lavender parterres flanked by two berceaux (vaulted trellises) of pleached hornbeam and a statue of Bacchus at the centre.
The South Terrace border has been replanted in formal 17th-century style. Cones of yew alternate with clipped flowering shrubs, including hibiscus and pomegranate. Three rows of herbaceous planting complete the effect.
Below the terrace eight vast grass plats, surrounded by gravel walks, complement the formality of the space. Beyond them the Wilderness, a formal maze-like planting of hornbeam hedges, conceals compartments containing four circular summerhouses.
The Kitchen Garden, originally twice its current length, still produces many of the vegetables used in the café, sited in one of the first purpose-built orangeries in England. At the south end is an avenue of Quercus ilex, the evergreen oak.
Activities:
Free family garden-tracker packs. Self-service toy box in Orangery Garden. Café serving delicious home-cooked menus using produce from the kitchen garden.
Entrance:
Ham Street
Nearest postcode: TW10 7RS
Sells tickets.
Bus:
371 to Ham Street then 800m walk
Station:
Richmond
Car Parking:
Free council-owned car park 400m away.
Dogs:
Working assistance dogs only
Conditions:
Visit to house not included in event.
Further information:
Nearby Gardens (click on names for details):
Last updated: 26/05/2010