Our October visit was to The Italian Garden at Great Ambrook, found just a few miles from Ipplepen down a tangle of tiny lanes. It was commissioned in 1909 by Arthur Smith Graham and designed by an architect friend to be separate from the house of Great Ambrook which he already owned. The garden of 4 acres was surrounded by 15-foot walls and planned as a private space for Graham to entertain his friends. After Graham’s death in 1928, the house changed hands a number of times and eventually fell into neglect in the 1960s. With the help of a team of volunteers, the current owners began the long job of clearing what was now mostly overgrown woodland to reveal the structure of the garden with its swimming pool, tennis court, summerhouse, pergola and stone paths. They discovered a deep, sunken rock garden with many ferns in an old quarry with a huge drystone retaining wall which was not even visible before restoration. Many tall palm trees still stand, Virginia creeper falls romantically over the remains of the summerhouse and the garden has a unique atmosphere and a feeling of faded beauty. We had a guided tour with a very knowledgeable volunteer who gave us a comprehensive overview of The
Italian Garden both past and present.
Lorraine