Map reading our way along the twisty lanes of the East Sussex-Kent border, we
crane to see a B&B sign. King John’s Lodge, a property we booked based
on reviews of its garden, announces itself like any other private residence
in this area of outstanding natural beauty, with a discreet nameplate. We
swing in and are momentarily taken aback by the grandness of the house, a
part-medieval, part-Jacobean manor, in which King John II of France was
supposedly held hostage after the Battle of Poitiers.
We let ourselves in through the surprisingly small oak door and peer into a
long room, with a kitchen at one end. There we’re greeted by a reassuringly
domestic scene: the owner, Richard Cunningham, deep in an armchair, feeding
his baby grandchild. A friend of his shows us to our bedroom — a small,
twin-bedded room in the medieval part of the house with a low ceiling,
mullioned windows and original beams — and suggests that we might like to
take a walk round the garden in the evening sun.
We step out through the back door and on to the lawn where a toddler is
chasing a pair of ducks. The view is glorious: there’s not another house or
a road in sight, just the rolling greenness of the South Downs.
Richard soon joins us, his energetic pointer at his side. He wants to make
sure that we don’t miss the “secret garden”. He explains that the eight-
acre grounds, sloping away from the house, were the reason he and his wife
Gill bought the house in 1987. At that time, both house and garden were
derelict, with brambles pushing up through the floor of the largest drawing
room, which was added on by the Edwardian owner to enable him to throw
parties (and get husbands, no doubt) for his four unmarried daughters.
While the Cunninghams were restoring beams, opening up inglenook fireplaces
and shoring up bay windows, they had a perpetual bonfire going in the garden
to deal with the aftermath of the great storm of 1987, which felled about 60
trees. In a way, the storm was a blessing in disguise since it opened up the
garden, allowing Richard to do what he loves most: create views.
“I put myself in charge of vistas,” he explains, “and Gill’s job was the
planting.” The result is a garden of delights that looks as if it has been
there for decades. The lower part is sweeping parkland, where the grass is
trimmed by a flock of sheep.
The rest is a series of different areas, entered by gates, arches in hedges
and winding paths. There are magnificent weeping trees perfect for games of
hide-and-seek; rose-swagged arbours and elegant benches positioned to
provide the best views; a Victorian sports pavilion; a lily pond that
separates the grazing sheep from the lawn; a sunken garden, filled with
Mediterranean plants, sheltering a heated swimming pool that guests can use;
a meandering woodland area full of native plants; and Richard’s secret
garden, the dell where he and Gill repaired the original pond with ballasted
sandbags and ringed it with pink and white drumstick primulas.
Richard’s tales of the lodge have been so engrossing that we have not got the
whole way round the garden by supper time. So next morning, after a
delicious breakfast in the Jacobean dining room, where the dented stone of
the fireplace is testament to many years of knife and sword sharpening, I
resume my tour, leaving my husband to read the papers on the terrace.
That’s what is so special about B&Bs run by gardeners — you get a
chance to visit and revisit the garden (in some you’re even welcome to stay
all day) and owners are more than happy to share their plant knowledge and
to suggest other must-see gardens near by.
Richard and I are joined by Harry, the Cunninghams’ son, who has been
propagating plants from the garden for the past two years and this spring
opened his first nursery in the converted chicken sheds. Harry identifies
various stunning plants in Gill’s “white garden” and I jot these down, along
with other lovely planting combinations in the woodland part. Luckily, I
have already spotted several of the plants in the nursery so our very
reasonable overnight expenditure has become a little less reasonable by the
time I return to the house.
King John’s Lodge, Sheepstreet Lane, Etchingham, East Sussex (01580
819232, www.kingjohnslodge.co.uk). B&B from £40pp.
B&Bs with gardens
There is plenty of planting inspiration at these B&Bs. All have three
bedrooms and offer dinner on request.
Devon: Kingston House, Staverton, Totnes (01803 762235,
www.kingston-estate.co.uk). B&B from £160 a room; pleached limes,
mulberry trees, box parterre.
Norfolk: Sallowfield Cottage, Wattlefield (01953 605086). B&B
from £50 a room. Soft herbaceous planting and a beautiful pond surrounded by
specimen trees.
Shropshire: Acton Pigot, Acton Burnell (01694 731209
www.actonpigot.co.uk). B&B from £25pp. Croquet on the front lawn, mixed
borders, a wood and a walled garden with a swimming pool.
Wiltshire: Ridleys Cheer, Mountain Bower, Chippenham (01225
891204). B&B from £40pp; 120 species of shrubs and roses, potager,
arboretum and wildflower meadow.
Yorkshire: Old Vicarage, Darley (01423 780526,
www.theoldvicaragedarley.co.uk). B&B from £30pp. Cottage- garden beds,
pergolas with clematis and roses, a water garden that attracts wildlife.
Scotland: Rossie, Forgandenny, Perthshire (01738 812265). B&B
from £40pp. Trails through these garden “rooms” and into the woodland are
filled with colour from bulbs, shrubs and trees.
Further reading: Alastair Sawday’s Special Places to Stay:
Bed & Breakfast for Garden Lovers (£11.24, www.sawdays.co.uk).
