Emmetts Garden is an
Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
estate located at
Ide Hill
Ide Hill is a village within the civil parish of Sundridge with Ide Hill, in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It stands on one of the highest points of the Greensand Ridge about three miles south-west of Sevenoaks. Its name first appear ...
, near
Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...
in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, UK. It is now owned by the
(National Trust).
History
Emmetts Garden was open farmland until 1860 when the present house was built. The name 'emmett' is a local word for
ant
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...
and refers to the giant anthills that covered the area until the 1950s. The house and land was purchased in 1890 by Frederic Lubbock, a banker and passionate
plantsman
A plantsman is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable gardener (amateur or professional), nurseryman or nurserywoman. "Plantsman" can refer to a male or female person, though the terms plantswoman, or even plantsperson, are sometimes used. The word is ...
. Lubbock's elder brother was
John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury
John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, 4th Baronet, (30 April 183428 May 1913), known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet from 1865 until 1900, was an English banker, Liberal politician, philanthropist, scientist and polymath. Lubbock worked in his fam ...
, a world expert on ants, which may have influenced his decision to purchase the property.
The gardens were initially laid out between 1893 and 1895 under the influence of Lubbock's friend
William Robinson in the fashionable Edwardian style popularised by
Gertrude Jekyll
Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...
.
[ The shrub garden was added later in 1900–1908.
After Lubbock's death (1927), the estate was acquired by an American geologist ]Charles Watson Boise
Charles Watson Boise (November 9, 1884 – November 15, 1964) was an American-born naturalised British mining engineer.
Early life
Born in Lakota, North Dakota on November 9, 1884, his family soon moved to Hope where he spent his formative years. ...
. He made various alterations to both house and garden but retained the original character of the gardens.
In 1964 Charles Boise bequeathed Emmetts to the National Trust. Since then the trust has sought to maintain the botanical diversity of the garden developed by the two men.
Many of the old trees and shrubs planted by Lubbock were brought down in the Great Storm of 1987. Following the storm, which had the benefit of bringing more light to the gardens, the National Trust has undertaken a sympathetic replanting programme.
Description
The garden, which covers an area of about six acres (approximately 2.5 hectares), occupies a commanding site on a sandstone ridge, overlooking the Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...
. One of the highest points in Kent, it offers expansive views towards the North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and ...
.[
It is mainly planted with trees and shrubs in the form of an ]arboretum
An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...
; a magnificent Giant Sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum
''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (giant sequoia; also known as giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, California big tree, Wellingtonia or simply big treea nickname also used by John Muir) is the sole living species in the genus ''Sequoiade ...
'') fortunately survived the Great Storm. There is also a rose garden located next to the Victorian house to which the gardens once belonged. The house is not open to the public.
See also
* List of tourist attractions in Kent
A list of tourist attractions in the English county of Kent.
Castles, houses and historical buildings
*Canterbury Cathedral
*Chartwell (principal adult home of Winston Churchill)
* Chiddingstone Castle
*Deal Castle
*Dover Castle
*The ...
References
{{reflist
External links
National Trust Emmetts Garden page
National Trust properties in Kent
Gardens in Kent