[79501] Calke Abbey : Walled Garden

Calke Abbey, Derbyshire.

The National Trust.

Walled Garden.

 

The flower garden, enlarged in the 1850s, remained almost untouched until the 1980s by which time, this area had become overgrown and derelict. The pattern of beds and location of paths were, however, still visible and these were reinstated and planted to suggest the colour and vibrancy that such forms of bedding took historically. The glasshouse, called the show house, originally displayed tender exotic plants but is now planted as a fernery as it is no longer heated.

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With peeling paintwork and overgrown courtyards, Calke Abbey tells the story of the dramatic decline of a country house estate. The house and stables are little restored, with many abandoned areas vividly portraying a period in the 20th century when numerous country houses did not survive to tell their story.

 

The site was an Augustinian priory from the 12th century until its dissolution by Henry VIII. The present building, named Calke Abbey in 1808, was never actually an abbey, but is a Baroque mansion built between 1701 and 1704.

 

The house was owned by the Harpur family for nearly 300 years until it was passed to the National Trust in 1985 in lieu of death duties. Today, the house is open to the public and many of its rooms are deliberately displayed in the state of decline in which the house was handed to the Trust.

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