Hinton Ampner

Our next stop was going to be Winchester Cathedral, but, finding no lay-by to pull into for lunch, we stopped at Hinton Ampner, another National Trust home and garden we'd not heard of, and followed the crowds from the over-flow carpark to the house. The house was built in the latter 20th century, replacing the Georgian original that had burned.

Wisteria wall; Vicki really likes wisterias

Cruel and unusual punishment for a magnolia

Front of the house; the rhodos are coming on now

Tiny roses

Trained on another wall

Chandelier in main drawing room

Many of the great houses took in children from London and
other cities during WWII, sometimes whole schools; this is
from a reunion of a girls' school that resided at Hinton Ampner
in those years

Drawing room; not Georgian

View of the grounds from the drawing room

Library

Dining room

Champagne trolley

Master bath

Master bedroom

Beautifully delicate quilting, done by the three sisters of the
owner; none had an heir, so the house came to the National Trust

Roof repairs have required that many of the furnishings be put
in storage for the time being

Plenty remains on view, however

In the side gardens

Thus, tulips still going strong

Ancient parish church in the background

The door of which is Saxon

Out behind the house, above the formidable ha-ha

The grounds

Largest cattle grate yet

Back of house

Woolbeding 2

Continuing our visit to Woolbeding Gardens, near Midhurst...

Hermit's Hut; we thought it was a Gothic tiki hut

Now in the woodland walk, interesting borders all around

In the small pond

Major water feature

Looking back to the Chinese bridge

In the bird hide

Anti-squirrel housing

Looking back across the meadow

First view of an impressive oriental plane tree

In the orchid house

Up close with a conifer

Closer up with the plane tree

Ditto

Now in the hornbeam walk, a pleached tunnel we very much
liked

Thus

Impossible to say where one tree begins and another ends

Terrace garden; last stop on our tour of a most interesting garden

PS...a favorite thing omitted: a rootery, over near
the bird hide

Woolbeding 1

People we talked with at Petworth and in Midhurst said, well, if you're here to see gardens, then you must see Woolbeding Gardens. Fortunately, Woolbeding is just a mile out of Midhurst, and a shuttle carries you from the Grange carpark directly to the gate. Woolbeding was given to the National Trust in 1957. In 1972, it was leased to Simon Sainsbury (of supermarket fame), and he and his partner Stewart Grimshaw are chiefly responsible for the renovation of the house and for the gardens themselves. Woolbeding is a contemporary gardener's garden, I would say, full of interesting, sometimes spectacular specimens, plant "rooms," water features, and a delightful woodland walk. Also great variety, many inviting structures, and more.

The William Pye fountain, a colossal champagne glass...

The house; not open to the public

Wisteria wall

Garden greenhouse

Belgian fence on a wall (?)

Pool and orangery

Fruit garden; raspberries

There's Mr. Grimshaw now; Mr. Sainbury passed away a few
years ago

Underneath the Pye Fountain, a small group of visitors hears
the introductory talk

Until a decade or so ago, Britain's largest tulip tree--120 feet--
stood here, until taken down by high winds; the temple
memorializes it

Across the croquet lawn, a 90 foot cedar stands for comparison

Back side of the house

Inside the All Hallows church on the grounds

Parts of which--the beams and their carved supports--are Saxon

Wall walk

Another old wall, with beautiful little inset flowers

Flowery lawn

Another cedar

We still haven't figured out what woolbeding is but figure it must
have something to do with sheep

A ruined abbey on the premises...well, the window is from
Scotland but the rest is from the local quarry