Felbrigg Gardens

Most National Trust properties are old, and there are complicated decisions to be made about what to restore them to: Medieval, Tudor, Jacobean, Georgian, Regency, Victorian, Edwardian, whatever. It's complicated. Very. The gardens are similar: Renaissance, Italianate, Dutch, Georgian, Victorian...? Often, a garden design, paintings, or even photographs will have survived to guide decisions about how the gardens should be "restored." At Felbrigg no such designs or such exist, just the forest and the large walled garden itself, and the dovecote; and so the head gardener has had free rein to do whatever (s)he thinks appropriate. The end result, we thought, was glorious, the best walled garden we have seen. Olive trees? Flax? In England? we asked. Why? Because we can, was the answer.

The garden tour began with the orangerie, which housed a collection of huge
old camellias; not an orange in sight

But it did contain this beautiful old model of the house, as it once was

 

In the forest area, what we thought was a "fairy ring" of sequoias, similar to
what we've seen in northern CA

Our guide beside an ancient twisted sweet chestnut; sweet chestnuts do the twist
when they get really old; anyhow, the guide was superb, knowledgeable not only
about the plants but where they came from and when and why; a retired geographer

The giant sweet chestnut

Now in the large walled garden, which must be a gardeners' paradise

For reasons lost on me, they let the pigeons and doves and chickens roam free
in the gardens

Lonely new monkey puzzle

Felbrigg's dovecote, with accommodations for nearly 1000 birds

More walled garden

In a greenhouse

Fowl in the walled garden; reminded me of Kauai

Bottle brush

Fuchsias everywhere

And flax...stupendous garden!

Felbrigg House

The lands on which Felbrigg Hall stands had been in the Wyndham family for centuries, although the present house is part Jacobean and part Georgian. I think we're beginning to get Georgian'ed-out; we enjoyed the gardens rather more than the house, partly because of an excellent guide, and partly because of the free rein the gardener has enjoyed at Felbrigg. More of that in the next post.

Felbrigg, the Jacobean bit, early 17th

The Georgian bit; as you can see, the Jacobean bit must have been terribly
confining, just one room deep

In the old house, nice furnishings, etc., all over...this the home of country squires,
not lords and ladies

One of two partner desks; although it was unclear who the partner might have
been

The most interesting rooms were the library and book room, crammed with
volumes of Gibbon, Smith, Johnson, Boswell, the whole 18th century; it turns
out one of the later squires wrote the definitive biography of Walpole; I was
impressed, until I discovered it was Horace Walpole, not Robert Walpole, widely
regarded at the first Prime Minister; oh well; anyhow, here, in the library, is the
"reading machine," an adjustable reclining chair with attached book stand, etc.;
1850 

Dining

In the Chinese room

Kitchen

No more "You rang, sir?"

Victorian curiosities cabinets

Ditto

The little parish church on the grounds

Some nice, very old carvings

North Sea Coast Near Salthouse

Vicki had found an overnight camping prospect on National Trust property near Salthouse, on the beach, in a disused car park...disused because, a few years before, a huge storm had unloaded zillions of tons of pebbles, obliterating the beach and the car park. As it turned out, signage prohibited an overnight stay, but it was a sight in any event.

Once a car park, the lumber fencing here would have been 2-3 feet above ground

Shingle as far as you can see, 20 feet or so above the water

The hamlet of Salthouse

A little sand beach left...must have been quite a storm surge

Oxburgh Gardens

The gardens at Oxburgh are not extensive, but they are very well done, and we had another great garden tour before venturing into the hall.

Best border we've seen in a while

Ancients in the fields beyond the walls

Trimming the verge, the old-fashioned way

We love artichokes, in whatever form, and have seen them growing in fields
from near Monterey to all over Italy...but have never seen them bloom...

Till now

Strawberry tree

Forgot the name of this one, but, when ready, the pods explode, scattering seeds
all over; can be quite a surprise if sitting underneath

In the kitchen garden; the original builder of Oxburgh put up a tower on the
outer wall whenever a new heir was born

Hydrangea...not the "mop-head" variety, our guide said

In the orchard; note towers

Esplanaded pears

And finally small formal garden...