HOUSE AND ESTATE
THE ESTATE
The gardens
Library or Lower Terrace
The Library Terrace was built between 1896 and 1910 (probably in 1904-05) by Montagu Knight (1844-1914). The terrace was actually an Arts & Crafts addition and almost certainly influenced by Edwin Lutyens. The original planting was of a typically rich, Edwardian character with herbaceous plants, flowering shrubs and scented plants such as lavender. The restored beds have been planted, with the help of volunteers, in the style of Gertrude Jekyll, in keeping with the period, and with plants kindly donated by Rosamund Wallinger from the beautifully restored Jekyll garden at the Manor House in Upton Grey. In order to reduce the incongruity of an Edwardian terrace in the corner of an English Landscape garden, planting has been deliberately kept low key.
The terrace is enclosed by a wide, double skinned, malmstone retaining wall with rubble infill and tile coping. Within the terrace, supporting the three levels, are three low retaining walls of similar construction, but with flat terracotta tile copings. The principal Lutyens details are the step risers made from old tiles and the two circular millstones, with tile insets in the centre and around the outside, at the top and bottom of the terrace.
