The county of Kent is arguably most famous for its white cliffs and the string of seaside towns - Whitstable, Margate, Broadstairs and Deal - that over the last decade have undergone a gradual rejuvenation. Yet look to the interior of the county and you’ll find the undulating landscape of the Kent Downs, the woodland of High Weald and more historic houses and gardens per capita than almost anywhere else in the country.
The story goes that Henry VIII crowned Kent the ‘Garden of England’ after effectively turning it into his court larder. Its close proximity to France and usefulness as a defensive buffer meant the county had more castles than any other, each with vast kitchens that needed filling. Orchards were planted and the King’s personal favourite, the cherry, helped the county's 'fruit belt' to develop.
Kent still produces large quantities of fruit and vegetables, but recently it has been moving into quite a different kind of agriculture - vineyards and wine. Protected, south-facing and with chalky soils, the terroir in Kent is not dissimilar to the Champagne region of France. No wonder then that this is the epicentre for English sparkling wine production. One of its biggest vineyards, Chapel Down, supplies some of London’s leading addresses, including 10 Downing Street and the Donmar.
Kent's kitchen gardens, lush vineyards and a rolling landscape all make it well worth a visit, but what would the Garden of England be without flowers? Fortunately Kent is well supplied with flower gardens as well–in fact it has an impressive 180 gardens to explore. These are five of the best.
Goodnestone Park
Said to be the inspiration behind Pride and Prejudice (after Jane Austen's brother married into the family), Goodnestone is a house worthy of a Darcy. The estate has been in the same family since 1704, so as well as holding a rich history, the garden has evolved with each generation. Visitors are drawn to the ancient walled garden with its rambling roses, but you should also make time for a walk through the twentieth-century arboretum and the most recent addition, the gravel garden. There’s also a lovely nursery where you can pick up plants propagated in the gardens. goodnestoneparkgardens.co.uk
Chartwell
Royal William, Ice Cream, Pink Parfait, Beryl Bach, Champagne Moment, Savoy Hotel and Blessings–these just some of the names that grace the roses at Chartwell, ancestral home of Winston Churchill. The garden is quintessentially English. Perched on a hill, it boasts views out over the High Weald and down to the lakes and ponds, where you might just spot the black swans given to Churchill in the 1920s by Sir Philip Sassoon. Closer to the house is Lady Clementine’s prized Rose Garden, and the scented Golden Rose Avenue planted by the Churchill children as a gift to their parents on their golden wedding anniversary. Amongst the tangle of varieties there is also the yellow ‘Peace’ rose cultivated in France during World War II. nationaltrust.org.uk/chartwell
Prospect Cottage at Dungeness
A pitch-black fisherman’s cottage on a shingle beach overlooked by a nuclear power station seems an unlikely spot for a garden. And yet it was here that film-maker Derek Jarman lived, slowly creating the ‘paradise’ he documented in his diary Modern Nature, after he was diagnosed with HIV at the beginning of the 1990s. Don’t expect a garden wall or picket fence here; the garden is directly situated on the wilderness of Dungeness Beach. It's a deeply personal and intimate garden, but also inextricably bound up with nature and the expanse of the sky, sea, and shingle beyond. Dungeness Rd, Romney Marsh TN29 9NE
Sissinghurst Castle gardens
‘Cram, cram, cram, every chink and cranny.’ This was Vita Sackville-West’s approach to planting. When she and husband Harold Nicholson bought Sissinghurst Castle in 1930 they set to work designing a garden following Gertrude Jekyll’s philosophy. It has become a world-renowned example of the Arts & Crafts style, made up of individual 'rooms' and clusters of colour. Take a walk through the mowed paths in the orchard, explore the Moat Walk with its bank of brilliant yellow azaleas, and take in the iconic White Garden with its tall Japanese anemones, delicate Queen Anne’s lace and silvery weeping pear. nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden
The Salutation Garden
In Sandwich, The Salutation pulls in a steady stream of visitors to its first-rate restaurant and boutique hotel. Many people don’t realise the magnificent gardens tucked behind are worth visiting in their own right. Designed by Sir Edward Lutyens in the Arts and Crafts style the garden is divided into symmetrical rooms rather like those at Sissinghurst, albeit on a smaller scale and with far fewer visitors. The garden has a particularly spectacular selection of dahlias – visit late in the summer to see them as they reach their peak in September. the-salutation.com/gardens/
