Synopsis
Created by the Spencer family during the second half of the twentieth century, and bequeathed to the gardeners' benevolent charity Perennial in 1994, it is a garden of immense style and craftsmanship, widely recognised as one of the most innovative small gardens of the period. The garden is divided by yew and beech hedges into a series of smaller gardens, each with its own theme and style. From the formality of the Herb Garden, with its topiary to the Dell with its half-hidden pathways and stream, every area has an intimacy and charm of its own. Traditional materials are used with extraordinary creativity and invention. From pretty paths to pergolas, detailing throughout is exquisite. Evergreens, clipped into strong architectural shapes are used to spectacular effect throughout the garden, the central path, crisscrossed with granite setts, is fringed with the black tufts of Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens'. In winter snowdrops and aconites flowers, conifers stand out and marbled cyclamen carpet the ground. In recent years the garden has been extended next door where a sand garden gives the opportunity to grow Mediterranean plants including olives and agaves, protected from West Yorkshire's rain by a protective cover.
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