and1939.Churchill’sKenthome,Chartwell,
hadone(featuringbrickslaidbythePMhimself )
thatsuppliedvirtuallyalltheproduceneeded
tokeepthefamilyfedduringtheSecondWorld
War.It wasalsocommonforeverywhere– from
schoolstohospitalstofactoriesandmillsto
prisons,monasteriesandconvents– tohave
theirownwalledkitchengarden.WHYWALLS?
Theircob,stoneorbrick-builtenclosuresserved
a numberofpurposes,includingkeepingout
pestssuchasdeerandrabbits.Thewallsnotonly
preventedwinddamagetoplantsbutcreateda
microclimate,enablingtendercropstobe
grown.Againsta wallthetemperaturecanreach
asmanyasfivedegreesCelsiushigherthan
elsewhere.Everyagebroughtnewinnovations:
theElizabethaneraincludedhotbeds(afar
earlierArabinvention),createdwithwarmth-
generatingmanure,forfruitssuchasmelons.
Bythe18thcentury,a newfashionfor
naturalisticgardendesignsmeantthatwalledPick of the bunch
Walled gardens to visit
Barley Wood Walled Garden,
Somerset. Feast on fruit and veg
organically grown and served up
at restaurant The Ethicurean, in
a former glasshouse
(walledgarden.co.uk).
Calke Abbey, Derbyshire. Once
had such a good yield that
surplus produce was taken to
market (nationaltrust.org.uk).
Croome Court, Worcestershire.
Hard hat on, walk along the 35
metre-long tunnel, once part of
the glasshouse heating system
(nationaltrust.org.uk).
The Lost Gardens of Heligan,
Cornwall. More than 300
varieties of fruit, vegetable and
herbs are cultivated here, many
of which are heritage strains
(heligan.com).
Mottisfont, Hampshire. As
well as holding the National
Collection of old-fashioned
roses, this property features a
newly created walled kitchen
garden (nationaltrust.org.uk).
Osborne House, Isle of Wight.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
are said to have taught their
children how to grow vegetables
in the walled garden (english-
heritage.org.uk).
Tatton Park, Cheshire. Ta k e
away the ultimate souvenir from
these restored gardens: produce
grown on site and available to
buy (tattonpark.org.uk).
West Dean, West Sussex.
Jim Buckland and Sarah Wain
have created a beautiful
contemporary take on the
Victorian walled gardens
(westdean.org.uk).
gardens were often placed away from the house
to make for uninterrupted sweeping views. To
prevent frost damage to tender fruit including
peaches, figs and grapes, fires were lit at the base
of hollow walls (tended day and night by young
gardeners who lived in the bothies on site). Many
had lean-to glasshouses and pine-pits where
pineapples were raised in heat generated from
the fermenting bark of oak (waste from the
tanning industry). ‘The walls seemed countless
in number, endless in length; a village of hot-
houses seemed to arise among them, and a whole
parish to be at work within the enclosure,’ wrote
Jane Austen at the end of the 1700s, describing
Catherine Morland on a tour of General Tilney’s
kitchen garden in Northanger Abbey. ‘There
were great vexations, however, attending such a
garden as his. The utmost care could not always
secure the most valuable fruits. The pinery had
yielded only one hundred in the last year.’ Such
was the difficultly of growing pineapples that
they became a status symbol – and soon appeared
in architectural details such as walls and gates,
and even country houses themselves, such as
The Pineapple, a folly-cum-summerhouse built
for the Earl of Dunmore in 1761, which looks out
onto the walled garden of his estate near Stirling
(now owned by the National Trust for Scotland).
By the 19th century, the invention of the boiler
meant that structures including hothouses,“People like the
feeling... of enclosure,
safety, hiddenness,
shelter and calm”PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY; ENGLIH HERITAGE; MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY