A visit to East Lambrook Manor Garden

After years of repeatedly reading about East Lambrook Manor in Margery Fish’s classic book ‘We Made a Garden’ [book review], I discovered late in 2023 that the house and garden were to be sold. While the garden is Grade 1 listed and therefore protected to some extent, it may not have to be open to the public, so I determined to visit as soon as I possibly could. The garden is not open over the winter – its season begins with the snowdrop festival in February – so I waited nervously to see if it would re-open in 2024. It did, so plans were hatched as there was now a caveat on the East Lambrook Manor website that opening arrangements could change if it is sold.

On a sunny morning in early April we set off to walk from South Petherton, where we were staying, to East Lambrook. It was a lovely walk of just under two miles, leading us into a small village with some very nice front gardens… and we turned into a driveway with the manor house on our left, the Malthouse ahead and a beautiful tree with a host of snakeshead fritillaries (Fritillaria meleagris) below. This was The Barton – the former farmyard.

We were the first visitors and had the garden to ourselves for some time. Other visitors (one a prospective buyer!) arrived later, including two former garden staff ‘from Mrs Fish’s time’ to whom we were introduced and who had interesting tales to tell. In a way, we were between peaks: the snowdrops for which the garden is known were over, but it had not yet reached its late spring glory.

The Silver Garden, The Ditch, The Strip, The Barton, the Terraces – all the areas with which I felt so familiar were laid out before me. The garden is just 1.5 acres but is packed with interest. It still feels on a domestic scale, though of course the number of ‘domestic scale’ areas is rather more than most of us could hope for!

We began by walking through the beautiful Terrace Garden and on to the Silver Garden (as well as being full of silvery and variegated plants, the manor house is situated on Silver Street). The Top Lawn felt secluded and pretty, and then we headed down the path to The Lido and The Ditch – damper areas that were full of my favourite shade-tolerant and moisture-loving plants.

There was a sense that these areas were yet to come into their prime, but Podophyllum ‘Spotty Dotty’, Bergenia, Helleborus and Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum x hybridum) mixed with the last of the daffodils (Narcissus), primroses (Primula), dog’s tooth violets (Erythronium) and an abundance of ferns for a beautiful green scene in The Lido.

The Lido is one end of The Ditch, part of which had originally bordered the garden, separating it from an orchard which Margery and Walter bought at a later date – some of the trees still exist, though most of the area is now the nursery plant sales area. The Ditch continues the ‘damp treasures’ theme.

The Woodland (‘Wooded Helleborus and Snowdrop Garden’) and the Green Garden had both deteriorated after Mrs Fish’s death in 1969, with many of the trees reaching the end of their natural life or succumbing to honey fungus, but it was restored in the early 2000s and is now exquisite.

After a good look around the nursery, some purchases, then tea and cake in the tearoom, we walked around the whole garden again, and again – so many different and interesting plants, so much more to see if you just walked the opposite way along a path. It is a small garden, no doubt about it, but repays close attention and for a plant-lover is a national treasure.

Ali H