Guarding the path to the Annexe Terrace are specimens of Acer palmatum ‘Corallinum’ of note particularly in spring for their startling pink young foliage which contrasts strikingly with blue Rhododendron augustinii on the terrace below.

On the left is a large specimen of the slightly tender but deliciously fragrant Rhododendron ‘Lady Alice Fitzwilliam’ that Lionel Fortescue used as a parent of his yellow-flowered hybrid, R. ‘Nancy Fortescue’. Just along from this are two unusual evergreens Pseudowintera colorata, with striking pink leaf undersides, and behind, Lomatia feruginea, beloved of flower arrangers for its finely divided foliage.

An informal Camellia hedge runs almost the length of this terrace on the opposite side of the path, and you shortly come to a large ‘moon-gate’ which offers a fine view to The Tennis Court Lawn and Tower.

The timber annexe to The Garden House was built, we think, at the end of the 19th century and was once the local Sunday school, hence the ecclesiastical windows. In more recent years it has been an artist’s studio and currently serves as the accommodation for one of our horticultural students. At the far end of the terrace are fine examples of Magnolia x loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ and, above it, an unusual upright form of M. salicifolia, both a spectacle in Spring. Just beyond these, to the left, steps climb towards The Front Lawns and if you are visiting in May or early June, keep an eye upwards for the gorgeous lantern-flowered Magnolia sieboldii subsp. sinensis.

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