The entrance to the walled garden is located almost at the bottom of the driveway slope, not far from the River Lovecombe which marks the boundary of the property with our next-door neighbours. Visitors who know the garden well will notice that the overbearingly gigantic conifer hedge has recently been removed. This was due to concerns about health and safety issues with its maintenance and the potential damage to the ancient walls of The Walled Garden that it bordered. To the right of the present doorway to The Bottom Terrace for the first time in many years, one can now see what we believe is its original entrance – bricked up and shifted to the left by Lionel Fortescue to allow his long straight grass path to have borders on either side.
Brooding over this area is the a medieval tower, the last remains of a once much larger three-storied building. Stone built with a slate roof, it had a oak-panelled parlour on the ground floor, a hall, buttery, beerhouse and cellar. On the first floor were four bedrooms and a study with fir timbered floor and ceilings; above were three more bedrooms and another room, again fir timbered. Today the tower acts as a means of moving between The Bottom Terrace and Tennis Court Lawn as well as affording fantastic view of the walled garden itself from its uppermost level.
Across from the tower is a thatched barn which, in medieval times served as kitchen to the main house – separated due to the risk of fire.
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Next: The Bottom Terrace










