"Dreamy, stately, solemn, dear, delightful, incomparable Hestercombe. Nature and art have but agreed to act in unison towards the perfection of its beauty...A very paradise of delights. " (Thomas Hugo, 1872)
Lose yourself in forty acres of walks, streams, temples, vivid colours, formal terraces, woodlands, lakes, cascades and views that take your breath away.
A unique combination of three period gardens: the Georgian landscape, Victorian terrace and the Edwardian formal garden. All once abandoned and now being lovingly restored.
Soldier and artist, Coplestone Warre Bampfylde, renowned as having "the finest taste for laying out ground of any man in England", created the landscape garden in the 1750s.
Bampfylde's vision was complemented with the addition of a Victorian terrace and shrubbery in the 1870s and was followed by the creation, between 1904 and 1908, of the stunning Edwardian gardens designed by Sir Edward Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll.
The Hestercombe estate is situated on the southern slopes of the Quantock Hills near Taunton in Somerset with extensive views over the Vale of Taunton to the Blackdown Hills and beyond. For five centuries it belonged to one family, the Warres.
Hestercombe Gardens
In 1873 it was acquired by the 1st Viscount Portman and it remained in the Portman family until 1944. Since October 2003 the historic landscape and gardens extending to over 100 acres has been managed by the Hestercombe Gardens Trust, a charity set up to restore and preserve this extraordinarily important Grade 1 Listed site. The house is currently the administrative and communications headquarters of the Somerset Fire Brigade.
Hestercombe provides a unique combination of three period gardens: Georgian Landscape, created between 1750-1791 by Coplestone Warre Bampfylde; Victorian Terrace, created between 1873-78 and after much neglect restored in 1998; and formal Edwardian garden. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and planted by Gertrude Jekyll this garden was begun in 1904 and completed by 1908.
Lose yourself in forty acres of
woodland walks, cascades and temples,
vivid colours, formal terraces and
views that take your breath away.
A unique combination
of three
period gardens: the Georgian landscape,
Victorian terrace and formal Edwardian garden.
All once abandoned,
now being faithfully restored to
their former glory.
Each garden has its own unique qualities
of tranquillity, wonder and inspiration;
all combine to leave the visitor
refreshed in body and soul.
THE HESTERCOMBE STORY
Soldier and artist, Coplestone Warre Bampfylde,
renowned as having "the finest taste for laying out
ground of any man in England", created the
landscape garden in the 1750s.
Bampfylde's vision was complemented by the
addition of a Victorian terrace and shrubbery and
the world-famous Edwardian gardens designed by
Sir Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll.
Hestercombe continues to stimulate the imagination.
The vision and dedication of the team responsible for
the
ongoing restoration of the gardens, aided by a major Heritag
Lottery Fund grant, have ensured Hestercombe is without
doubt one of Britain's premier gardens sites. www.hestercombegardens.com
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