Forty-four (44) of The Friends arrived at Chenies Manor House with a drizzle coming steadily down. Quite a few of the group patiently queued up to come through the main gates and drove around the Elizabethan house to find the parking area – a spectacular way to see the house and part of the garden.
The welcome
Charles Macleod Matthews welcomed the Friends on the lawn in front of the house and explained his family’s history at the house – they had lived there since the 1950’s. The Friends broke into two groups, one being guided around the house where they learned about its history while the other went round the garden with Mary, the head gardener, before reversing the tours.
The Friends meeting Charles Macleod Matthews
The garden
The rain didn’t dampen people’s enthusiasm to see the garden which at this time of year was filled with herbaceous plants and, in particular, some spectacular dahlias. The garden is not large, being only just over two acres, but it had been re-designed in the Elizabethan manner by Elizabeth Macleod Matthews after she arrived in the 1950’s.
Before she started on the garden, Elizabeth spent some time visiting various gardens around the country and in particular Sissinghurst and Hampton Court Palace.
One particular ‘room’ has been designed to look like a Persian carpet with a small central pond with a sculpture surrounded by bull-rushes.
In the old well house, the group found many artifacts of gardening in days gone by as well as a collection of clay pipes which had been found in the garden over the years.
A 1,000 year-old oak
In the topiary garden, where there is a lovely white filigree gazebo, now used for civil wedding ceremonies, there was also a 1,000 year old oak tree around which Queen Elizabeth I was reputed to have walked and to have sat under, and where she was supposed to have lost an earring which has never been found.
In the house there were two beautiful vases turned from a limb of this oak in 2007 – a wonderful addition to the house from the 21st century. The Friends were able to enjoy all this on our own during the morning before the house and gardens were opened to the public in the afternoon.
Written by Brenda Tong, Events Co-ordinator for The Friends of The Savill Garden
