| Let us divide our labours, thou where choice Leads thee, or where most needs, whether to wind The Woodbine around this arbour, or direct The clasping ivy where to climb, while I In yonder Spring of Roses intermixt With myrtle, find what to redress till Noon. Paradise Lost - John Milton (1608-1674) |
Finchcocks
Tucked away behind the 18th century Queen Anne style house that is home to the Finchcocks collection of keyboard instruments are four acres of beautiful gardens. These include double shrub borders some 200ft long, a woodland walk, stunning herbaceous borders, a cutting border for the provision of flowers for the House and a walled garden. Very little is known of the historical aspects of the gardens and what can be seen today is an evolution dating from the late 19th century, with the exception of the walled garden which was laid out in 1992, in the manner of an 18th century Pleasure Garden.
Within the walled garden is a spectacular circle of immaculately clipped Sorbus aria lutescens, the back of the House supports a magnificent Magnolia soulangeana and in the Autumn Garden can be seen fine specimens of Acer griseum and Cercis siliquastrum, but throughout the garden as a whole there are many rare and unusual plants to be found.
In 1999 the gardens were prizewinners in the Gardening for Wildlife Competition organised by Kent County Council. The gardens are more or less worked organically and as a result there is an abundance of wildlife to be seen throughout.
Finchcocks have their own pages at http://www.finchcocks.co.uk/