Gravetye back from the brink
9 July 2010
The historic garden at Gravetye Manor in West Sussex, developed by William Robinson, pioneer of the naturalistic garden movement in the 19th century, is to be restored to its former beauty after a last-minute rescue from bankruptcy.
The country house hotel at Gravetye, formerly Robinson's home, had gone into receivership at the end of last year after a long downward spiral during which the gardens were allowed to deteriorate. However a former customer stepped in to buy the hotel and its 35-acre gardens and has now set about reversing the decline.
The restoration is led by staff from Great Dixter in East Sussex, formerly owned by another iconic gardener, the late Christopher Lloyd. Head gardener Fergus Garrett has been closely involved with planning discussions and his second-in-command at Great Dixter, Tom Coward, is to take over as head gardener at Gravetye later this month.
Initial plans are for Tom to begin work on the walled kitchen garden first, returning it to its original function of supplying most of the fresh produce for the main house. Meanwhile the gardening team for the formal gardens has been tripled and the borders re-stocked in line with the new hotel owner's commitment to remain as faithful as possible to William Robinson's original ideas.