Mapperton Estate

About the garden

Winner of the 2020 Historic Houses Garden of the Year award, Mapperton Estate is Grade II-listed. The Italianate Gardens were first designed in the 1920s by Ethel Labouchere in memory of her husband. Inspired by Harold Peto’s Italianate style, Labouchere combined classical formality with softened planting, enhanced by yew and box hedges, local Blue Lias paving and honey-hued Hamstone walls.

At the heart lies the octagonal pool; from this formal centre, the garden transitions into a more naturalistic setting, featuring a lower terrace with a 17th-century summerhouse, spring-fed ponds and the beginnings of the wild garden. Arboretum and woodland walks unfold with magnolias, dawn redwoods, tulip trees and dogwoods.

The garden evolved further under Victor Montagu in the 1960s with the addition of a gilded orangery, its glass roof sheltering roses, begonias and exotic plants, while offering sweeping views across the valley. From the courtyard entrance to the croquet lawn framed by clematis, hydrangeas and hellebores, the garden gradually unfurls, revealing a spectacular descent into the valley below.