2 April 2023 - Sissinghurst and Home

Miles driven today = 116

Total Miles to date = 429

As planned we managed to get ourselves up and away and made the short drive to Sissinghurst so that we were parked up a good half hour before the house and gardens were opened to the public at 11am.  It's another National Trust property and we are starting to think that we might save ourselves a few quid if we signed up for annual memberhip.  But not today.

We were told that it would be a good idea to get ourselves over to the South Cottage first, which we duly did and managed to get ourselves on the first 10 person tour of the day.  South Cottage is where the author Vita Sackville-West and her MP/Diplomat partner Harold Nicholson made their home while they renovated the other parts of Sissinghurst and planted its extensive and beautiful gardens. We were informed of a lot of their history and shown around the rooms they lived in.  No photos allowed inside however I'm afraid.

The couple never lived in the "Front Range" which was the main frontage of what was once a magnificent Renaissance courtyard mansion.   

During the 7 Years War of the 1760s Sissinghurst was used as a prison for as many as 3,000 captured French sailors who all but destroyed the once splendid buildings.  The Front Range, The Tower and 2 cottages are now all that remains from the original architecture.  When Vita and Harold bought the place in 1930 for £12,000 it was a chicken farm and was in a terrible state of disrepair.

We had a walk around the extensive gardens which are already a riot of Spring colour.

The Lime Walk, where the trees have been grafted together to form a continuous span of branches.

Wysteria stems twisting their way up the Rose Garden Wall.

Brilliant orange flowers of Chaenomeles "Knap Scarlet Hill".

After a spot of lunch we explored some of the other buildings.  Vita and Harold had a collection of 10,500 books between them, a large proportion of which were kept in the library, or "the Big Room" as they called it.  It was actually used for stables when they bought the estate.

You can climb the spiral staircase to the top of the Tower.  

On the first floor is Vita's study, where she did a lot of her writing.

The Front Range viewed from the top of the Tower.

The oast houses contain an exhibition space which hosted art inspired by Sissinghurst.

You can rent this cottage as a holiday let.  The front garden is filled with drought resistent plants suited to arid conditions.

The rear garden is more formal with angular Box hedges. 

The White Garden is unsurprisingly planted almost entirely with pure white coloured flowers.

Unfortunately the soggy conditions underfoot meant the paths through the daffodils in the Orchard have had to be temporarily closed but we did stroll around the shorter (1 mile) of two walking routes through the grounds before we jumped back in the van and headed for home.