Discover the stories behind Britain’s most well-known and secret gardens, from the seventeenth century to contemporary gardens: from formal gardens to wild gardens. Fashions in garden design have changed, but rarely are gardens explained as part of the national story or placed into historical context. Join us for delightful trips to classic English country gardens and houses and learn about the connection between fashions and politics, art and society and the wishes, tastes and background of individual owners in a light-hearted way. Our aim is not to be excessively academic but to provide amusing, quirky and entertaining days out, visiting and relishing the wealth of classic and modern gardens England has to offer.
Why Historic Garden Jaunts ?
Gardens are a place to escape the stress and commotion of the outside world, a place to relax and be spiritually and creatively restored. Yet gardens are also products of their time and the unique personalities of their owners.
About Historic Garden Jaunts
We want our guests to bask in the quiet, restorative pleasure of England’s most exceptional gardens while uncovering their secret stories.
English Garden Jaunts
Be inspired and discover unique English gardens and learn about the whims and fancies of their often eccentric owners on our small, escorted tours. As Humphry Repton declared in his ‘Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening’ in 1794: "Sources of pleasure in Landscape Gardening: Conformity, Utility, Order, Symmetry, Picturesque Effect, Intricacy, Simplicity, Variety, Novelty, Contrast, Continuity, Association, Grandeur, Appropriation, Animation."
Tailor Made Garden Jaunts
Our customised tours can be designed specifically for your requirements. You may wish just to visit Arts and Crafts gardens, or gardens owned by artist and writers. Contact us to see how we can help and discover, like Mary Lennox in Francis Hodgson Burnett’s ‘The Secret Garden’, “the sweetest, most mysterious place anyone could imagine”.