Calke Abbey
This stunning garden in Derbyshire has the romantic air of faded decadence. Louise Curley pays a visit
The gardens of Calke Abbey near Derby offer a glimpse into another era. Owned by the eccentric Harpur family from 1622 until 1985, the gardens were the epitome of horticultural excellence, from grand formal spaces to glasshouses and vegetable beds, which meant the family could be selfsufficient. Across the generations, however, members of the family preferred to isolate themselves from wider society and so the house and garden became a time capsule. When the National Trust took over management of Calke in 1985, it was as if parts of the house and garden had been
frozen in time during the late 19th century. Some of the buildings had slowly deteriorated and were in desperate need of repair. Rather than restore everything good as new, the Trust decided to take a different approach and tell the story of Calke’s decline by preserving elements of its dereliction – making this a fascinating place to visit today. Set on a hill to the south-east of the house is the 18th-century walled garden. This was a classic kitchen garden in its heyday, employing the latest horticultural techniques, knowledge and equipment to produce enough fruit and vegetables to feed the whole family. Staples such as potatoes and onions were grown, as well as exotics including pineapples and peaches. But, like the house, the garden fell into decline, and by the time the Trust took over, the orchard, kitchen garden and pleasure grounds had been left to their own devices. The impressive Georgian orangery (brick building, near left) was built in 1777, with the glass dome added in 1837. Originally there were glasshouses on either side, one for peaches and the other possibly for nectarines. Today the peach house and orangery have been restored and are filled with exotic plants once more, including mimosa, a huge echium, clivias, the heady fragrance of citrus blossom and ferns. In addition to the glasshouses, Calke has a fabulous array of garden buildings offering a window into a bygone era. The gardener’s bothy still has cabinets of seed drawers and prize cards from local village shows. There’s the head gardener’s office, a pony shed, apple store and two stove houses, which kept the orangery and peach house cosy. Outside the walls are additional buildings – a mushroom house where fungi were once grown and potting sheds piled high with terracotta pots gathering dust. The famous auricula theatre at Calke is believed to be the oldest example in the country, dating back to the mid-19th century. The ‘theatre’ – tiered staging set under a shelter – was a popular way for Victorians to display their prized auricula collections at eye level, also protecting the delicate silvery-white powder (known as ‘farina’) that covered the petals, which could be easily washed away by rain. No great Victorian house is complete without its herbaceous borders; those at Calke were redesigned by the National Trust in the ‘mingled’ style. The borders were originally created for Lady Georgiana, wife of Sir John Harpur Crewe, in the mid-19th century. The west-facing border (above) is packed with perennials and roses, creating a soft and romantic feel.
The rest of the borders are planted in a traditional bedding style with Chusan palms (Trachycarpus fortunei) towering over formal flower beds. In spring the wallflower ‘Persian Carpet’ creates a dazzling focal point and in summer plants that would have been used in the 19th century, such as heliotrope, coleus and helichrysum, add vibrant shots of colour.