STEEPED IN HISTORY

The established walled gardens of Bridget and Forbes Elworthy’s ancient manor house o!er a bounty of blooms, which "ll the eclectic interior with scent and colour

Step inside a classic English country manor

Wardington Manor has always been a house ! lled with ideas, creativity and talented women. Over the years, a succession of visionary ladies and their architects have le" their mark on its gardens and architecture. Beginning life as a nunnery in the 15th century, the house was reworked in 1665.

Again in the early 20th century, it went through considerable changes; initially by the celebrated British architect Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, and then later by Randall Wells. As an exponent of the Arts and Cra "s movement of the time – a trend in the decorative and ! ne arts that began in Britain and #ourished in Europe valuing cra "smanship and the romance of a medieval aesthetic over modern design – his additions to the house gave it a whole new meaning.

Evidence of this is most clearly pronounced in the 1920s sugarcra "like plasterwork, exquisitely executed by Molly Wells, Randall Wells’ wife,

which adorns the halls, stairways and landings. Her themes are joyous and upli ! ing: playful elephants, circus acts and acrobats, birds perched among a repeating pa"ern of chevrons, ears of corn and intricate pa"erns of fritillaries, primroses and violets, still grown in the garden today.

Under the auspices of its 21st- century owners, the house now has an intriguing eccentricity and infectious energy. Current owners Bridget and Forbes Elworthy have imbued it with a gracefulness and sense of nostalgia that captures the very core of the English manor house tradition of the past.

Inside, the living spaces wander over di !erent levels and "oors and are decorated simply but tastefully, paying homage to the timeless and liveable English country house style. It is a look that manages to be both grand and in # nitely comfortable. Treasured art, ornaments, deep chintz sofas and chairs, lamps, side tables and piles of books all give the feeling of a genuinely lived-in home. ‘ It’s a relaxed style that embraces wear and tear, and doesn’t take itself too seriously,’ says Bridget. Dogs sleeping in baskets in the kitchen, chickens clucking about in the stable yard and ponies grazing in the paddocks all add to the ambience.

There’s an enviable maturity and faded romance that only centuries of cultivation and nurture and nature can create.

As with the interior, the gardens ramble around the house like the English roses that climb up the walls. There’s an enviable maturity and faded romance that only centuries of cultivation and nurture and nature can create. Laid out as a series of formal and informal garden rooms enclosed by ancient ironstone walls and high yew hedges, it is quintessentially English in design – that delightful combination of manicured lawns and over !owing herbaceous borders watched over by trimmed topiary "gures.

Bridget and Forbes come from farming stock in far away New Zealand, where they developed their love and connection with the land. When searching for a home in the English countryside back in 2008, they were, in the course of time, inspired to take on the challenge of Wardington Manor by its predecessor, Lady Audrey Wardington.

A #er they moved into the house they discovered that, 60 years earlier, the "rst Lady Wardington had been supplying London’s !orists with foliage and the garden’s fragrant wild roses. In the meantime, another serendipitous event took place – a meeting with Henrie$ a Courtauld through their children’s school. The strong bond that developed between Bridget and

Henrie! a gave birth in 2012 to The Land Gardeners. Calling to mind the Women’s Land Army in the Second World War, when women took to the land and grew produce for the war e"ort, it’s a name that #ts them well. From the outset, Bridget and Henrie! a were united in their driving passion for productive and organic gardens and their clear mission to design projects that demonstrate these principles. In view of this, they set out to communicate their ideas to an even wider audience, through a wellstructured programme of talks, workshops and social media.

As designers of productive gardens and restorers of walled and historic gardens, healthy soil is fundamental to their work. As Henrie! a explains, ‘ We believe gardens should be places from which we gather to feed both ourselves and our souls, whether fruit and vegetables, herbs or $owers.’ With

‘We believe gardens should be places from which we gather to feed both ourselves and our souls.’

a clear objective in mind, they try to create vital ‘alive’ gardens teeming with insects and birds, knowing that the energy of a garden re!ects the life within the soil. ‘ The health of our plants and ultimately animal and human health rests on how we nurture the life below ground,’ says Henrie" a.

Encouraged by the extraordinary layers of rich, chocolatey coloured soil they found at Wardington Manor, Bridget and Henrie" a embarked on a mission to make the gardens even more productive. Through their expertise in composting and strict organic practices they restored the earth to microbial richness. Whether it was an impulsive moment or happy accident they are not quite sure, but this activity led to a reawakening of the garden’s history of growing cut !owers for appreciative customers in London. ‘Growing seasonal cut !owers seemed like the perfect way for us to put into practice the knowledge that we were accumulating about soil and plants,’ says Henrie" a. However, it’s been a demanding but rewarding journey for The Land Gardeners, who have learned a great deal along the way and achieved something quite magical. ‘ We never tire of the joys of picking huge armfuls of blowsy blooms – wild and gloriously

imperfect that celebrate the colours and very essence of the English garden,’ says Bridget.

Their shared passion for truly alive gardens inspired Bridget and Henrie! a to publish their book The Land

Gardeners: Cut Flowers (Thames & Hudson, 2019). ‘ We want to share the invaluable knowledge we’ve learned about growing "owers for cu! ing by telling our story and producing a visual diary,’ explains Henrie! a. The book takes the reader through a year of "owers in the garden, showing what to do and what to gather season by season. They talk about their favourite plants and show how they grow them, helping others to enjoy the glorious magic of real garden- grown "owers. Truly a labour of love.

Wardington Manor is a classic 17th-century Cotswolds house in Oxfordshire. It was extended and adapted during the Arts and Crafts movement in the 1920s. RIGHT A painting by Edwardian artist Herbert James Gunn hangs on the oak panelled walls of the library, which is furnished with floral chintz club chairs and a peony pink armchair.

The Owners Bridget Elworthy – co-founder of The Land Gardeners ( thelandgardeners. com) which specialises in garden design, cut flowers and soil health – and her husband, Forbes.

The Property Wardington Manor, which has been redeveloped and added to repeatedly since it was first built in the 15th century, lies near Banbury in Oxfordshire. The Elworthys have owned it since 2008.

CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT Bridget and Forbes; a marble bust gazes from a Victorian console table in the entrance hall; in the library, Forbes reads beside a roaring fire. Light and space abound, and a faded-chintz style adds comfort to the impressive chamber. Floral sofas complement the bold blooms that often adorn tabletops; shelves are packed with old books, and tea is served on a Regency sofa table.

The old cream Aga in the kitchen helps to warm the house and is also used to cook hearty meals for the gardeners and other workers at Wardington, as well as frequent guests. A Victorian painting of garden roses sits on the left of the shelf, which holds an assortment of blue-and-white crockery and other kitchenware for everyday use.

THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Bridget loves to hunt for antiquities like these at Kempton and Newark antiques markets, as well as smaller ones local to her; due to recent shortages, Bridget is now using a greater proportion of her land for growing food; the Charlie McCormick prints are created from 19th-century pressed seaweeds.

FROM ABOVE Over the years, Bridget has collected lots of pictures and prints and mounts them herself in old frames; on the wall behind the flower arrangement hangs a montage of pressed Victorian fern leaves, which remind Bridget of New Zealand.

Looking through the heavy oak door into the dining room, white textiles and garden roses arranged in a blue and white willow pattern tureen brighten the 18th-century dining table. Antique candlesticks offer ambient lighting in the evenings. The mullioned, leaded windows look out to the front of the house.

ABOVE Intricate 1920s plasterwork adorns the halls, stairways and landings. RIGHT The bed is part-constructed from different fabrics that Bridget found at French and English markets.

BELOW In the cutting room, vases of Iceland poppies, garden roses and peonies sit in front of Victorian paintings.

LEFT The gardens are designed to feed the soul as well as people, with beautiful flowers grown alongside vegetables.