THE GARDEN AT MONK’S HOUSE
This verdant space was a refuge for Virginia and a life-long passion for Leonard
It was the garden rather than the house that drew Leonard and Virginia Woolf to the village of Rodmell. Having cycled over to view Monk’s House, all the while convincing herself it would be no good, Virginia was completely seduced by the garden. In her diary, on 3rd July 1919, she described her ‘profound pleasure at the size & shape & fertility & wildness of the garden. There seemed an in!nity of fruitbearing trees… There were well kept rows of peas, artichokes, potatoes; and raspberry bushes had pale li"le pyramids of fruit; and I could fancy a very pleasant walk in the orchard under the apple trees.’
Pride & Joy
Some days later, in a le"er to her friend, Janet Case, she wrote: ‘our address will be Monk’s House, Rodmell; and the house is an ancient Monk’s House, with niches for holy water, and a great !replace; but the point of it is the garden. I shan’t tell you though, for you must come and sit there on the lawn with me, or stroll in the apple orchard, or pick... This is going to be the pride of our hearts; I warn you.’ However, as Virginia was not especially interested in gardening, it was actually Leonard who established new borders and reshaped the garden into a series of ‘rooms’.
Having begun as an enthusiastic amateur, Leonard became an expert, as passionate about growing fruit and vegetables as he was about his huge collection of cacti and sweet peas. His love of the garden bordered on obsession. But Virginia was not immune to its charms either and she delighted in all that Leonard grew, o#en helping with weeding and picking fruit.
For Virginia, Monk’s House and its garden o$ered sanctuary from the pressures of life in London, and many of her best-loved works were wri"en there, in her writing lodge. For Leonard, the garden became his creative outlet; Virginia described his vibrant planting schemes as, ‘a perfect variegated chintz’. Later, following her death, gardening o$ered solace during the period of grief that engulfed him. Through the house and the garden he was able to maintain a connection with Virginia and he buried her ashes at the foot of two elm trees that the couple had nicknamed ‘Leonard and Virginia’.
Life A er Virginia
The garden became central to Leonard’s unconventional relationship with Trekkie Parsons, a young artist, who was already happily married. Trekkie split her time between her husband in London and Leonard at Monk’s House, where Virginia’s writing lodge was extended to become her studio. Like Leonard, Trekkie was a keen gardener and botanist, o#en seeking out rare specimens, which Leonard ordered from specialist nurseries.
In 1969, Leonard le# Monk’s House and its contents to Trekkie. Unable to stay there alone, she sold the house to Sussex University, who used it for visiting lecturers. By 1981 the property was in danger of falling into disrepair and, encouraged by family friend Nigel Nicolson, the National Trust stepped in.