A garden fit for a Lady at Tyninghame House in East Lothian
While revitalising the gardens at Tyninghame House restored its beautiful balance, it was crucial to retain the spirit of its former owner, says Antoinette Galbraith
When the late Lord Haddington sold Tyninghame House in East Lothian to the stately home developer Kit Martin in 1985 he could never have imagined the sale would trigger the revitalisation of the existing garden and the creation of others connected to the new parts of the house. The result is a paradise of interconnecting but different gardens, each one a jewel in their own right.
Tyninghame, the red sandstone mansion remodelled by the architect William Burn in 1829, sits at the heart of a landscape influenced by successive generations of the Haddington family, overlooking the estuary of the River Tyne.
In the 18th century the 6th Earl developed the wilderness, the area linking the main house and the walled garden – the original vegetable garden – by planting a splendid collection of trees. Two centuries later Sarah, Lady Haddington, wife of the 12th Earl drew on her artistic skills and plant knowledge to lay out the gardens surrounding the house, which remain in place today.
By the time rising costs forced the sale of the house (the family now live at Mellerstain, near Gordon in the Borders) the gardens had become neglected. Estate properties, such as the walled garden and the Clock House, were also sold.
The garden is now run by a committee of four, which is currently presided over by Priscilla Parry, who lives at the Clock House with her husband Nick. Chas Lowe, who trained at Askham Bryan College, tends the main formal gardens plus forty acres of Wilderness Garden.
The aim, Chas explains, is to retain the spirit and influence of Lady Haddington’s planting while ensuring it remains fresh and relevant. ‘You have to balance the history of the garden with practicality,’ he says. In some places the season is being extended beyond the spring and early summer, while in the wilderness newly underplanted areas add to the interest.
A tour of the four gardens starts at the Clock House. While Priscilla mows the generous lawn set against the backdrop of a magnificent Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia gylptostroboides), Nick tends the vegetable plot and the shrub and perennial borders and makes sure the estuary view is kept open.
A short walk west leads past the herb garden to the main garden where the raised terrace overlooks a lawn punctuated with large stone planters, which are filled annually with a spectacular display of tulips and annuals. Running the full length of the house, the lawn is backed by a spectacular herbaceous border planted with some of Lady Haddington’s favourite roses: yellow, repeat flowing and fragrant Chinatown and apricot-tinged Graham Thomas stand out.
Below the lawn a short lime avenue leads to the ruin of St Baldred’s Church, a reminder of the eighth-century monk who was one of the earliest recorded inhabitants of this land, and a man who doubtless also rejoiced in the view of the Lammermuir Hills.
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A paradise of interconnecting but different gardens, each one a jewel in its own right
From the Rose Terrace west of the house it is a short distance to the Secret Garden, widely recognised as Lady Haddington’s masterpiece. At the heart of the formal, boxed-edged design, a white, painted gazebo encloses Flora, goddess of flowers and spring. ‘Lady Haddington’s planting was beautiful,’ Chas says. ‘Loose, frilly, ruffled in pinks, blues and whites with some yellow.’
Besides roses, peonies were special favourites. Recently the Secret Garden was revitalised and rejuvenated with the help of garden designer and Tyninghame resident Judy Riley.
Threaded by mown grass paths the wilderness area stands in distinctly informal contrast to Tyninghame’s other gardens, while providing the chance to view magnificent trees recently identified and catalogued by residents David and Lis Snodgrass.
‘The wilderness laid out in the early 1700s and planted by Thomas 6th Earl has lost its original formal shape and is now more of an arboretum with a collection of interesting trees,’ Judy explains. ‘However some of his original trees remain, including sweet chestnuts, limes, oaks, beeches and hollies.’
The striking formality of the
private walled garden, divided in two by a central yew-lined avenue, punctuated with an Italian fountain and decorated with stone statues, forms another contrast. Here, 26 years ago, Charnisay Gwyn and her late husband Charles found a near derelict Camellia house which they restored to create a conservatory filled with a display of Camellias, Pelargoniums and Streptocarpus.
In June, the highpoint is the extravagant box-edged peony border laid out opposite an equally rich and dramatic Cistus border. Brick-edged beds line a vegetable plot where height comes from pyramids smothered in sweet peas and runner beans. Rows of espaliered trees line the horizontal border, while there is a small orchard at the top of the slope. The apple theme continues outside the lower wall, where an apple tunnel is wide enough for ladies with long dresses to walk side by side.
From here mown grass paths take you past fields of Limousin cattle back to the Clock House garden, where teas will be served. ‘The whole garden is a paradise,’ Priscilla says. ‘It’s especially wonderful at this time of the year with all the different textures and shades of green.’
Lady Haddington’s planting was beautiful. Loose, frilly, ruffled in pinks, blues and whites with some yellow
The immaculate formal Rose Garden in front of Tyninghame House. Deep pink azalea. Tulip ‘White Triumphator’ amongst the lavender. A white allium emerges in the Secret Garden.