A star is lawn...
Forget Kate and Keira – the biggest attractions of Hollywood’s hottest films are the gardens
IT’S not just actors who steal the show on the big screen – often, stunning gardens play starring roles too. You’ll have the chance to see that for yourself this week with the release of A Little Chaos, a love story about two gardeners at the Palace of Versailles. The film, featuring Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman, was actually made in Britain, with key garden scenes shot at Blenheim Palace.
And Blenheim is not the only place to take centre stage in Hollywood movies. Here’s my guide to ten of the best that have lit up the screen…
ANTONY, CORNWALL
THE Queen Anne-style mansion and gardens appeared in director Tim Burton’s adaptation of Alice In Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Owned by the Carew Pole family since the 18th Century, the grounds include formal gardens, a 50-acre woodland garden and parkland by landscape gardener Humphry Repton. Close to the house is the yew walk, a broad avenue set between towering hedges that was the location for the film’s lavish garden party.
Open Tue-Thurs/Sat-Sun, 12pm5pm. nationaltrust.org.uk/antony
SALTRAM, DEVON
ENJOYING sweeping views over the Plym Estuary, the Saltram estate features 20 acres of garden and parkland. Both feature heavily in Ang Lee’s version of Sense And Sensibility, based on Jane Austen’s classic novel. In the film, Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant) and Elinor Dashwood (Emma Thompson) enjoy a romantic stroll around manicured lawns with a number of rare and unusual trees. Don’t miss the garden’s main border: it was originally laid out with traditional plants in 1964 by Graham Stuart Thomas, but has recently been replanted with tender exotics.
Open daily, 10am-5pm. nationaltrust.org.uk/saltram
STOURHEAD, WILTSHIRE
DESIGNED by Henry Hoare in the mid-18th Century, this iconic garden is dotted with ornamental buildings set around a vast lake. Built on a hill with fine views over the garden, the classical Temple of Apollo was the setting for an unsuccessful marriage proposal by Mr Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) to Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) in a 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice.
Open daily, 9am-6pm. nationaltrust.org.uk/stourhead
GROOMBRIDGE PLACE, KENT
LAVISH borders, clipped topiary, a rose garden and a series of outdoor rooms packed with perennials can be found close to the 17th Century moated manor house at Groombridge Place. The garden is pivotal to the plot of The Draughtsman’s Contract, Peter Greenaway’s film from 1982. Among parts of the garden to feature in this complex costume drama is the Apostle Walk, an avenue bordered by 12 massive yew columns that dates from 1674.
Open daily, 10am-5.30pm. groombridgeplace.com
RAINHAM HALL, EAST LONDON
NESTLING behind a striking Georgian mansion is a three-acre formal garden that doubled for that at 10 Downing Street in the feelgood film Made In Dagenham. The manicured plot with lawns and flowerbeds was the setting for a meeting between Barbara Castle (Miranda Richardson) and Prime Minister Harold Wilson (John Sessions).
Open daily from Aug 1, 10am-5pm. nationaltrust.org.uk/rainham-hall
BROUGHTON CASTLE, OXFORDSHIRE
A WALLED garden containing a parterre of clipped box in a fleur-de-lys pattern is among the highlights at this 60-acre gem near Banbury. The dwarf hedges enclose roses, lavender and salvia, with a tapestry of flowers around the outside. It’s the perfect se setting for a romantic scene in Shakespeare In Love.
Open Wed and Sun (a (and bank holidays), M May-June, 2pm-5pm (also op open Thurs in July and Aug). b broughtoncastle.com
KEDLESTONK HALL, DERBYSHIRED
THE formidable 18th Century hall built for Sir Nathaniel Curzon is set in mature p parkland with sweeping views towards a huge lake spanned at its narrowest by a stone bridge. The grounds can be seen in The Duchess, a costume drama about 18th Century aristocrat Geor- giana Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire, played by Keira Knightley.
Open Sat-Thurs, 10am-6pm. nationaltrust.org.uk/kedleston-hall
STOKESAY COURT, SHROPSHIRE
THIS little-known garden was catapulted to stardom in 2007 as the settingforAtonement,theaward-winning drama starring James McAvoy and Keira Knightley. Sloping lawns, shrubberies, an elaborate grotto and water features surround a mansion built in 1889 for John Derby-Allcroft. The highlight for film fans will be the circular stone pool from which Cecilia Tallis (Knightley) emerges.
Tour of house and garden by appointment. Pre-booking essential. stokesaycourt.com
CHATSWORTH HOUSE, DERBYSHIRE
EVEN regular visitors to this stately pile in the Derbyshire Dales would struggle to recognise the 105-acre garden in The Wolfman, a 2010 gothic horror starring Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro. Moorland turf, dead plants, weeds and crumbling statues were used to transform the gardens into the decaying grounds of fictional Blackmoor House. Seat of the Duke of Devonshire since 1549, Chatsworth boasts borders, a maze and a host of water features.
Open daily, 11am-6pm. chatsworth.org
CASTLE HOWARD, NORTH YORKSHIRE
AN IMPOSING stately home designed by Sir John Vanbrugh for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle in the 18th Century sits at the heart of a 1,000-acre garden with rhododendron woodlands and lakes. The property was the setting for hit 1980s TV series Brideshead Revisited and for a 2008 screen version starring Emma Thompson, Ben Whishaw and Hayley Atwell.
Open daily, 10am-5pm. castlehoward.co.uk