20 of the best Surrey gardens to visit
Above: Painshill Park, Cobham, by Fred Holmes
Above: Gatton Park by David Harbison
Above: Isabella Plantation, Richmond
Above: Loseley Park, Compton, Guildford
Above: Vann, Hambledon, Godalming
Above: Wintershall Manor, Bramley
Above: THE GOOD GARDENS GUIDE
Originally published in Surrey Life - May 2008
The essential guide to garden visiting in the UK, The Good Gardens Guide has been a best-seller for almost 20 years. With the latest edition just out, we asked two of its experts, joint editor KATHERINE LAMBERT and Surrey garden inspector DAPHNE FISHER, to choose their favourites in the county to visit
Because of its proximity to London and the levers of power and patronage, Surrey has been for many centuries a magnet for men of fortune, ambition and taste, who bought and built houses and estates, restored and reinvented them, then passed or sold them on. The process continues, on a more modest scale, today. Taken together, these 20 gorgeous gardens (which don’t include internationally famous ones such as Wisley, Savill Garden, Kew and Hampton Court) give a remarkable snapshot of garden-making from the 18th century to the present day.
Click on the links below to read through the full 20 top Surrey gardens:
Cherkley Court, Leatherhead; Claremont Landscape Garden, Esher; Dunsborough Park, Ripley; Gatton Park, Reigate
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Great Fosters, Egham; Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden, Ockley; Isabella Plantation, Richmond; Knowle Grange, Shere
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Loseley Park, Guildford; Munstead Wood, Godalming; Painshill, Cobham; Polesden Lacey, Dorking; Stuart Cottage, East Clandon; Titsey Place, Oxted
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Vale End, Albury; Vann, Hambledon; Winkworth Arboretum, Godalming; Wintershall Manor, Bramley; Wotton House, Dorking
NB: All prices quoted apply to garden admission only.
The Good Gardens Guide
Katherine Lambert is joint editor of The Good Gardens Guide and Daphne Fisher, who lives in Epsom, advises and writes on Surrey gardens for the book. The Good Gardens Guide is on sale at all good bookshops priced at £15.99 (paperback), or you can order on line by visiting www.franceslincoln.com