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Goodnestone Park is a handsome 18th century house and parkland where Jane Austen frequently visited her brother who grew up there. Old trees, the walled garden and some terracing survive from the 18th and early 19th centuries. A woodland garden dates from the early part of the 20th century. Wonderful plantsman's gardens have been developed over the last 50 years, in the walled kitchen garden and surrounding woodlands.
The award-winning formal gardens at Groombridge Place comprise a series of outdoor rooms, each with its own colour scheme. Through the seasons, each space offers a new highlight: cherry blossom, wisteria, roses and golden autumn foliage. Behind the delightful 17th century house are terraces originally designed by the gardener and diarist, John Evelyn (1620-1706), containing clipped topiary, urns and statues which have remained more or less unchanged since the 17th century. During the 18th and 19th centuries many trees were planted, and in the late 20th century the Knot garden, the White garden and the Peacock Walk were added. There is also a woodland valley for children designed by the landscape designer Ivan Hicks. The estate also has its own small vineyard and a deer park.
Best known as the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, the award-winning gardens at romantic Hever Castle in Kent were created by William Waldorf Astor at the turn of the 20th century. Designed to showcase Astor's unique collection of ancient Greek and Roman statuary acquired while he was American Ambassador to Italy, they were laid out between 1904 and 1908 by Joseph Cheal and Son, turning marshland into spectacular classical and natural gardens.
There are many water features around the gardens including Half Moon Pond, the Cascade, the cool and shady grottoes and the formal Loggia fountain which overlooks the 38-acre lake. Other areas include the Tudor Garden, Rhododendron Walk and Anne Boleyn's orchard with its collection of trees planted more than 100 years ago, as well as the Yew Maze and Water Maze.
The quintessential English walled Rose Garden contains over 4,000 fragrant roses, planted in blocks of colour from palest pink to deep crimson and rich purple. Varieties range from the Alba and Bourbon to Hybrid Tea and Floribunda.