Blundell’s Plot

A local ‘formal garden’

There is a charming legend at Wimpole Hall that some 35 years ago, a few years after the stately Palladian pile and its 2,400 acres had been bequeathed to the National Trust by Elsie Bambridge, urgent work was underway on the leaky roof.

It had been a freezing November night, and the roofers were looking out over a glittering vista stretching north to the gothic folly. Below them, a thaw was setting in across the lawn. And behold! A pattern was emerging from the frost – it was the outline of the elaborate parterres first laid out at Wimpole in the 1790s.

Here the story varies, according to the teller. The workmen dashed downstairs into the garden and pegged out the pattern, say some. Well, no, actually, what they saw was simply confirmation of a well recorded garden design taken from one of John Soane’s ceilings created for the 3rd Earl of Hardwicke, say others.

Either way, it marked the beginning of a remarkable restoration project overseen by the then (and still) head gardener at the estate, Philip Whaites. Philip and his team of more than 80 volunteers, together with a small band of full-time gardeners, have re-created acres of Georgian and Victorian pleasure gardens that delight tens of thousands of visitors every year.

The bringing back to life of a garden (be it ever so modest) is a challenge that most of us have faced. I’ve done it myself two or three times, most recently here in Melbourn, and know how difficult it is to avoid the temptation to either rip the whole thing out or put back together a design that no longer works.

Step forward Melbourn’s own resident expert in this tricky field, Richard Arnott. Richard is a garden designer who has worked on projects all over our area.

For three years he has been helping to transform around an acre of what he describes as “tired” garden into a delightful family-friendly space at Brantwych, on New Road. “It’s all about a journey,” he says. “You are setting out to create a mystery – the garden is something through which you can travel, as it reveals itself bit by bit.”

Another project has been Mulberry Hall, on the High Street. Here, too, the plan has been for a family-friendly space. “We have created a walkway of Tibetan cherry through which the children can pass to end in their own play area. This is itself surrounded by a copse of hazel,” Richard says. “It’s all about allowing a garden to reveal itself. That’s the secret. It is a relationship and a journey between you and the space.”

To stick with the horticultural similes, Richard’s own journey to Melbourn is remarkable. He trained at the Cambridge Botanic Garden for a year, getting his hands mucky and mastering the Latin names of hundreds of plants and trees. It was a grounding that was to stand him in good stead.

His next move was to join a company restoring the 95 acres of parkland, lakes and pleasure gardens at Hinxton Hall, home of the Welcome Trust Genome Centre. Here he worked under Tom Stewart-Smith, the gold medal winning landscape architect and garden designer. “He was an inspiration,” says Richard.

Next came the leap into the unknown. “Watching Tom gave me the courage to be my own boss,” he says, “and I managed to get work gardening for a group of what I called school-run mums in Heydon and Chrishall.” And here began a love story straight from the pages of Downton Abbey. One day, at Chrishall 18 years ago, Tom met Sally, nanny to the children of one of the mums. “It was the beginning of a love story,” he says. “Sally was on a gap year, saving money to tour the world. Well, she had her great adventure and we kept in touch throughout. When she got back we realised that we were meant for each other.”

Today the couple and their three boys live in our village and the adventure – and the gardening – go on.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ wimpole-estate www.richardarnott.com

Kip engraving, 1707 ©National Trust Images/S.Hobhouse