by Laura Jane Wey
Be it out of love for gardens or fascination for Vita Sackville-West, the woman out of whom Virginia Woolf molded her Orlando, Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Kent, is a place you wouldn’t want to miss if you’re ever in England. Located amidst the rolling woodland and fields of the Kentish countryside (the nearest village some two miles away), the walled garden was resurrected from the ruins of an Elizabethan mansion by Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson in 1930. Here on a warm summer afternoon red bricks, flowering shrubbery and a blue sky combine to create an atmosphere of gracious old-world charm: roses climb up brick walls dating from the 1490s to peep in diamond-paned windows; fat, velvety gold-and-black bumblebees reel drunkenly among the sweet sun-warmed English lavender. Wandering among the lush, beautiful flowerbeds time seems to have lost its meaning; eternity is a splash of vivid colours blooming in green fields in the middle of nowhere with the coming and going of the seasons. Vita Sackville-West, beautiful, aristocratic, notorious yet fascinating writer and award-winning poetess of her own age, was an avid gardener. The plans her diplomat husband Harold Nicolson laid out for the garden she fashioned into reality with her own hands, throwing all her passionate love for nature into the task. The outcome was a pool of loveliness with snug little nooks tucked here and there, and hanging in the air, an aura of comfortable intimacy - for indeed how could a garden tended to with love help but be different from those created to attract tourists? In the centre of this Eden stands Vita’s tower, from the top of which the gardens - including a rose garden, an herb garden, a cottage garden, and a ‘white garden’ bordered with trim hedges and green lawn - and the surrounding countryside could be seen for miles round. In the tower is Vita’s study, the sanctuary from which her books, and of course her letters to Virginia Woolf, issued forth; also on display is Virginia’s housewarming present to Vita: the first Hogarth printing press, which published many of Woolf’s and Sackville-West’s books. Outside the moat-enclosed garden two walkways meander off into the countryside, leading to twin lakes behind Sissinghurs Castle and through Wealden forest, providing a leafy sanctuary for those looking for a leisurely stroll. If you prefer wild woodland flowers to cultivated garden varieties there’s a profusion of them flourishing in the forest. And at the end of the afternoon, sun-soaked and a little tired, don’t forget to stop by the farm shop to pick up a basket of juicy golden peaches or rosy apples fresh from the orchard to take away! GETTING THERE - The closest railway station, Staplehurst (on the line between Tonbridge and Ashford), is under an hour away from London. The Maidstone & District’s Maidstone to Hastings bus service No. 4/5 runs from the station to Sissinghurst village. OPENING HOURS - Mar 28-Oct 15 Tue-Fri 1:00-6:30pm, Sat, Sun & Good Fri 10:00am-5:30pm. Last admission 30min before close. Timed entry system in operation to prevent overcrowding. ADMISSION - Adults 6.00, Children 3.00. a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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