Fenton House is a 17th Century merchant's house, beautifully preserved and now owned by the National Trust. 

In addition to the beautiful antique (mainly Georgian) furnishings, there are spectacular collections of old porcelain, needlework and early keyboard instruments, dotted around the rooms.

In fact the collection of 17th century needlework pictures is one of the finest collections of early pieces to be found anywhere, and not to be missed by anyone who loves old needlework pictures. They are totally charming!

For more information on the needlework collection click here. 

At the rear of the house is the original walled garden to the property. This garden is a delightful place to visit at any time of the year, but is particularly pretty in spring. An attractive row of holly trees leads into the garden.

This huge old magnolia tree was in full bloom. So pretty!

Beyond the main area of (wonderfully striped!) lawn are two further sections of garden, with summer planting, including a rose garden, hidden behind the tall hedge. On the left of the picture you can see the tops of the trees in a lower section of the garden, which contains an orchard, full of spring flowers.

To one side of the lawn the flower border also contained a pretty mixture of spring flowers, including daffodils and grape hyacinths. 

Here we are in the lower garden. The far end of this lower garden contains a wonderful old orchard and the area near where I was standing is a kitchen garden, where, for hundreds of years, vegetables have been grown for the house.

The large white house in the distance has an interesting history. It is a famous local landmark known as the 'Admiral's House'. It was once owned by a retired Admiral who is said to have missed his seafaring life. He had a walkway built on top of the house (can you see the railings on top of the roof?) so he could walk around up there and still imagine he was on the bridge of a ship at sea, looking into the distance! 

The author P.L Travers, who wrote the 'Mary Poppins' books, knew of this house and was inspired to include a similar character in her books. If you have seen the film you might remember the character of Admiral Bloom! 

A corner of the apple orchard. The greenhouse is full of cuttings and there are some plants for sale in the corner. This garden is over 300 years old and many of the apple varieties in the garden are now rare and not grown commercially anymore. In late summer there is an 'apple tasting' day to enable people to taste some of these different types of apples. 

Many people are concerned about the loss of rare varieties of plants, - fruits and vegetables in particular, and are now choosing to grow them in their gardens, to preserve our biodiversity.

The grass under the trees had been allowed to grow long, to enable all the spring flowers to flourish, but paths had been cut between sections of the orchard to allow visitors to enjoy the flowers. Isn't it a pretty scene.

Amongst the daffodils these unusual white and purple flowers were in bloom. They are called 'Snakes Head Fritillary'. They are a native British wildflower, but difficult to spot in the wild. They like damp meadow conditions and are doing very well here. I want to grow some myself. I must buy some bulbs. 

The purple (or pink) flowers have an unusual checked design on the flower head. See an image here- 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/329.shtml

If you decide to visit Hampstead anytime then I would suggest combining a trip to Fenton House with a visit to the nearby Kenwood House, which is a larger property with wonderful views of the green landscape of Hampstead heath.