studland

Studland Open Gardens

Studland is a small village in Dorset. If you look on a map you will see that it is just to the south of Poole harbour, near the town of Swanage.

About 15 of the villagers got together and decided to open their gardens to the public for a couple of days in May in aid of their church, which needed repairs to the roof.

The picture on the left shows the surrounding countryside, which was looking particularly fresh and green on the day I visited.

To find the gardens that are open for visitors, you are given a map of the village with the open gardens marked on them. Then you follow the map and look for orange signs like the one you can see on this gate. The name of the house 'Church Cottage' is worked in metal on the gate.

This cottage is typical of the sort of houses you can find in villages in this area. It has a thatched roof. If you travel around Britain you will be able to see cottages constructed from a wide variety of materials. There are subtle variations from region to region.

This cottage had a large garden at the rear, but here at the side there is a small lawn with table and chairs. Here the owners can sit and admire the lovely sea view they have.

As you can see, it was a rather a dull and dreary day, although it did brighten up at times. In the afternoon it poured with rain. One of the houses was on the outskirts of the village, at the end of this long lane. A free bus brought you up the lane. It was worth coming up here just to see the view of the countryside and the sea in the distance.

The hedgerows beside the roads were full of these white flowers. We call them cow parsley. They also have another name. 'Queen Anne's lace' as they have delicate white flowers which can look a little like lace.

It was a little early in the year to see the gardens at their summer best, but a few flowers were starting to come out. This was my favourite open garden in this village. The cottage looks very ancient, perhaps 200 years old.

One part of the garden had lawns and flower beds.

Another section of the garden had been made into quite a large vegetable garden. At the front of the picture you can see potatoes growing. Behind them are onions. Everything looked very fresh and healthy. The owner told me that they were already eating a few of the early lettuce.

In a corner of the garden I spotted this lovely old stone bird bath. Beside it was an old mop bucket and some sort of display of pine cones that I think must have been part of a Christmas decoration.

A mixture of tulips and red hot pokers in the flower border.

Apple blossom in front of this garden shed. I don't know how old the shed is, but the roof tiles look pretty ancient.

This lovely tree is a tamarisk. It is not one of our native trees, but you do see them occasionally in gardens and parks. Isn't it pretty.

I liked this simple seat carved from a tree trunk. Someone local must have been making them, as I saw them in several of the gardens.

The village church is very ancient and beautiful. It was built in the 12th Century from local stone. The interior is very interesting.

Here is the cottage that offers accommodation. It is called 'Manor Farm Cottage'. I like the yellow roses growing up the walls. When you see a sign saying ' Bed and Breakfast' you know that they offer rooms for the night. If they are full they sometimes add a sign saying ' No Vacancies'. Manor Farm is nearby and has a nice tearoom, which I shall be writing about in the Food and Drink section.

The family who live here left this message for their visitors. The 'vicarage' is the home of the local vicar ( minister of the local church) and his family. In the distance they have a play cottage for the children. It was covered with a flowering clematis. The text says-

'Welcome to the Vicarage garden. This is a working family garden so do not expect perfection. We also battle against the deer who try to eat many of the flowers. The path at the top of the garden will lead you to the other Open Gardens.( then there are directions to the other gardens). Please enjoy our garden!'

Many of the garden owners complained that a herd of deer that live in the local woodlands come into their gardens and eat their plants. The owner of the house with the vegetable garden told me he built high fences but they still managed to come into his garden. He said that sometimes he even found them asleep in a corner of the garden.

Two elderly ladies live in this house. The garden was full of interesting plants.

This magnolia tree and the surrounding shrubs look good together.

Tucked away in a corner was this large shrub. No one was quite sure what it was, maybe one of the mallow family. It was very beautiful and everyone was remarking on it.

In quite a few gardens the lilies of the valley were in flower. They are so sweet and have a lovely scent.

I think Stonehenge must have inspired this seating. Very unusual.

This house on the edge of the village originally belonged to the people who were the main landowners in this area. It is still privately owned. The gardens were very extensive.

Surrounding the house were some formal gardens, including this attractive wisteria tunnel, which was just starting to flower.

Beyond the formal garden was a further area of woodland with some pleasant walks through wonderful mature trees and huge clumps of rhododendron bushes.

If you walked to the far end of the woodland this is the view you would see. The headland in the distance is very popular with walkers. The high cliffs afford wonderful views of the coastline.

This house has a very long garden with a view of the sea. The people who live here were enjoying chatting to all the visitors. You can't actually see any visitors in this picture. It had started to rain again and everyone ( except me!) was hiding near the house.

These ornate metal table and chairs look antique, but actually they are modern copies of Victorian designs. They look very attractive I think.

This little summer house at the bottom of the garden is a lovely spot to sit and have a cup of tea. The lady who owns it told me that she often spends all day there. Beyond the garden there is a field with horses and also a footpath to enable people to walk down to the beach.

At the end of the journey there is an old county pub where you can go and refresh yourself. It had just finished pouring with rain as I took this photo. You can see how wet the road was. I think there were lots of people sheltering from the rain inside the pub. The walls and roof of the pub are completely covered in ivy. Across the road from the pub there is a garden with sea views where customers can sit outside with their drinks, - but not in this weather. That's the end of this short tour.