Kingston House

The gardens and grounds at Kingston are open to the public by prior written agreement. The Court Garden, to be found on the North East corner of the house, was inspired by the popularity of playing cards in the eighteenth century, with the beds being formed to represent the four suits. All of the plants in the garden could have been found in a garden of 1740 with tulips, box, santolina, hornbeam, primula auricula, lavender, and camomile. The South Garden features on the East side of the garden, a pleached lime walk which is being grown as a feature of the main lawn area, whilst the other side of the garden begins with the wild flower garden, (a riot of primroses, snowdrops, narcissi, bluebells, pink campion, wild garlic, and wild daffodils in the spring beneath a broad chestnut tree). Walking towards the house, one passes the remains of a 17th century threshing barn, now part of the walled vegetable garden, with the doorway providing a tantalising glimpse of the formal design. The south aspect of the house is graced with the magnificent Wisteria Sinensis with Rosa Banksii resplendent in spring and an enormous yew hedge with an arch giving onto the formal Rose Garden, completing the symmetry of The South Garden. The walled West Garden is neatly divided in two. One half being an open croquet lawn surrounded by flower beds and espalier trained fruit trees and climbing roses. The other is the formal Rose Garden with a small summer house from which to admire the collection of English roses on the long summer evenings. The geometric garden design laid out with miniature box hedges, is based on that of the original discovered when the soil levels were altered, revealing the original slate keepers. The enclosed vegetable garden has been laid out in patterns. The garden provides much of the local produce used in the kitchens at Kingston including edible flowers for salads such as nasturtiums, and many old variety vegetables such as cardoons and ruby chard.

Kingston House, The Kingston Estate, Staverton, Totnes, Devon. TQ9 6AR. Tel. 01803 762235