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Dartington Hall
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Dartington Hall
Dartington
Totnes

TQ9 6EL

tel: 01803-862367
fax:

Area: Devon
Show Map Location:
Overview Map (30 Km)
Detailed Map (1.5 Km)

Dartington Hall -- Devon
Visitor Information www.dartingtonhall.org.uk -- email: gardens {at} dartingtonhall.org.uk

Dartington Hall
Devon
All details updated* as of: 13/01/2010
Text-Only version here

Disabled information plus mobility and walking aids
 Opening Days and Hours

All year round; Dawn to dusk.

Parties / Coaches: Yes
Groups / Coaches need Appointment: Yes
Only by appointment

House Open for Viewing: Yes
The hall is open when not in use.

National Garden Scheme days: Yes
6th June
Best Times of Year to Visit:
Spring time.
To see:
 Admission Prices
£2 donation per person
 Onsite Facilities
Parking: Yes
Lavatories: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Shop: Yes
Plants for Sale: Yes
Lunches: Yes
Teas: Yes
Light Refreshment: Yes
Picnics: No
Dogs Allowed: No
On Lead only: No
Special Events: Yes
Other Facilities:
Conference centre facilities. New access ramp for disabled to Dartington Hall.
B&B, Bar, restaurant and light refreshments available
 Garden Features
Impressive grass terraces, woodland walks, wild flower meadows and a dry-landscape Japanese garden
New access path with a new sculpture by internationally recognised sculpture Peter Randall-Page.
English Heritage Garden Grade: II*
National Collection:
 Description of Garden
Designer:
The Gardens at Dartington Hall are steeped in history, a monument to the vision and enterprise of the great families who have owned it.

The tournament ground or Tiltyard, reputed to be mediaeval in origin, stands as a sunken lawn and was much restored during the second quarter of the last century. The South West side of the Tiltyard is flanked by a series of grassy banks, each with a flat terrace stepping up to a row of ancient Chestnut trees; here Henry Moore's reclining figure quietly spends her days. A lawn, three more terraces, and a row of twelve Irish yew trees, fondly known as the twelve apostles, separate this area from the 14th century Hall, standing off to the North East side of the Tiltyard.

Still evolving, this modern garden set within an ancient landscape, is famed for its quiet walks, great vistas and spring flowers and summer meadows. The Japanese garden provides somewhere quiet for the visitor to sit and contemplate. The garden also features some granite swans as well as a bronze donkey.
 History of Garden
It was John Holand, the half brother to King Richard II, who, in the 1390's, created a mediaeval Manor house on the hillside overlooking the river Dart. Thereafter the property shuffled between the Crown and a number of individual owners until 1559 when it was bought by Sir Arthur Champernowne, Vice-Admiral of the West under Elizabeth I, a man of energy, ambition and fearless self-reliance. His successors lived at Dartington Hall for over three hundred years.

On purchasing the estate in 1925, Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst - she was the mother of Michael Straight the American who spied for the Soviet Union - set about the task of creating the garden set within this ancient landscape experiment which is, 'Dartington'. Avray Tipping acted as garden advisor from 1925-1930, a time when the hall itself was restored from a ruin. During the 1930's and up until the out-break of war, Beatrice Farrand, a noted American designer, acted as consultant advisor. She was responsible for the courtyard, which is the only example of her work outside the USA. After WWII Percy Cane became advisor and he went on to 'open up' the outer reaches of the garden.
 Nearby Devon Hotels, Facilities & Amenities
Hotels & Accommodation:
Accommodation (incl B&B) is available within the Medieval Courtyard at Dartington
Durant Arms, Totnes
The Old Forge, Totnes
Restaurants:
The White Hart offers fine food
Inns & Pubs:
'The White Hart' within the gardens, offers fine food
Cott Inn, Dartington
Tally Ho!, Littlehempston

Villages / Towns / Sightseeing:
Dartington-1 mile
Totnes-2 miles
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*Information Updates
We directly contact each garden for update information every year.
(Most recently requested in Jan - Feb 2008)

The garden information above was last updated on 13/01/2010

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0012_dartington.jpg - Dartington Hall (Devon)