I have learned during the past years what above all I want from a garden: this is tranquillity. So said Ralph Dutton, 8th and last Lord Sherborne, of his garden at Hinton Ampner. He created one of the great gardens of the 20th century, a masterpiece of design based upon the bones of a Victorian garden, in which he united a formal layout with varied and informal planting in pastel shades. It is a garden of all year round interest with scented plants and magnificent vistas over the park and surrounding countryside. The garden forms the link between the woodland and parkland planting.

His collection of English furniture, Italian paintings and hard-stones and indeed every aspect of the decoration at Hinton Ampner reflect Ralph Dutton's sure eye and fine aesthetic judgement. He placed the whole within the rolling Hampshire landscape that he loved and understood so well.