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The Manor tel: 01480 463134 Area: Cambridgeshire |
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| Visitor Information | www.greenknowe.co.uk -- email: diana_boston {at} hotmail.com |
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The Manor |
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| Opening Days and Hours | |||
Garden: All year; daily; 11am - 5pm (or dusk in winter). |
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| Parties
/ Coaches: Yes |
Groups
/ Coaches need Appointment: Yes |
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House
Open for Viewing: Yes |
National
Garden Scheme days: Yes Throughout the year 10% of garden takings go to NGS. |
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| Best
Times of Year to Visit: May - June September October |
To
see: Irises & Old Roses Autumn garden Autumn colour |
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| Admission Prices | |||
| House and Garden (1 Jan - 14 May & 1 July - 31 Dec) - Adults: £6, OAPs: £4.50, Children: £2 House and Garden (15 May - 30 June) - Adults: £7, OAPs: £5.50, Children: £2 Garden only (1 Jan - 14 May & 1 July - 31 Dec)- Adults: £3, OAPs £2.50, Children: Free Garden only (15 May - 30 June) - Adults: £4, OAPs: £3.50, Children: Free |
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| Onsite Facilities | |||
| Parking:
No Lavatories: No Disabled Access: Yes |
Shop:
Yes Plants for Sale: Yes Lunches: No |
Teas:
No Light Refreshment: No Picnics: No |
Dogs
Allowed: Yes On Lead only: Yes Special Events: No |
| Other
Facilities: Parking for the disabled only. Lavatories for the disabled only (or in emergency). Partial access for the disabled to the gardens. Arrangements for refreshments can be made locally. Sat 21 & Sun 22 Aug 2010 - Feudal Archers present Life on the Manor in 1193 |
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| Garden Features | |||
| Topiary, Old Roses, Irises, scented Herbaceous borders | English Heritage Garden Grade: | ||
| National Collection: | |||
| Description of Garden | Designer:
Lucy Boston |
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| Bordered by a moat on three sides and the River Ouse on the other, the garden is about four acres with a fifth deliberately left wild as a haven for wildlife. It is divided into different sections, including the hidden garden with splendid mature yews. There are are topiary coronation shapes and chess pieces and large herbaceous borders full of scented plants with plenty of self-sown annuals intermingled. This is in essence an informal garden based on Lucy Boston's philosophy of not contending with the forest and wild flowers which wait to take over. Both adults and children will enjoy the garden because of the books and the many paths to follow. |
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| History of Garden | |||
| Hemingford Manor was built circa 1130 and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in England. It was the home of the author Lucy Boston from 1939 until her death in 1990. When she bought the property, the land in front of the house was a field. In late 1939 she planted over 200 trees and shrubs and beside the towpath along the River Ouse which borders the garden, she planted a further 100 sweet briar plants, many of which were washed away in the 1947 flood. In spite of her gramophone recitals to the RAF during the war, she found time to plant 8 yew bushes on either side of the house, which became topiary inspired by Levens Hall. They were made into crowns, orbs and the dove of peace to celebrate the Queen's Coronation. Another 12 bushes were planted in the early 1950's with the intention of making them into chess pieces. These now stand in squares of purple-leaved ajuga and grey-leaved stachys to represent the squares of the chess board. After the war she concentrated on her first loves - old roses, irises and herbaceous perennials advised by Graham Stuart Thomas who was at the Cambrdge Botanic Garden at the time. In his first book there is a photograph of "La Reine Victoria" at the Manor. During the winters Lucy Boston wrote her books basing her Green Knowe series, now regarded as classics, on the house and garden. |
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| Nearby Cambridgeshire Hotels, Facilities & Amenities | |||
| Hotels
& Accommodation: The Willows (B&B), Hemingford Grey The Dolphin, St. Ives. (Cambs) Magdalene House (B&B), Wyton Green (www.magdalene-house.co.uk) |
Restaurants: |
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| Inns & Pubs: The Cock, Hemingford Grey The Axe & Compass, Hemingford Abbots |
Villages / Towns
/ Sightseeing: Hemingford Grey Hemingford Abbots St. Ives Huntingdon Local Walks |
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  - Cambridgeshire |
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Updates
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0499_Hemingford-Grey.jpg - The Manor (Cambridgeshire)
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