Great Dixter is a Grade I listed house located in the village of Northiam, East Sussex. It was designed by Edwin Lutyens and has been listed in the Listed Buildings database. It is a beautiful example of Edwardian architecture. It is a rare example of a house designed by an English architect.
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Lloyd, the eccentric English gardener and writer designed the garden at Great Dixter in Sussex. He was regarded as one of the most influential plantsmen of the 20th century. His unique approach to gardening is now recognized as a guiding principle in gardening today. The garden was renowned for its exotic plants and beautiful floral displays, and it is still a popular destination for tourists and locals alike.
Lloyd was born into a strict family environment. Nathaniel’s father came from a comfortable middle-class family in Manchester, and his mother, Daisy Field, was said to be a descendant of Oliver Cromwell. Lloyd purchased Great Dixter in 1910 and commissioned Edwin Lutyens to restore the property. After the war, Lloyd set up a nursery at Great Dixter and regularly opened the house and gardens to the public.
After Christo and Beth passed away, the estate was left to a charitable trust. The estate is now run by Fergus Garrett, who wrote the book’s introduction. Fergus and Christopher continued to share their passion for the garden, and he was keen to share his passion for plants and gardening. The garden still attracts thousands of visitors every year.
Edwin Lutyens
Great Dixter House and Garden is a striking design by the architect Edwin Lutyens. The house, a mid-15th-century mansion, was designed by an English architect in the early 20th century. The architect’s son later developed the grounds.
The great hall is a magnificent structure that is the largest timber-framed hall in the country. It’s Tudor porch and half-timbered front add to the medieval splendor of the house. The house has a collection of 17th and 18th-century furnishings and needlework.
Built-in 1450, Great Dixter was the home of the Etchingham family. Nathaniel Lloyd purchased the property in 1910 and commissioned Edwin Lutyens to restore the house the same year. In addition to the main house, Lutyens restored a derelict cottage in Benenden.
The historic house was first documented in 1220, but its earliest surviving part probably dates back to the 1450s. Today, the Great Dixter is a popular tourist attraction and family home.
Fergus Garrett
Fergus Garrett has spent more than half his life at Great Dixter, where he’s become a famous plantsman, lecturer, and Chelsea Flower Show, judge. He first visited Great Dixter as a teenager and was invited to attend Christo’s legendary weekend parties. The two forged a close friendship, and now the garden and house are in his hands.
Fergus Garrett is the head gardener at Great Dixter and the charity’s CEO. He has carried on the groundbreaking work of Christopher Lloyd and is leading the charity in new directions. The Great Dixter Charitable Trust, under his guidance, is maintaining Dixter’s role in educating passionate gardeners from around the world.
Fergus Garrett trained in horticulture at Wye College. He then worked with Rosemary Alexander at the English Gardening School. He later worked with the Sackler family in Gstaad and Cap d’Antibes, before becoming a head gardener at Great Dixter. In 2015, he was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal by the RHS and a Victoria Medal of Honour.
Fergus Garrett will be presenting a talk on plant design at Great Dixter. His talk will explore the design principles used by Great Dixter and how to apply them in your garden. He will also offer a discount to anyone purchasing plants at the nursery.
The White Barn
The White Barn of Great Dixter is a house in Northiam, East Sussex, built by the architect Edwin Lutyens. The building was combined with a similar structure from Benenden, Kent, and is now a Grade I listed building. The building has a rich history and is a popular attraction for tourists.
The Great Barn is 500 years old and the oldest and most significant medieval timber frame barn in the southeast. Three 19th-century brick oast houses surround this unique building. Visitors have a rare chance to see the inside of this stunning barn, which has been virtually untouched by anyone except Dixter farm workers and agricultural historians.
Historical materials and photographs will be displayed in the barn’s archive. These materials are part of the Lloyd family’s extensive collection of objects and documents. They include letters, photographs, and family notebooks. The archives will also include information about the garden’s development over the 20th century. The barn plays an important role in working the estate and is used to make hurdles in the garden. It is also home to a biomass boiler fuelled by local wood.
The garden is another impressive feature of the Great Dixter estate. Christopher Lloyd, the estate’s founder, was a keen gardener and garden writer. Today, the gardens are kept in his spirit. The gardens are managed by a team of gardeners, including interns who bring fresh ideas and new plants.
Garden paths
A visit to Great Dixter, Kent, will allow one to enjoy world-famous gardens and picturesque outbuildings. When the Lloyd family moved to Great Dixter in 1910, there were no formal gardens, but they were transformed into a riot of color and form. The garden now features a quiet pool in an underwater base, a wall stretching over a brick wall to break up the wind, and a Solar Garden filled with colorful annuals and Japanese anemones. Other gardens include the Blue Garden, which contains topiary hedges, and the Long Border, where summer-flowering plants grow.
The Great Dixter garden is a classic example of the cottage style, a style that is both formal and informal. Its paths are meandering, containing a variety of flowers, shrubs, and climbers. It also features a high proportion of self-sown plants and annuals.
The Great Dixter garden is famed for its exuberant planting. The grounds also contain extensive areas of meadow, a type of garden that dates back several centuries. In addition to the beautiful gardens, the meadow has survived the process of landscape management in northern Europe. In earlier times, the meadows were cut for hay in midsummer and grazed until winter. This type of garden practice has become environmentally friendly in managing gardens in the UK.
The Malverleys
The Malverleys of Great Dixter in Hampshire have a private garden with naturalistic planting and restrained architectural elements. The garden features a variety of annual and spring bulbs in a ten-acre landscape. The head gardener Matt Reese, who trained under Christopher Lloyd, manages the garden.
The garden is a dissident secret – the plants outgrow their boundaries in height and bloom. The garden path is enclosed in high-yew hedges and is a sanctuary for horticulturalists. Visitors can see the horticulturalists in action.
In addition to the house, the gardens highlight the estate. The gardens reflect the interests of the owners. The gardens of Great Dixter include a Tudor-style house and a famous Arts and Crafts garden. The Lloyds purchased the estate in the 1910s and added some beautiful features to it. The Lloyd family lived at Great Dixter for many years. When they died, they left the estate to the Great Dixter Trust.
The gardens are also home to two talented chefs. Aaron Bertelsen has two books on the food that can be found in the Dixter kitchen garden. He is an award-winning author and writes a regular column for Gardens Illustrated magazine.
Visitor center
The Great Dixter in Northiam, East Sussex, is a Grade I listed house. It was designed by English architect Edwin Lutyens and was combined with a building from nearby Benenden, Kent. It is one of the finest examples of Edwardian architecture and is well worth a visit.
The Great Dixter estate was the birthplace of renowned gardener Christopher Lloyd, who wrote 25 books about gardening. The garden itself was first planted in the early 20th century and has evolved progressively throughout the decades. Today, Fergus Garrett, the head gardener, has maintained the garden since 1992. Every year, countless horticulturists make pilgrimages to this incredible estate.
The Visitor center at Great Dixter is an excellent place to learn about the history of the area and its renowned garden. It features a horticultural shop, which offers a wide range of garden supplies and pottery. There is also a cafe and a gift shop where visitors can purchase homemade items. You can also bring a picnic if you wish to spend time outside.
The meadow at Great Dixter is an oasis of wildflowers and a diverse plant community. The garden is also a living example of traditional northern European landscape management. This meadow was cut for hay in midsummer years ago and grazed until winter. Since then, the Great Dixter garden has helped restore these ancient meadows and has led the way for ecological garden practice in Britain.
