The
Herb Society Garden
Sulgrave Manor, Banbury, Oxon
The Herb
Society is situated inside Sulgrave
Manor, a delightful Tudor Manor house that once belonged
to the ancestors of George Washington. The garden is in it's infancy
as the Herb Society have only been at Sulgrave since 2000, they
won a medal for their 'Feast Of Herbs' garden in 2003 at the Chelsea
Flower Show, that garden has been recreated within the Herb Society's
Garden. Being a member of the Herb Society I was eager to go and
visit the garden, my opportunity came on May 11th 2005 when they
held a 'Horticultural Herbs Open Day'.
As well as finding stalls full of wonderful herbs and scented plants,
I found the gardens delightful, we also had a tour of the manor
house which was super. Some lovely tudor furniture and marvelous
embroidery. The grounds of Sulgrave have many herbs that would have
been used in the Tudor period such as meadowsweet and tansy, which
would have been used for strewing on the floor to keep the ticks
and fleas at bay. There was a lovely patch of soapwort which is
still used today for cleaning delicate tapestries. There was also
lots of culinary herbs, such as rosemary, sage and thyme and some
wonderfully aromatic lavender called 'Sulgrave'.
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The herb garden is divided
into sections for a full layout and planting list vist the
Herb Society's web site. The first area I visited was the
domestic herb bed, here you'll find the usual culinary herbs
such as sage, oregano and rosemary. With the addition of Florentine
Iris (you can see the leaves at the front of the bed), poppies,
rhubarb, bergamot and wormwood. Just behind that bed (directly
in front of me sitting in the arbour) is the plants from America
bed.
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 The
photo above is of the medicinal herb bed which contains standard
herbs such as lavender, sage, thyme and rosemary along with
the delights of english mace, heartease and clary sage.
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The
centre of the garden has a circular bed planted up with herbs,
unfortunately
on the day of my visit some of the
herbs had beenborrowed
to create a "Garden of Herbal Tranquility"
for Channel 4's "The Great Garden Challenge", so the
photos of that bed are a little sparse and not worth including.
There is however a photo of that bed in all it's glory at the
beginning of this article used with the kind permission of David
Butterworth who is a member of the Herb Society council and
took that picture and the last one in this article.
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The
photo to the right shows a long view from the middle of the
gardening pointing up to the arbour behind the culinary herbs
bed. In this bed as well as the staple herbs you'd expect to
find in a culinary herb bed such as rosemary, sage and thyme.
Other herbs such as horehound, hyssop, salad burnet, feverfew,
tarragon, horseradish and maiden pinks have been added. At the
opposite end of the garden there is another arbour that sits
behind a bed of herbs that have come from America.
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Christina
Stapley
delighted audiences with her talks on Culinary and Physick herbs
in the Great Kitchen. Christina who has been growing and using
herbs for over 35 years, has published several books on the
subject, she lectures widely and conducts workshops on all aspects
of the cultivation and application of herbs. At Sulgrave she
presented her talks in the guise of Lady Anne Blencowe (as seen
in the photo above) whose late 17th century ‘Receipt Book’
she has recently edited for modern use. Christina is a lovely
lady and we chatted briefly, she posed with a copy of her book
'Herbcraft Naturally' that I purchased from her at the event.
A super book full of recipes, things to make and do with herbs
and a wealth of information. Other books by Christine include
'Herbwise Naturally' and 'Herb Suffiecient' all her books available
to purchase via her website.
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The
Herbs & Horticulture event at the Manor offered a wonderful
mix of things to do and see, May Pole dancing, talks by Christine
on the uses of herbs, plant sales as well as the sale of herbal
goodies from mustards to seeds and handcream. With
the addition of the beautiful manor house to visit Sulgrave
is definately a place to go if you ever get chance.
Below
the children of Greatworth Primary School entertained the
crowds with their medieval Robin Hood play that they perform
at Sulgrave every year. They also exhibited several forms
of traditional May Day dancing, encouraging just about everyone
to have a go. The children danced around the Maypole like
experts, it was a joy to watch and added to the visit for
me.
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Garden Open Times April 1st - 30th October: 2.00 - 5.30pm
Closed Monday and Friday except bank holidays and special event days.
NOTE: Last admissions are one hour before closing times.
All visitors on non-event days are taken round the Manor House in regular organised guided tours. Access to the house may be restricted during private wedding ceremonies.
Open for pre-booked groups on any day or evening throughout the year (except January).
Admission - Adults £5.75,
children £2.50. Sulgrave Manor regularly hold special event days,
check their web site for further details, admission charges may
be more for these events than standard admission. Herb Society members
get into the gardens for free.
Location - Sulgrave
Manor is situated in the village of Sulgrave just off the B4525
road from Banbury to Northampton, 7 miles N.E. of Banbury. It is
6 miles N.W. of Brackley and the A43 and 10 miles west of Towcester
and the A5. Oxford and Stratford are approximateley 30 miles distant
and London via either the M1 (Junction 15a Northampton) or M40 (Junction
11), 70 miles. The nearest railway is Banbury.
Facilities - Manor House, Toilets, Gift
Shop, Guided Tours, Parking, Picnic Tables, Tea Room & Wheelchair
Access.
Address - Sulgrave
Manor, Manor Road, Sulgrave, Nr. Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX17 2SD,
Tel 01295 760205
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