Day 2 – Hidcot Manor Garden

We start the day with a drive through the countryside. Not only the villages are idyllic, but the surrounding area is that too. The hills are lined with meadows, where shaved sheep show their summer look. Occasionally there is the obligatory black sheep.

We are on our way to Hidcot Manor Garden, which introduced the garden rooms. Major Laurence Johnston was the son of Mrs. Winthrop, one of the heirs of the rich American family Winthrop. When he was severely injured during the war and recovering at home, he began landscaping the garden of the 17th century manor house.

It would take him 30 years to make an amazing garden. Since the garden represented nothing more than meadows, he had a blank canvas to make a beautiful painting. By making creative use of hedges of buxus, stone walls and taxus he created outdoor chambers, each with their own theme. He traveled to China and South Africa in search of exceptional and beautiful plants. He requested friends to bring extraordinary specimen from all parts of the world. That makes the garden so special. It is a beautiful bouquet of fragrant and colorful flowers, a beautiful collection of light green to deep green plants, perfectly manicured hedges, evenly cut grass, a perfect painter pallet. A place to relax with the necessary fountains and water features.

Hidcot Manor Garden is located near Chipping Campden, which is also seen as the most beautiful Cotswolds village. Throughout the Middle Ages, Chipping Campden was the center of the wool trade, so the village was protected by the rich wool traders. The St. James Church is one of the most beautiful churches of the Cotswolds and was built by merchants who bought wool from the farmers in the area and traded them with a lot of profit. The church houses the beautiful 17th century tomb of the wealthy silk trader Sir Doper Hicks and his family.

Next to the church are the remains of Campden Manor built around 1613 by Baptist Hicks, the first viscount of Campden. He burned the Manor himself at the end of the Civil War to avoid it falling into the hands of the enemy.

The ‘Poor Houses’ on the other side were spared. Poor houses were built by rich people who thought to be able to buy off their sins this way. These houses, which were built for the poor at the time, are now sold for big money.

In the beautiful High Street is Grevel House located. This is the oldest house in a beautiful row of Cotswold houses and is recognizable by the two-story high bay.

In the middle of the village center is the market hall with its beautiful vaults, built in 1627. It is a gift to the village by viscount Campden.

Outside the village on a natural hill, Dover's Hill, the Cotswolds olimpicks have been held since 1612. This competition has a number of painful items like hitting each other’s shin and running after cheese rolls.

Another village in the area is Broadway where the streets are edged with chestnut trees along the road. Among others Oscar Wilde, Claude Monet and William Morris spent time here.

In the John The Baptist Church in Burford hangs a  cross of a local soldier buried in Flanders Field. Before being buried in a War Grave Commission graveyard, this cross indicated his grave. The church is surrounded by the cemetery full of sarcophagus decorated with sheepwool bales, a sign of wealth. The more wool bales, the richer one was.

The steep main street of the village is surrounded by honey-colored houses with colorful flowers in hammocks and roses in all colors around the door. A very picturesque village to end the day.