The Garden at Long Close, Woodhouse Eaves
by Graham Cousins
(An article written in 1989)
The late Geoff Hamilton once described Long Close as "Treasure under the Brambles". Graham Cousins explains why.
Long Close garden lies secreted behind a high wall right next to the main street of Woodhouse Eaves. In the best tradition of secret gardens entry into the garden brings a magical transformation. By passing through the garden door the visitor seems to be instantly transported from a street in Leicestershire to a Cornish woodland garden - a garden of exotic trees, luxuriant rhododendrons, shining camellias and huge magnolias.
Although the history of the garden goes back only to 1925 the house is of much greater antiquity. Long Close is thought to be on the site of one of King John's hunting lodges and has Norman walls still standing. There is an Elizabethan fireplace in one of the upstairs rooms. In 1925 Long Close was bought by Mrs. de la Motte Heygate, wife of Major (later Colonel) Heygate. It was Colonel Heygate who established the basic design of the garden by terracing the area nearest the house and by extending the garden into the two adjacent paddocks. Prior to the Heygates, the garden had been rented to army families and a memento of this era remains in the garden; a gravestone to a much loved horse. The stone is inscribed "To a good friend, The Countryman 1885".
Beyond the courtyard is the garden proper. This starts near the house with the four formal grassed terraces designed by Colonel Heygate. These terraces are linked by stone steps and embellished with urns. The focal point of the main terrace is a large fountain. The formality of the terraces is softened by generous plantings of evergreen shrubs and trees. These plantings contain masses of camellias including the exquisite single white variety, alba simplex, and the very pretty pink and white striped form, Contessa Lavinia Maggi (who was she, by the way?). The rhododendrons are spectacular. Some of them are briefly smothered in bloom in their season, others are of the type with huge jungly leaves that are rarely seen outside of the south-west of England. My own favourites among the rhododendrons are the Ladies Chamberlain and Roseberry. These are both hybrids of Rhododendron cinnabarinum and were raised by Leopold de Rothschild at Exbury in 1930. They have waxy tubular flowers - Lady Chamberlain's in shades of orange, Lady Roseberry's in pink. The flowers are finely complimented by sea green foliage.
Beyond the terraces the garden assumes a more informal woodland character. Here mature native trees, which predate the garden by many years, mingle with an extraordinary collection of rare trees and shrubs, many of them grown exceptionally large for the midlands of England. Paths wind between the trees and past two pools giving, at intervals intriguing glimpses of parts of the garden yet to be explored. It would be beyond the scope of this article to mention more than a very few of the many trees growing at Long Close. But some cannot be omitted. There is, for example, a well grown specimen of the Empress Tree (Paulonia tomentosa) from China with huge heart shaped furry leaves and, in a good summer, blue foxglove-like flowers.
Although there is great diversity in the garden, Long Close is particularly strong in those plants (camellias, magnolias, rhododendrons) normally associated with gardens in the south-west of England. In fact Mrs Johnson has catalogued no less than 16 types of magnolia, over 40 types of camellia and over 150 types of rhododendron in her garden.
Long Close is a marvellous living museum of trees and shrubs. It is also a very enjoyable garden to visit. Gertrude Jekyll wrote that "the best purpose of a garden is to give delight" and the very many delighted visitors to Long Close on open days prove that Mrs. Johnson and the three men who made and developed the garden have passed Gertrude Jekyll's test with flying colours.
Long Close is open to the public as part of the National Gardens Scheme.
