Glorious Gardens from Above episode 6 – Oxfordshire: Christine Walkden takes to the skies above Oxfordshire to explore the county’s gardens.
She visits Waterperry, where the gardeners are the custodians of a formidable legacy, and chats with Mary, the first woman to present Gardeners’ World. At Kingston Bagpuize, she meets the third-generation owner of a remarkable garden. Plus the roots of the Henley Regatta.
Glorious Gardens from Above episode 6 – Oxfordshire
Waterperry Gardens
Waterperry Gardens are a garden with a museum in the village of Waterperry near Wheatley east of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Beatrix Havergal (1901–1980) established the Waterperry School of Horticulture, a school of horticulture for ladies, that existed there from 1932 until her retirement in 1971. The story of the Waterperry school is told in the book “Waterperry: A Dream Fulfilled” by Ursula Maddy. Waterperry estate provided Royal Sovereign Strawberries to Buckingham Palace and the Chelsea Flower Show.
In 1972 the School of Economic Science purchased the Waterperry Estate, including Waterperry Gardens, which it continues to run to generate revenue for the school. There are eight acres of landscaped ornamental gardens with an alpine garden, formal knot garden, herbaceous borders, riverside walk, rose garden, and water-lily canal. There are also five acres of orchards. The garden has the National Collection of Kabschia saxifrages. Other facilities include a gallery, garden shop, gift shop, museum, plant centre, and tea shop.
The Museum of Rural Life is located in an 18th-century granary building, with displays of implements and tools.
Kingston Bagpuize
The toponym Kingston Bagpuize is derived from the village’s original name Kingston plus the surname of Ralph de Bachepuz, a Norman nobleman from Bacquepuis in Normandy who aided William of Normandy in the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
The Church of England parish church of Saint John the Baptist was designed by John Fidel of Faringdon and built in 1799–1800. The building was remodelled in 1882 to the designs of Edwin Dolby.Kingston Bagpuize House seems to have been built in about 1720. In the 20th century it was the home of John Buchan, 2nd Baron Tweedsmuir, the son of the novelist John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir.
