7 Unique National Trust Gardens to Enjoy this Summer

The National Trust is inviting visitors to enjoy and explore the unique National Trust gardens of seven of its London properties as part of Open Garden Squares Weekend.

Discover some wonderful gardens in London that are usually not publicly accessible during the excellent Open Garden Squares Weekend. Some 200 plus gardens across 27 London boroughs will be opening their gates to visitors. Amazingly this annual event is entirely run by volunteers, and aims to increase awareness and appreciation of London’s green and open spaces and provide fresh inspiration for gardeners.

The event is also supported by the National Trust. Right across London National Trust will be welcoming visitors into their gardens where they can discover the history, stories and character of these fine and exquisite working green spaces. Garden enthusiasts will be able to visit the peaceful walled garden at Thomas Carlyle’s House in the heart of old Chelsea, the formal gardens of Fenton House in Hampstead and Ham House in Richmond, and the extensive gardens at Osterley in Isleworth. Other National Trust properties taking part include William Morris’ garden and orchard at Red House in Bexleyheath, the well-preserved herb and walled gardens at Eastbury Manor House in Barking, and the delightful gardens at Rainham Hall.

Check out the Open Garden Squares Weekend website for gardens near you.

Fenton House and Garden (NW3 6SP, Hampstead) boasts extensive walled gardens, a 17th-century manor house with formal terrace walks and lawns, a sunken rose garden, meadows, a kitchen garden with culinary herb borders and a historic orchard where more than 30 varieties of English apples grow. The planting is relaxed, and gives successive colour and interest throughout the year.

This beautiful 17th-century merchant’s house is a hidden gem in London, a place of unique charm and ambience.

Fenton House and Garden Website

Ham House and Gardens (TW10 7RS, Richmond) is one of a series of grand houses and palaces alongside the River Thames, surrounded by beautiful formal gardens that have been largely restored to their original 17th-century splendour. Highlights of the garden include the much-photographed cherry garden and its geometric lavender and santolina parterres and the maze-like planting of hornbeam hedges in the wilderness. The beautiful walled kitchen garden dates from at least 1653 and is currently one of the most productive walled kitchen gardens in London, providing the café with produce all year round.
This rare and atmospheric 17th-century house sits on the banks of the River Thames in Richmond. It is the creation of the tenacious Duchess of Lauderdale and her husband, the Duke, who together transformed Ham into one of the grandest Stuart houses in England.

Ham House and Gardens Website

The Tudor-walled kitchen gardens at Osterley Park and House (TW7 4RB, Twickenham) are laid out with ornamental vegetable displays as they would have been grown at the time the house was built in the late 18th century. Just eight miles from Hyde Park Corner, Osterley is the last remaining country estate in London. The 18th-century pleasure grounds have been recently restored, and include a grade I-listed Robert Adam garden house with lemon trees, an ‘American border’ and Long Walk.

Osterley Park and House Website

Red House (DA6 8JF, Bexleyheath) offers a simple garden and orchard surrounding the only house commissioned, created and lived in by William Morris, founder of the Arts and Crafts movement, and an artist central to the work of the Pre-Raphaelites. Red House and its grounds retain extraordinary architectural and social significance, and when completed in 1860 were described by artist Edward Burne-Jones as ‘the beautifullest place on earth’.
Acquired by the Trust only 10 years ago, the rooms at Red House give a unique view of William Morris’ earliest designs and decorative schemes. Its secrets are slowly being revealed, conservation work in 2013 uncovered an unknown Pre-Raphaelite wall painting and a very early Morris repeating floral pattern.

Red House Website

Rainham Hall (RM13 9YN, Rainham), nestled in the heart of Rainham village on the eastern fringes of London, is surrounded by a contrasting landscape of wild marshland, the big skies of the Thames Estuary, a Norman church and thriving industry. A National Trust property, the Hall is a hidden piece of London’s history – a remarkably fine and charming Queen Anne House built in 1729 which has recently undergone a major renovation project. The gardens are a peaceful and green oasis located to the rear of the Hall, comprising nearly three acres and featuring a large orchard and mature fig trees. Thanks to the efforts of volunteers over the last few years, an exciting transformation has also been taking place in the gardens.

Rainham Hall Website

The delightful Eastbury Manor (IG11 9SN, Barking & Dagenham) is a grade I listed brick-built Tudor gentry house, completed about 1573, with well-preserved walled gardens which retain their original internal brickwork, complete with bee boles (holes in the wall designed for honey bee-keeping). A quiet location providing a good contrast between ancient and modern, the garden is attractively situated by the renewed façade of the house and features herbs and flowers that would have been used in the Tudor period for cooking and medicines.

Eastbury Manor Website

Carlyle’s House (SW3 5HL, Chelsea) is a peaceful walled garden hidden in the quiet back streets in the heart of Old Chelsea. Formerly the home of Victorian writers Thomas and Jane Carlyle, the town garden was laid out when Chelsea was still a riverside village, surrounded by high brick walls with lilac bushes and fruit trees. Follow in the footsteps of Dickens, Ruskin, Tennyson and many others who enjoyed this evocative and very special place.

Carlyle’s House Website