Private garden visit WOOD

By kind permission of Lord and Lady Darling.

Wood is a regency house in an elevated position with an inspiring view of distant Dartmoor. The ornamental garden to one side of the house leads to a walled garden with herbaceous borders, a stylish glasshouse and an orchard of prolifically fruiting Crab Apples. The front of the house looks over a long sloping lawn with a ha-ha which divides the garden from the parkland. A recent project which is still ongoing is the development of an amphitheatre out of a disused quarry. It will be a most impressive venue for musical or theatrical events. (The Minack Theatre comes to Devon).

Since we last visited Wood in 2015, a lime kiln has been roofed and converted into an elegant summerhouse. There is a water staircase, a waterfall, a fountain and ‘Florentine’ water tricks, all fed by the borehole which not only feeds the lake but also irrigates the garden.

The Darlings are developing this garden and parkland in a way which is personal as well as true to the regency period.

Directions      

From the A380 Torquay to Exeter road take the A381 Teignmouth road. After ½ mile there is a bus shelter on the right and a sign to Wear Farm, and a SLOW sign on the road. Turn left on to an unmarked road and drive uphill for ½ mile. The entrance to Wood is on the left.