Blickling Hall & Gardens, Norfolk

During our break in Norfolk last year we stayed in the Tower on the Blickling Hall estate and obviously we had to go to have a look around the big house. Being National Trust, no photography is allowed inside the house, but the gardens are most enjoyable for a walk around and there are no restrictions on where you point the lens.

The current structure of Blickling Hall was built in the early 17th century and is one of England's great Jacobean houses. It has a spectacular long gallery, superb library and fine collections of furniture, pictures and tapestries.The name Blickling was originally believed to derive from the Old English word 'Bekeling' meaning water-meadow but more recently it is thought to indicate the settlement of the family or followers of one Blicla. Blickling has been the site of a manor house since long before Sir Henry Hobart built the mansion which can be seen today.

The approach to the south front of the house is along a very impressive driveway with the servants quarters to either side. They seem to have been looked after pretty well. On the right hand side they are now use for the NT shop and restaurant. If you want to eat there then I would recommend that you go early if at the weekend or holiday times as it gets very busy and tables are not that plentiful.

    

The house is a considerable size with most of the formal gardens on the west front. In the middle of September last year the formal borders were still at their best, with enough flowers to satisfy the most hoticulturally deprived person. The house viewed from any side is truly magnificent, but the similarity of the architecture can be a bit confusing when trying to identify the exact location later.

       

Even plants that had once been spectacular in bloom were not going give up in a hurry and still had much to commend them at this stage in their cycle. These I believe are probably Cardoons, but don't quote me on that.

Still on the west side, the house forms a fine backdrop to the planting. The house is a sumptuous confection of local red brick and Ketton limestone, with Dutch gables and turrets. The present garden was created during the mid-Victorian period but was later remodelled by Norah Lindsay, an influential disciple of Gertrude Jekyll, and these designs have been closely followed by the National Trust.

The borders harbour some lovely surprises like this Salvia Hormonium Clary which is ralated to sage. This one is usually grown as an annual and appears as a faux tropical plant in some collections. The ones we found at Blickling seemed to be in fairly sunny positions, but generally they like some shade and are not fully hardy. I must be careful here or a theme might develop with it becoming  apparent that I watch Gardener's World. Actually my wife is the expert in this area, but I do like to get my hands dirty from time to time.

No National Trust Garden seems to be complete without some dahlias, and Blickling is no exception. Visiting late in the season is always rewarding in this respect and it compensates for the lack of success we usually have in growing our own. The usual pattern is to plant some, watch them develop nicely and then, when your back is turned, the slugs come along and eat them. We have quite a lot of frogs in the pond and even they still leave enough slugs to inflict fatal dahlia damage.

A recent trend in gardens now seems to be growing edible plants among the borders, such as this Red Chard which makes an attractive addition to the flowers. I am not sure what the borders would look like if you picked and ate too many of them. Actually, saying it is a modern trend is probably not the case as I do remember Geoff Hamilton promoting his kitchen garden where such planting was useful in a small garden particularly. But that brings me back to the slugs.

Garden gnomes are nothing new either, although this one would seem to have lost his hat.

Someone seems not to have enjoyed his sprouts!

Across the park there is an Orangery, built in 1782 it is believed, by Samuel Wyatt. Originally it would have contained a good collection of oranges, but as it is now unheated there is a reliance upon hardier plants. This chap seemingly was not too fussed by the chill in the air.

There was indeed at least one plant which I can only assume was an orange, or at least a citrus fruit of some sort.

Orange Blossom?

A central avenue runs through the park, at the end of which stands this impressive Doric Temple, built about 1730. The woods to either side were planted around the same time, but were later re-established during the Victorian era.

Turning and looking in the opposite direction you get a fine view of the house, but get little inkling of the parterre garden hidden in the dip at the centre point of the drive. There has been a park here since medieval times and much of it was owned by the Bishop of Norwich. Humphry Repton was responsible for much of the landscaping during the late 18th century and continued by his son John Adey Repton in the 19th.

Guarding the route along the avenue to the Temple stand tese two impressive stone Sphinx statues.

At each of the four corners of the parterre are some feature flower borders, still looking pretty good  in mid September. The parterre, also known as the Lothiann's Garden was created during the mid-Victorian period but was later remodelled by Norah Lindsay, an influential disciple of Gertrude Jekyll.

To the north and eat of the house lies the lake, established around 1729 to form one of the main features at the time. It is now a very peaceful place to wander and admire the water birds, although on this occasion they mostly seemed to be congregating on the far side.

This picture is one I took at Blickling, but back in 2004 on probably our first visit there. I like trees and often find that some of the best angles are from close to and looking up at them. The bit of cloud seemed to be in just about the right place too.