Mapperton Gardens

On Wednesday afternoon we visited the gardens at Mapperton Manor, the location of the 2015 film ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’. I was using a soft filter for some of the photos. 

The valley gardens reflect at least three periods of history. On the top level is the croquet lawn, where in dry weather the remains of a parterre, possibly 17th century, can be made out.

On the next level is the Italianate garden laid out by Mrs Ethel Labouchere in her husband’s memory in the 1920s, complete with grottoes, stone ornamental birds, animals and fountains. An orangery was added by the current Earl of Sandwich’s father in the late 1960s.