The Dairy Dell

The Dairy Dell at Endsleigh is a steep sided dingle, where Humphry Repton created his most ingenious designs for the gardens by using the copious water supply available to create an intricate system of water works, made up of a sequence of rills, cascades and small pools which are still in use today.

The Dairy seen through a carpet of bluebells and over the stream was built as a working Dairy for the 6th Duchess of Bedford.  The little thatched building adds a magical quality to the valley and is a good starting point as you walk upward.

Follow the pathway beside the stream at the bottom of the dell which is lined with Gunnera, (Giant Rhubarb), that stand a good 8ft tall in the summer months, lending a Jurassic atmosphere, where glimpsing a dinosaur would not seem unusual. Continue up the Dell, you will see the Crag, a natural outcrop of rock that Repton sought to reveal for picturesque effect.  Below it, is one of the dramatic cascades he devised by diverting water from a leat.  The cascade drops 120 feet to the valley floor and adds to the musical sounds of water on its way to the River Tamar. The pathways lead to beautiful bridges made from Rhododendron branches that crisscross the stream, taking you through Bamboo walks and the Acers which were bought back from China a hundread years ago. The fresh new leaves take your breath away with their lime and plumb colours and differing leaf forms.

The weather has been kind for a few weeks now and I could not recommend a visit to our gardens more, it is a secret horticultural haven that made Alan Titchmarsh recently comment, "If ever a hotel were built in paradise it would be like Endsleigh - a fairytale cottage set in an Arcadian landscape with delicious food and blissful rooms.  I love it and envy that sublime landscape - the perfect opportunity to step back in time to a graceful age.''

In celebration of Humphry Repton

In 1814 Humphry Repton, the celebrated landscape designer of the day, created his last Red Book for the 6th Duke of Bedford; a device he used to present his garden designs to his clients, and so called because of the colour of the binding.

Humphry Repton had been seriously injured in 1811 in a carriage accident and was an invalid when the Bedfords asked him to consider the gardens at Endsleigh.  He was carried around the valley in a sedan chair, painting the landscape and planning the vistas. On the front page of his red book he wrote: 'It is impossible to divest myself of the feeling that the most picturesque subject on which I have ever been professionally consulted, should have been reserved for so late a period of my life'. Humphry Repton died four years later in 1818 leaving his sons to carry out his plans.

To celebrate the two hundred years since the red book for Endsleigh was created, we have invited a number of notable award winning garden designers to talk to us.  Non residents are most welcome to come and hear them speak and enjoy a cocktail with us. The talks are open to non-residents for £25.00 per person, or £65.00 per person to include a seasonal dinner.  For more detail please click here.

Friday 28th March at 6pm Olga Polizzi

Saturday 29th March at 6pm Stephen Woodhams

Friday 4th April at 6pm Olga Polizzi

Saturday 5th April at 6pm George Carter

Friday 11th April at 6pm Alan Titchmarsh

Saturday 12th April at 6pm Arabella Lennox-Boyd

Circa 1860, here Endsleigh has taken on a mantle of climbers giving the house the rustic picturesque atmosphere that Humphry Repton envisaged. Today, you will find an impressive array of champion specimen trees planted by the subsequent Dukes of Bedford, adorning the valley with an air of tranquility. There is a feeling of seclusion as if in a secret garden with breathtaking views across the Tamar. 

Contact us to book a place at the talks and/or take a tour of the gardens. 01822 870000

Magnificent Magnolias

We are blessed with some stunning Magnolia specimens at Hotel Endsleigh and this year due to the warmth of our climate they have so far escaped the frosts and thus finally been allowed to fully bloom.  In fact I cannot remember the last time they managed to do this.



Here we have the Magnolia campbellii with it's wonderful display of huge pale pink flowers. Also known as the tulip tree this Magnolia has to be 20 years old before it will flower.










This breathtaking specimen close to the Hotel is Magnolia stellata or star magnolia. Native to Japan this species will flower when it is very young and has the added bonus of being slightly scented and is the gateway to walking the Dairy Dell, where you can also see an outstanding example of a Magnolia obovata.






The last couple of weeks the gardeners have been busy clearing the storm debris with a chipper and from the fallen branches they gave the Hotel's florist armfuls of carpet moss and she created this stunning bench still with the ferns growing within it.



The gardens are now looking wonderful and the 9000 bulbs that were planted in the Autumn especially for our Repton Celebrations are almost open and it will be a matter of days now before the Tulips will burst open and show off.

Weirding weather...

'Weirding Weather' or 'Global Weirding' are from what we understand, terms that have replaced Global Warming, and describe unusual weather events, and here at Endsleigh the storms of the past few weeks have, from our memory (collectively 14 years), been weird and left us somewhat exhausted.  We have been tried and tested but are now gathering our strength and clearing the debris left by the storms.

The array of rills, pools, ponds and waterfalls envisaged by Repton 200 years ago are particularly stunning and were tested to the limits with the amount of rainfall.  Here the catchpit pond waterfall was so high it came over the top and down the pathway.

Even water coming down off the higher fields emptied onto the driveway down to the Hotel, creating a river of water that naturally found its way to the Yew Walk.

Here in the Yew Walk wellies were the order of the day, however, it is amazing how powerful flowing water can be, moving all the pathway dressing down the slope.

Continuing on its pathway the water carried down the Yew Walk to the steps leading to the Rose Walk.

This of course caused us concern at the time, but our thoughts were with those who suffered much more water damage to their homes on the Somerset levels.

Thankfully it has now all dried and we have cleared the pathways of the water damage and full of hope that the Weirding Weather has come to an end for this season.

Quick..... the sun is out!

Endless rain, storms and wind are taking their toll not only here at Endsleigh, but all over the country and it's downright depressing.  However, this morning the sun is out and it instantly lifts the heart.  The mists in the valley rose quickly with the sun's warmth making for some very ethereal images of the house and garden.

We have the leaf blower out again, but looking across the yew walk garden towards the valley, the hills lift above the mist like the backs of monsters rising out of the Tamar river and the view is breathtaking.

Back to the flower beds we have removed the lower leaves of the Hellebores and they have rewarded us with a wonderful crop of stunning nodding heads in front of a backdrop of highly scented Mahonia's, a planting combination to be proud of.

While I write the skies have returned to gunboat grey and snow threatens, and I watch with envy the Hotel's guests return indoors to roaring log fires and a warm drink.

Standing out on a winter's day

The South West of England has been blasted by storms over the last couple of weeks.  Any straggling leaves on the trees are now long gone and we live in fear of a big tree falling over, its roots no longer able to hold on to the slippery, wet earth.  Poor things.  Assaulted by the winds above ground and washed away by the floods below ground.  How do any of them manage to remain standing?

With these slightly gloomy thoughts in mind I was struck by the brightness of the paperbark birch which shows off luminously against the dark backdrop.  During the spring and summer the leaf cover hides the beauty of this little tree but at this time of year it shines out brightly in the most watery of winter suns.






We have several different birches within the gardens.  The biggest 'show off'  is the Indian Paper birch (Betula Utilis var.Utilis) which sits by the Hatchery.  There are very few examples in this country that are as old or as big as that particular tree.  Having said that, this little tree proudly shows off the best in the Indian Paper birch's characteristics: stiffly upright, sparse leaves, papery peeling bark and a bright whiteness.  Any day now the catkins will burst through.







And I couldn't resist a blue-sky view through the branches...how wintery and lovely is that?

Winter coats

You would think that a garden in winter would be bland and uninteresting.  Far from it!  Instead she takes off her summer dress and shows her true shape to the world.  Now that all the leaves have dropped we can see the evergreen beauties standing tall.

The Dell changes beyond recognition in the winter. The Gunnera has caught the first frosts and withered into the ground...a heap of alien like pods!  With the enormous Gunnera out of the way the stream has seen the light of day and the cascading water sparkles in the winter sunshine.  The removal of the Gunnera also exposes the sides of the Dell and so you can see the true form of this little valley.  It looks so much steeper than you expect.

The evergreens show off a blast of deep rich colour against this wintery backdrop. The Giant Sequoia dominates the middle of the Dell.  The second tallest Giant Sequoia in England, she stands regally in the spot chosen by the Duke of Bedford.  For a lady who is 180 years old, she is looking good!

At the top of the Dell, the Nordmann Fir is a million miles away from the little Christmas trees that everyone has at this time of year.  Stretching 160 feet into the sky, we would need at least 10 sets of fairy lights on this one.  But seeing this enormous tree in a natural setting, gives you a sense of awe at the amazing living plant that is so much more than a Christmas bauble.

Also at the top of the Dell, amongst the Silver Fir trees is a group of Giant Sequoia which include the tallest tree in England but the slope of the land and the distance involved in viewing the tree make it look strangely smaller than its brother half way down the Dell.

The beauty of Repton's garden is that she shows her strengths at all times of the year.  The hardest question we get, on a regular basis,  is 'when is the best time to see the garden?'.  We have to say 'All the time'!