Hestercombe

Three gardens in one

Hestercombe sits at Cheddon Fitzpaine, just outside Taunton, and it describes itself as three centuries of garden design. Each period has its own garden, so a visit moves through quite different landscapes.

The Georgian landscape garden

Coplestone Warre Bampfylde designed the landscape garden around the 1760s. Hestercombe records the Witch House as first recorded in 1761, the Great Cascade as created in 1762 and the Temple Arbour as built in the 1770s. The Hestercombe Gardens Project began restoring the landscape garden in 1995, and in April 1997 it reopened to the public for the first time in 125 years.

The formal gardens

Viscount Portman bought the estate in 1872 and gave the house a Victorian makeover. In the early 1900s the house was embellished with a formal garden designed by Edwin Lutyens, with planting schemes by Gertrude Jekyll. Lutyens used South Somerset’s yellow hamstone to good effect.

Jekyll’s planting plans were found in the potting shed, and a second set is held at the University of California, Berkeley. After new research, the Great Plat, the central part of the formal garden, was replanted in 1998. Restoration of the formal garden had begun earlier, in 1973.

Planning your visit

The gardens, Hestercombe House and the book shop open daily. The plant centre is seasonal. Garden admission is needed to enter Hestercombe House, while the plant centre and book shop are free to enter. Check the tickets and opening hours page for current times and any changes.

Paths are often uneven, gravelled or stepped, and can be slippery when wet. Surfaces and stairs are described on the accessibility page. The Stables restaurant serves food, and the plant centre is by the main car park.

For another garden day out in Somerset, Dunster Castle has subtropical planting, a bowling green on the old castle mound and a working Victorian watermill.