Iford Manor

The Garden

The Italianate garden at Iford on the border of Somerset and Wiltshire is on of the most complete Italian style gardens in the South West of England. The manor house sits idyllically by the Frome River in this steep-sided valley. Iford Manor is medieval in origin, the classical facade being added in the eighteenth century when the hanging woodlands above the garden were planted.

In 1899, Harold Ainsworth Peto discovered Iford and the individuality of the garden owes everything to his inspiration and eye for combining architecture and plants. The story of Harold Peto is integral to the history of the gardens. He began his career by training as an architect and went into partnership with Ernest George in 1871. Among their architectural assistants were Guy Dauber, Herbert Baker and Edwin Lutyens.

The house is built into the steep hillside, so terracing forms an important element of the design. Peto was particularly attracted by the charm of old Italian gardens, where flowers occupy a subordinate place amongst the cypresses, broad walks, statues and pools. The current owners have restored the design and planting in accordance with Harold Peto’s vision and over the years, have transformed the area of the Oriental garden.

A visit to the Peto Garden at Iford includes delightful features such as the Loggia, the Great Terrace, the Casita and the largest of Peto’s garden buildings, the Cloisters.

This building is the location for most of the recitals and operas that take place throughout the summer as part of the Iford Arts programme.

Iford itself made an appropriate setting for the collection of Italian, French and Spanish architectural items Peto had collected in his travels. Though never with any large funds at his disposal, he always had a discerning eye for quality and a flair for putting the right piece in the right place.

The main body of his garden design work took place during the Edwardian period, so that simultaneously with the development of Iford came the designs for many other prestigious gardens. During the 1880s and 1890s his diaries reveal periods of active travel with frequent visits to Italy and in 1899 when he visited Iford Manor with his lifelong friend, the garden designer and author, Avray Tipping, he knew at once that it fulfilled his dream. The partnership continued until it was dissolved in 1892, when Harold became increasingly interested in garden design and undertook a number of commissions such as the gardens at Buscot Park, Ilnacullin Island in Eire and several villas in the south of France.

Set in 2.5 acres this steep hillside Italian style garden affords the visitor wonderful views of the valley. A number of original plants remain: the standard Wisteria sinensis; Phillyria latifolia; Buxus sempervirens which also grows in tree form in the woods; Cupressus sempervirens; Hemerocalis citrina, the scented day lily and, in the long grass by the Cloister, naturalised Martagon lilies.

The Peto Garden at Iford Manor in Wiltshire won the Historic Houses Association/Christie's 1998 Garden of the Year Award given in recognition of a garden, outstanding both for its horticultural and public interest.

Harold Peto never appears to have entered openly into the controversy that raged between the formal and landscape gardeners and although his clear preference is for structure, it is seen how he used Gertrude Jekyll's and William Robinson's knowledge of plants when clothing his structures. It is also significant that both these writers spoke well of Peto's designs.

Working at a time when there was much interest in Italy and its gardens, he was not alone in bringing aspects of that garden culture to England, but he was perhaps its best exponent.