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Please use the following format and info on your own site to link to your page in Gardens-Guide.com: at Gardens-Guide.com http://www.gardens-guide.com The premiere directory of open gardens in the UK and Ireland today Ask your friends and suppliers as well to link to your page in Gardens-Guide as well. Every link we get into your page helps rankings for both of us in search engines. **************************************************************** **************************************************************** **************************************************************** Garden Name: Dartington Hall Last Modified: 27-01-2011 Garden ID: 0012 pic: 0012_dartington.jpg NOTE: If this says "missing", then please send us a picture for your page which is at least 1000 x 1000 pixels in size. Thanks! Owner: Mr. Graham Gammin Address: Dartington Totnes Postcode: TQ9 6EL County: Devon tel: 01803-862367 fax: website: www.dartingtonhall.org.uk email: gardens //at// dartingtonhall.org English Heritage Grade: II* Opening Times: NOTE for 2012: Please check with garden owners or their website to confirm current dates open http://www.dartingtonhall.org.uk All year round; Dawn to dusk. Best Times of Year to Visit: Spring time. To see: National Collection: National Garden Scheme days: Yes Comments: 6th June Parties / Coaches: Yes Comments: Viewing by Appointment: Yes Comments: Only by appointment House Open for Viewing: Yes Comments: The hall is open when not in use. Admission Prices: £2 donation per person. Parking: Yes Lavatories: Yes Disabled Access: Yes Shop: Yes Plants for Sale: Yes Lunches: Yes Teas: Yes Refreshments: Yes Picnics: No Dogs allowed: No Only on Lead: No Events: Yes Other Facilities: Conference centre facilities. New access ramp for disabled to Dartington Hall. B&B, Bar, restaurant and light refreshments available Features: Impressive grass terraces, woodland walks, wild flower meadows and a dry-landscape Japanese garden New access path with a new sculpture by internationally recognised sculpture Peter Randall-Page. Designer: Description of Garden: The Gardens at Dartington Hall are steeped in history, a monument to the vision and enterprise of the great families who have owned it. The tournament ground or Tiltyard, reputed to be mediaeval in origin, stands as a sunken lawn and was much restored during the second quarter of the last century. The South West side of the Tiltyard is flanked by a series of grassy banks, each with a flat terrace stepping up to a row of ancient Chestnut trees; here Henry Moore's reclining figure quietly spends her days. A lawn, three more terraces, and a row of twelve Irish yew trees, fondly known as the twelve apostles, separate this area from the 14th century Hall, standing off to the North East side of the Tiltyard. Still evolving, this modern garden set within an ancient landscape, is famed for its quiet walks, great vistas and spring flowers and summer meadows. The Japanese garden provides somewhere quiet for the visitor to sit and contemplate. The garden also features some granite swans as well as a bronze donkey. History: It was John Holand, the half brother to King Richard II, who, in the 1390's, created a mediaeval Manor house on the hillside overlooking the river Dart. Thereafter the property shuffled between the Crown and a number of individual owners until 1559 when it was bought by Sir Arthur Champernowne, Vice-Admiral of the West under Elizabeth I, a man of energy, ambition and fearless self-reliance. His successors lived at Dartington Hall for over three hundred years. On purchasing the estate in 1925, Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst - she was the mother of Michael Straight the American who spied for the Soviet Union - set about the task of creating the garden set within this ancient landscape experiment which is, 'Dartington'. Avray Tipping acted as garden advisor from 1925-1930, a time when the hall itself was restored from a ruin. During the 1930's and up until the out-break of war, Beatrice Farrand, a noted American designer, acted as consultant advisor. She was responsible for the courtyard, which is the only example of her work outside the USA. After WWII Percy Cane became advisor and he went on to 'open up' the outer reaches of the garden. Local Inns: 'The White Hart' within the gardens, offers fine food Cott Inn, Dartington Tally Ho!, Littlehempston Accomodation: Accommodation (incl B&B) is available within the Medieval Courtyard at Dartington Durant Arms, Totnes The Old Forge, Totnes Restaurants: The White Hart offers fine food Village/Town/Sightseeing: Dartington-1 mile Totnes-2 miles