1880s
Careys walled Garden was built in 1883 to service Trigon estate, now our neighbours.
The south facing wall is actually only 3 sides, the ‘fourth wall’ is a run of park railing to allow frosts and fogs to roll out of the gardens.
Prior to 1883 the plot was a paddock and records of Careys use go back to Domesday where its recorded that a short distance from the walls, a communal Grist mill sat on the river Piddle to grind grains for the locals.
In the 1880’s the gardens produced fruits, flowers and vegetables for the Trigon estate. From 1888 maps you can see a series of paths throughout the gardens including our veteran oak (as a baby!) along the northern half and against the southern half of the gardens most likely horticultural species.
1920s
In the 1920’s the cottage was extended to incorporate a dairy and eventually became Carey House, a grade 2 listed arts and crafts house currently used for private residence on the estate.
1940s
By the 1940’s the gardens were used for horticulture and as a dairy paddock. During the war the estate hosted evacuees from Southampton, we had a return visit on Mothers day 2022 by one of the evacuees who sat on the same steps to the house as she had as a child with her mother. She also had several photos of the gardens as they were then.
1950s
At some time in the 1950’s the gardens became a full dairy paddock and the acid grasslands of the wider estate were quarried for white sand for glass making. Our neighbour Mickey White remembers the sand being drawn along the track by horse and cart until sometime in the 1970’s.
1970s
From the 1970’s the gardens fell into disuse, largely playing host to friends and family and occasionally a showman’s living van where visitors could holiday against the warmth of the walls whilst growing vegetables and enjoying the nearby swimming pool in the gardens of the house!
2019
In 2019 the Constantine family bought the estate and work started that winter on reimagining the gardens. Initial designs incorporated a large rose wheel at the heart of the gardens, a food forest and space to grow herbs, flowers and vegetables.
The winter of 2019 into 2020 was one of the wettest on record, indicating a shift in weather patterns with the impact of climate change. This determined the types of plants chosen to be planted and the underpinning ethos of the gardens to be a space to connect us to positive stories of nature restoration and regeneration.
2020 - Current
In 2020 the pandemic hit but fortunately the garden team were able to safely continue work under new restrictions. With little traffic noise, bird song echoed around the newly revealed walls whilst work was underway repairing cracked archways and fallen roofs. By the end of 2020 much of the landscaping had been completed.
During the summer of 2020 works shut down in August whilst Careys Secret Garden played host to another secret – the translocation of Osprey chicks. The chicks, moved safely from nests in Scotland, were housed just outside the walls of the garden, carefully cared for and then released by the end of July in an effort to bring back local breeding birds, a sight not witnessed since the walls of the gardens had been built. Persecuted by hunters and egg collectors, local populations of Ospreys had been made locally extinct.
In May 2021 the gates were first opened to the public. Still in its infancy, the gardens were opened to allow us all out of our homes and back into nature after lockdown.