Historic Gardens of Northamptonshire - Tim Mowl

Northamptonshire is a county passed by, a narrow scarf thrown diagonally over the waist of the country. Consequently, travellers hurry across leaving the real county behind – a lost pre-war England. Yet it is a county littered with lodges and forest clearings; a richer Cotswolds, multicoloured in villages with dark, golden iron and oolitic silver limestone. The county has a wealth of diverse and unique gardens to explore. Stoke Park’s twin Michelangelesque garden temples designed by Inigo Jones are the most perfect High Renaissance pavilions in Britain or even in Italy, while nothing at Kew equals the sultry orchidaceous poetry of the domed Palm House in the Italian Garden at Castle Ashby. The author also considers more contemporary garden designs with the islanded waters with Princess Diana’s temple at Althorp, peopled each day by pilgrims to royal nostalgia.