Church Gardens *

Harefield Place: Site on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens, for Register Entry see https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list. The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England was established in 1984 and was commonly called English Heritage. In April 2015 it split into 2 separate entities, Historic England (HE), which continues to champion and protect the historic environment, and the English Heritage Trust, whose role is to look after the 400+ historic sites and monuments owned by the state. HE manages the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) that includes over 400,000 items ranging from prehistoric monuments to office blocks, battlefields and parks, which benefit from legal protection.

Church Gardens is the original walled gardens of the Harefield Place estate and probably amongst the oldest surviving walled gardens in England, with walls dating from the late C16th and early C17th. When Mr & Mrs McHugh purchased the neglected property in 1995, all that remained of Harefield Place was the Nursery Cottage or coach house, now known as Church House, and remnants of the walled garden. Having undertaken historical research, a Field Survey was undertaken in 1997 and in 2004 Sarah Rutherford produced a Conservation Plan. The McHughs worked on the derelict property for over 2 years before the family moved into the house in 1998. Today there are three walled areas: the kitchen garden, a smaller courtyard behind the main house, and a larger area comprising a nuttery/orchard, which is one of the only surviving renaissance pleasure gardens in the country and includes a unique arcaded wall. It is believed that this was constructed sometime between 1601 and 1636 for Sir Thomas Egerton and his wife the Countess of Derby - the residents of Harefield Place at that time. The function of the arcade niches has been a matter of great debate. Locally it was believed to be a 'bee' wall (unlikely due to the size of the alcoves) or the alcoves could have been used to protect delicate fruits, like an early orangery or to display life sized statues. The most interesting possibility is that it was constructed as a backdrop for a performance of a masque called 'Arcades' written by the poet Milton with music by Henry Lawes, which was written for the 70 year old Countess of Derby as an entertainment to celebrate her life.

In the mid to late C19th the property was occupied by (Johnson Fairly - check name), who worked for the Newdigate family. The last resident was (Carrie Johnson - check name) who lived here until her death in 1970, in a property that had neither running water nor electricity. A musician and piano-teacher, she was also verger of the local church of St Mary (q.v.), where she coordinated the church music. She is recalled in the garden today by a sculptural installation of organ pipes in Church Gardens.

Work began on the gardens once the house had been made habitable and essential services laid on for gas, electricity and water, including a septic tank. On the front field adjacent to the house, a terrace with patio and steps was created, with planting including hawthorn, pyracantha and wild rose. In 2002 a new outbuilding was constructed  and clearing began in the kitchen garden with removal of derelict glasshouses probably dating from the 1960s/1970s. From 2004 clearing of the first part of the orchard began and the new kitchen gardens were planned and planting of vegetables, flowers and succulents commenced. The vegetable garden was designed in a geometric pattern of raised beds reminiscent of Tudor gardens; box hedges were planted and paths laid. Companion planting was undertaken in the vegetable garden. In 2011 restoration of the collapsed wall began, which required new foundations and a specialist bricklayer was sought. Other achievements include a 3m wide 60m long herbaceous border; and a fruit tree border of cherry, apricot, peach, plum, pear and kiwi with decorative planting of 106 rose bushes. In September 2017 a fountain was installed in the centre of the garden and a new herb garden was formed. In the same year the McHughs approached the National Garden Scheme (NGS) as a result of which the garden was opened publicly for the first time as part of the scheme on August Bank Holiday 2018; the garden was opened to horticultural groups in 2019. Further restoration work had continued, with new features installed including a viewing platform that gives views over the garden; bee hives, an alpine garden, and a reflective pool.