Avenue Cottage

Avenue Cottage is named after the avenue of Turkey Oak that was planted in 1844 by Squire Durant so that he could walk through it on his way to church. An exceptionally large Rhododendron arboreum remains from this time. In 1940 the estate was divided up and sold. Avenue Cottage became a separate garden plot of 11 acres. It did not escape the wartime requisition by the government of most of the mature timber from the estate. There was no replanting and much of the site became totally overgrown with laurel and Sycamore seedlings. A succession of keen gardeners have inevitably fallen in love with the site, but it is only since Richard came over 20 years ago that it has been gardened on the scale that you see today.

The garden is principally a large woodland garden with two spring fed ponds running down to the river Dart. There is a good collection of Camellia and Rhododendron for the spring and many unusual beautiful hydrangeas for later. Many less common and unusual trees and shrubs are grown here and although not labelled Richard will be delighted to help identify and that you want to know about. There are beautiful views over the surrounding countryside with many paths to explore and seats and benches to find. Like any old garden being redeveloped, there are many mature areas and also new exciting projects being undertaken all the time.