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Thorpe Hall Garden
at Lifehouse Country Spa Resort

Listed early C20 garden by Viscountess Byng (née Evelyn Moreton) inspired by William Robinson, of Gravetye, author of The Wild Garden (1870) and The English Flower Garden (1883) and with advice from E.A. Bowles and Amos Perry. In 1921 Viscount ‘Bungo’ Byng of Vimy (a field marshall whose Boer War galloper was Winston Churchill) was made Governor General of Canada which gave his wife the chance to plant-hunt over thousands of miles of North America, sometimes sleeping rough on her travels. Her gardens are known for their tender plants and water gardens; also the eccentric brickwork – walls, summerhouses, sunken garden – created by her husband with a workforce of unemployed men. Colonel Gavin Jones, the rock garden designer, created the rock face and cascade that hold back the waters of the top lake. Lady Byng, a enthusiastic follower of ice hockey, is remembered with the kaffir lily, Schizostylis coccinea ‘Viscountess Byng.’ The gardens have recently been restored and the grounds of Thorpe Hall (now demolished) are the site of Lifehouse spa. Lunch is available at the spa. See www.lifehouse.co.uk/restaurant for information.

Tour one and a half to two hours, £15 including tea or coffee with cake.

www.lifehouse.co.uk/garden-grounds

To book, call the Mercury Theatre on 01206 573948
or book on-line at www.mercurytheatre.co.uk. 

Other nearby properties:

Hintlesham Hall
Layer Marney Tower

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