SECRET GARDEN TOUR
A journey through manor houses and cottage gardens, set against the inspiring landscapes of West Dorset and Somerset.
Monday 1st June - Sunday 7th June 2026
In a recent interview for G&T with The Financial Times, Jason spoke of the ‘enfolding secrecy’ of the region, ‘an extension of the very idea of a garden, a paradise, a refuge in a turbulent world.’ Dorset remains one of England’s hidden corners, and is the only county without a motorway.
Our Secret Garden Tour explores many gardens which are themselves hidden behind mellow walls, the grand and the small, gardens declamatory and gardens intimate, at a perfect moment in the year.
The price of the tour includes your 6 night stay at Symondsbury Manor, an eclectic and comfortable private manor house with a distinguished history, as well as delicious teas and dinners prepared by Caroline and Clare, with help from Dorset’s best cake baker, Haley. As usual we will be lunching at a variety of our favourite restaurants in this beautiful corner of south-west England. It’s all included.
PLEASE NOTE: Places are limited and our popular tours book up quickly.
Tuesday June 2nd
This morning we head to a garden located in one of the most beautiful landscapes in the West Country, Devon’s Blackdown Hills.
The stunning garden, surrounding medieval South Wood Farm, was first conceived by Professor Clive Potter, with the designer Arne Maynard helping him bring the garden together into a cohesive design. The result, in its owner’s words, is ‘a garden that slowly melts into the landscape’, in perfect harmony with its surrounding landscape and the medieval building at its centre.
We will enjoy a splendid picnic lunch, prepared for us by our cooks Caroline and Claire, in the grounds at South Wood.
After lunch, a chance to explore the thirteen acre gardens at Burrow Farm, gradually created by John and Mary Benger since they came to the dairy farm in 1959, taking advantage of sweeping country views, an abandoned clay pit and their interest in unusual trees and shrubs.
Wednesday June 3rd
This morning we head to the sea – specifically to a striking section of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, the largest shingle ridge in the world. It’s a breathtaking spectacle, in one of Britain truly wild places, where the shingle is host to a dazzling wildflower display, including rock sea lavender, shrubby sea blite, sea beet and yellow horned poppy.
Here we’ll be joined by Fraser Christian, a professional forager, market gardener, fisherman, and qualified chef and nutritionist.
We will have lunch at the Seaside Boarding House, overlooking Chesil Beach.
In the afternoon our destination is another of the outstanding and rarely visited private gardens of Dorset: the Old Rectory at Litton Cheney. This four-acre hillside plot features a formal garden with a pleached crab tree border designed by Arne Maynard, over 350 rose bushes, a magnificent natural swimming pond, and a walled garden with a more relaxed style of planting.
After tea at the Manor, we’re thrilled to have Dorset’s renowned flower painter, Flora Roberts, give us a masterclass in botanical illustration. Inspired by historic textiles and paintings, Flora’s work features in murals, wallpaper and interior textiles, and is always informed by sensitive observation of the flowers in her own garden.
Thursday June 4th
Dorset has a tradition of tiny, informal and productive cottage gardens, whose simple beauty inspired the Edwardian painter Helen Allingham. In just ⅓ of an acre at Corner Cottage, Sue and Colin Dyer maintain a perfect example, with their beautiful kitchen garden, and a small orchard, surrounded by deep flower and shrub borders.
Our morning visit extends to a mellow old brick-walled garden hidden deep in the Bride Valley. Here the largely perennial borders are arranged in ‘rooms’, laid out in a lovely tumble of naturalised planting down the south-facing slope, together with potager vegetable areas and a large lavender border. The sheltered garden is famous for a profusion of scented roses along the edge of the River Bride, a gin-clear stream which glides through the garden.
We will enjoy a Turkish-inspired picnic in the walled garden of Jason Goodwin’s nearby home before walking the Valley of Stones, a beautiful nature reserve bearing many traces of Dorset’s earliest farmers and settlers.
Friday June 5th
One of England’s significant Elizabethan treasure houses, Parnham was tragically torched by its previous owner in a fit of jealous madness, and now stands as a magnificent ruin amid a deer park and stunning grounds, laid out in the 17th century by Britain’s first classical architect, Inigo Jones. Current owners James and Sophie Perkins will tell us about the history of this magnificent historic house, and their plans to restore this national treasure.
Lunch is hosted by James and Sophie Perkins at Parnham.
Saturday June 6th
This morning we have an invitation to visit Little Benville, a thrilling contemporary garden with design features by Harris Bugg Studio, winners of the Gold and Best in Show at Chelsea in 2023, the go-to new kids on the horticultural block.
Set in a historic landscape – mentioned in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbevilles – Little Benville boasts magnificent herbaceous borders, woodland planting, a walled vegetable and cutting garden, cloud pruned topiary, a ha-ha, ornamental and productive trees and a moat which is a listed Ancient Monument.
Lunch is at the 16th century Acorn Inn, in the stunning and filmic village of Evershot.
The award-winning Grade I architectural gardens at Athelhampton surround the Tudor manor house, and date from 1891. The Great Court with 12 giant yew topiary pyramids, overlooked by two terraced pavilions, offers long views with spectacular planting, ponds with fountains, and the River Piddle flowing past.
We return to Symondsbury Manor for a valedictory dinner.
