Hole Park Gardens

Hole Park Gardens are situated on the edge of the picturesque Weald village of Rolvenden. A family owned estate Hole Park has been owned by the Barham family for the past four generations.

The gardens reflect the care and long-term planning that is unique to family owned estates. It also manages to combine formalised gardens with true woodland elements.

Visitors can now enjoy the beautiful spring flowers and the stunning bluebells which will be out at the end of April/beginning of May.

The gardens at Hole Park cover a total of some 15 acres and were laid out and planted by Colonel Barham, the great grandfather of the present owner, in the years between the two World Wars. Much of their beauty is owed to the great variety which they offer throughout the year from the first flowers in January to the last autumn colours in October, and also a contrast between classic form on the one hand and flowering shrubs in a woodland setting on the other.

Formal gardens surround the house. The walls and yew hedges, which are a particular feature of Hole Park, shelter broad expanses of lawns. Clipped entirely by hand, it is claimed that nowhere in the county can yews be seen trimmed to greater precision. The fountain and swimming pools, egg pond, walled rose garden, herbaceous borders and wrought iron gates all contribute to make a series of gardens within a garden united by the lawns, whilst outwards there are lovely views of the Weald over the surrounding 220 acres of finely timbered parkland.

One of the garden's most picturesque features is the standard wisteria which stands spectacularly in this unique setting. Behind the wisteria is a lovely walkway full of interesting shrubs and climbing clematis.

At the rear of the house beyond a beech hedge measuring six feet thick and twelve feet high lies the Policy - massed with daffodils in April - with its heathers, flowering trees and shrubs, banks of rhododendrons and azaleas. Amongst the trees can be seen collections of birch, juniper, cupresses and fine oaks. Rhododendrons, camellias, magnolias and primulas are all here in quantity and further plantings are now being made in adjoining woodlands.

When the bluebells are in flower in early May, visitors may walk for several hundred yards, through a carpet of blue, down into the woodland beyond the garden boundary. Here, as elsewhere, birds sing and a peaceful atmosphere prevails, adding so much to the charm of the place.

The house, which is not open, was largely reconstructed in 1959 and is now little more than a quarter of its previous size. It resembles the house as it used to before additions in the Elizabethan style were built in 1830.