Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum

The following is from the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. For the most up-to-date Register entry, please visit The National Heritage List for England (NHLE):

Gardens and an arboretum planted from the 1950s onwards by Sir Harold Hillier, plantsman of world-renown. Originally forming the grounds around his own home, the gardens were extended under the ownership of Hampshire County Council, in line with Hillier’s aims, to form one of England’s most comprehensive collections of hardy trees and shrubs.

Location, Area, Boundaries, Landform and Setting

The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens lie between the villages of Ampfield and Braishfield, 5km north-east of Romsey.

The main section of the 70ha site is defined by Jermyns Lane, the public road which forms the southern boundary; an extensive area of woodland beyond the parish boundary to the east; a stream before agricultural land and a small settlement to the north; and Crookhill Farm and Braishfield Road to the west.

To the south of Jermyns Lane is an additional, primarily wooded area of the Gardens and Arboretum, centred on Brentry House, which occupies land formerly at the north end of Ganger Common. Jermyns House stands towards the south-east side of the registered area, the land rising to the east beyond the entrance front, being roughly level to the west of the house and falling to the north and north-west down to the stream which flows through the bottom of the valley north of the site.

Entrances and Approaches

The House is approached by an entrance on Jermyns Lane, from where a drive leads northwards to the south-east front. Some 150m to the east of this entrance stands a lodge marking the entrance to the House prior to Sir Harold's purchase of the property. The main entrance to the gardens for visitors and vehicles lies off Jermyns Lane some 650m further to the west.

Principal Building

Jermyns House dates from the early C18 but was greatly extended in 1822 when the property was acquired by the Heathcote family.

Gardens and Pleasure Grounds

The Gardens and Arboretum surround the House with a network of paths, many of them informal grass walks, giving access to the vast array of plants. Sir Harold focused strongly on the plants as a collection, rather than their placing as part of a designed landscape, and freely admitted that he had no overall plan for the gardens, planting piece-meal as and when plants and a suitable space were available. His aim was to create, as attractively as possible, an extraordinary collection of plants, and the gardens as seen today are a clear reflection of this policy.

The ground divides into several named areas. To the east of the house, the Magnolia Avenue forms a vista up the rising ground with the Heather Garden lying to the east of this. To the west of the House, the area which formed the C19 parkland is known as Ten Acres West and Ten Acres East, the two being divided by the Centenary Border, a broad straight grass walk leading between deep beds, laid out in the mid 1960s. A scattering of the parkland oaks remain. North of this is the North West Slope, and beyond, occupying the steep-sided valley which leads northwards from the House, are the Peat Garden, Bog Garden, and Pond. The strip on the far side of this valley up to the boundary is named the Three Acre Paddock.

Since 1977 Hampshire County Council has extended and developed the gardens to the west and north-west, integrating an area purchased from Hillier Nurseries Ltd. This land had been taken in from the C19 field system for use as nurseries but had also been used in part by Sir Harold for his collection. The north-west area includes the Oak Field, Lower Meadow, Braishfield Plantation, Pylon Field, Winter Garden, and the populetum planted on the damp ground alongside the water course. This is linked to the south-west section by the Whitegate Border, Acer Valley, and Pinetum. South of these are the facilities for visitors such as car parks and picnic area, the Hillier Nurseries plant centre, and Crookhill Field.

Following the adoption of a landscape masterplan in 1994, a new Winter Garden started to be developed in 1996, on the site of the old Rose Garden at the gardens' main entrance. This involved lifting and transplanting some 200 mature trees and shrubs to form mature planting within the garden. A further 6000 plants of 630 different species have been planted to display the varieties of winter foliage, bark, flower, and form. In addition a Pavilion has been built, sited centrally at the head of the vista that runs north to south through the gardens towards Braishfield, to take advantage of the varied pattern of vistas and rides that radiate out from the Pavilion at this point.

Kitchen Garden

Immediately to the north of the House stand the stables and outbuildings and the site of the C19 walled kitchen garden, the walls of which in part survive within a nursery area.

Maps

• Enclosure Award for Ampfield, 1808 (Hampshire Record Office)
• OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1870

Archival items

• Declaration by William Street, 16 August 1850 (8M55/5/8), (Hampshire Record Office)
• A Coombes, A Brief History of the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum, (unpublished typescript 1996) [copy on EH file]

Description rewritten: September 1999

Edited: February 2004, December 2021