Mapperton House Gardens is an impressive, if not a little quirky, manor house and historic estate located in Somerset, England. It was built in the late 16th century and is one of the most well-preserved Elizabethan manor houses in England. 

The house and gardens are open to the public but in this review we concentrate only on the gardens, which are grade 2 listed and won the Historic Houses Garden of the year in 2020.

They are set in a protected valley (combe) surrounded by rolling hills, and feature a variety of landscapes and features, including formal gardens, wildflower meadows, orchards, and water features including two particularly impressive ornamental long pools. 

But we have to say that these are rather odd gardens with the four main elements all squeezed into a valley to the side of the house.  It is all intensively planted and in summer very rewarding, some say even romantic.

At the top of the slope is an orangery, very typical of its time, when the owner created a building especially to house their citrus tree plants over winter. The sour citrus had been cultivated in Europe for centuries but when the sweet citrus arrived with Italian and Portuguese merchants from China in the mid 16th century Louis 14th of France made them a luxury item, so the rest of monied Europe followed suit.

It is a heavy sandstone building, but with plenty of charm perched at the highpoint of the garden making an excellent conservatory for the rest of the year housing such exotics as Hibiscus, Pomegranate and Strelitzia, not normally associated with Dorset.

Next comes the focal point - a large area flattened out for an Italianate formal garden, or 'Fountain Court', replete with topiarised Yew and Box low hedges surrounding a central pool and fountain and colourful herbaceous flower beds along one side. 

They are filled  with a variety of flowering plants, including roses, lilies and delphiniums.  Pathways lead on from there full of climbing roses and an excellent collection of Fuchsia - there is also a very long pergola that is heavy with Clematis, Roses and Vines during summer.

The next main part of the formal gardens seems perhaps the oddest looking rather like a formal Dutch water garden but is in fact just a long swimming pool at the top and fish and water lily pool lower down.

All around are mature shrubs and trees, some of them towering examples including pine which provide an introduction to the lower part of the garden being the Arboretum.  

It's all a little wild and wooly but worth it if you like mature tree specimens - including a Giant Sequoia (Metasequoia glyptostoboides) and Dogwoods (Cornus).

Our verdict is that this is indeed quite a quirky garden but in high season will be a delight to wander through if you find yourself in Dorset visiting the Jurassic coast - this being just a short drive north from there.

N.B. there are a couple of video clips following, one features the Countess of Sandwich leading a 20 minute long garden tour - a little indulgent but she does know her plants well!