British Travel Journal | Autumn/Winter 2023

Patrice Taravella and now cared for by an expert
gardening team. We started in the productive vegetable
garden – an organic, no-dig operation that cultivates
over 350 vegetables and salad varieties, and supplies the
on-site cafe and hotel. Next, we arrived at a waterlily filled
pond, where we encountered the resident population of
protected newts that inspired the estate’s new name. We
wandered on through the historic ‘colour rooms’ – each
one planted in a different hue designed to stimulate the
emotions – before arriving in an idyllic country garden,
complete with a picture-perfect thatched cottage.
Passing lawns, fountains, and stunning views galore,
we then arrived at The Newt’s remarkable Parabola – a
3,000 sqm walled garden filled with a baroque-style
maze of 460 perfectly trained apple trees, each divided by
county and intermingled with seashell-strewn pathways,
trickling streams and historically accurate planting.
It may all sound terribly impressive, and it is, but there
is no unnecessary formality here. Instead, playfulness
abounds; signs encourage guests to pick and eat an
apple should they wish, giant toad sculptures spurt water
spontaneously, and free-range chickens happily snooze
in the grass, while South African designer Porky Hefer
has created human-sized nests for visitors themselves to
curl up in. The garden design is outstanding; input and
influence has come from a variety of different people
over the years and can be seen in varying forms, ranging
from Margaret Hobhouse who elevated the gardens to a
Victorian ideal over 100 years ago, to the stunning floor
mosaics created more recently by one of the landscapers
who worked on The Newt in its infancy. It is this sum of
parts and the contribution of many that gives the gardens
their palpable sense of warmth and personality today.
Elsewhere, there is a Japanese Garden to discover,
a Victorian Fragrance Garden, and a greenhouse filled
with unimaginable cacti. You need a full day, at least, to
see it all, and I was keen not to miss the other jewel in The
Newt’s crown: cyder.
‘
Passing lawns, fountains, and stunning views galore, we then arrived at The Newt’s
remarkable Parabola – a 3,000 sqm walled garden filled with a baroque-style maze...
’
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