Heale Garden

Middle Woodford, United Kingdom Established: 1911

Photo: Michael Garlick / CC BY-SA 2.0, modified.

Overview

Heale Garden is an early twentieth-century Arts and Crafts garden surrounding Heale House on the River Avon, north of Salisbury. The garden includes terraces, ponds, streams, a waterside setting and a Japanese-themed garden area. Historic England describes the site as an early twentieth-century formal garden laid out by Harold Ainsworth Peto, including a Japanese garden, around a seventeenth-century house.

History

The Hon. Louis Greville bought Heale in 1894 and began restoring the house and gardens. He employed Harold Peto of nearby Iford Manor to redesign parts of the garden. Heale Garden’s own history notes that not all of Peto’s plans were used, but his influence remains visible in the Italianate terrace overlooking the river. Greville also brought a tea house and bridge from Japan for the garden.

Historic sources give slightly different dates for Peto’s work. Historic England describes the garden broadly as early twentieth century, while other garden guides place Peto’s work around 1906–1911 or 1910.

Design features

The Japanese-themed area includes an authentic Japanese tea house and a red Nikko bridge, set within a garden of ponds, streams, waterside planting and woodland walks. The wider garden also contains terraces, a landing stage by the River Avon, old roses, formal features and Arts and Crafts planting associated with Peto’s design approach.