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Hortus goes to Benton end and beyond | One room left

4 days | £2495 per person | 2 - 5 June 2025

Gardens of Suffolk & Essex including Cedric Morris’s iris garden and Beth Chatto’s garden

Suffolk is a quintessentially English county of gentle rolling farmland, thatched cottages and moated halls that have famously inspired native artists Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable. It should come as no surprise therefore that artist Cedric Morris moved here in the 1930s with his life-long partner Arthur Lett-Haines. Together they set up an artists’ school, ending up at Benton End where Morris was able to indulge his love of gardening and plants. He started to breed Iris in particular which led to the famous range of Benton Irises, now grown with great success by Sarah Cook at her home at Hullwood Barn. Among the many artists and gardeners gathering at Benton End was Beth Chatto who was later to acknowledge the influence of Morris on her own life. This tour includes Beth Chatto’s garden, as well as other wonderful gardens such as Columbine Hall and Helmingham Hall. The tour will be hosted by Charles Fox of Glendurgan in Cornwall - himself an artist, gardener and garden designer – and led by Sophie Piebenga, well-known to Hortus readers. We are accommodated for the three nights at the iconic Swan Hotel, a half-timbered, fifteenth-century building set in the heart of Lavenham, the county’s most beautiful medieval village: a stylish, comfortable hotel with fine food and a peaceful ambience.

Day to day Itinerary

Day 1

The tour commences at The Swan Hotel in Lavenham or Manningtree Railway Station for those getting the train. We then drive together by coach to a private garden on the Shotley peninsula where the present owners have called upon leading designers, notably Tom Stuart-Smith and Christopher Bradley-Hole, to help make a vibrant modern garden in an ancient setting overlooking the Stour estuary. After lunch we visit Benton End where Cedric Morris and Lett Haines set up their artists’ school in the late 1930s. After a period of neglect, Benton End is now managed by the Garden Museum and has been given a new lease of life. We will enjoy a detailed guided tour of both house and garden. We travel on to The Swan in Lavenham where we will join for dinner.

Day 2

Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury combines the childhood home of Thomas Gainsborough – a Grade I-listed eighteenth-century Merchant house and its historic garden – with impressive new exhibition galleries. A separate room in the house is devoted to the work of Cedric Morris. After a private, guided tour there will be free time to further explore the museum and its garden, or perhaps take a walk to Sudbury’s water meadows, and find some lunch in the ancient market town. In the afternoon we make our way to Hullwood Barn, home of Sarah Cook and Jim Marshall. Sarah (ex-Kew, former Head Gardener at Sissinghurst Castle) is the authority on the Benton End Irises and will take us through her large collection at Hullwood Barn which should hopefully be at their best. Ex-National Trust Gardens Advisor Jim Marshall’s collection of Malmaison carnations is equally impressive. This evening Sarah and Jim will join us for dinner at The Swan in Lavenham.

Day 3

We start with a private garden laid out by Suffolk-based garden designer Janey Auchencloss with a colourful cutting garden, luscious rose garden and well-managed kitchen garden. A more recent development is the large pond set in acres of wildflower meadows which should be at their peak. We go on to the moated, romantic Columbine Hall. Here garden designer George Carter advised owners Hew Stevenson and the late Leslie Geddes-Brown on the lay-out of the garden which includes pleached lime and hornbeam hedges. A delicious lunch will be served in the ancient black feather-boarded barn overlooking the richly planted kitchen garden. Helmingham Hall has been the home of the Tollemache family since the 1400s and is set in impressive parkland with ancient oaks. The Head Gardener will give us a special guided tour of the beautifully maintained, walled and moated gardens which have been redeveloped by Lady Xa Tollemache who was ‘made a gardener and then an award winning designer by moving to Helmingham Hall’ in the 1970s.

Day 4

After a free morning to explore the medieval wool cloth town of Lavenham with its 300plus listed buildings, we are invited to lunch by Lucy Bartlett at her home at Polstead Mill. Here the River Box, feeding the mill race and pond, runs through the garden, separating the flower-filled borders around the eighteenth-century house from the meadow and walled kitchen garden. We finish this tour with a visit to the famous Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens which would not be there today if it wasn’t for Cedric Morris who advised Beth Chatto to find a good site to make a real garden. Today her garden is well-known for, amongst others, its inspirational dry gravel garden; there is also an excellent nursery. Return to Manningtree Railway station and The Swan Hotel in Lavenham.

The Swan at Lavenham Hotel & Spa

The Swan is a charming luxury hotel in the centre of historic Lavenham, from cosy rooms and warming fires to tranquil spa escapes, the hotel is a welcoming retreat. Originally built in the 15th century, the hotel is perfectly positioned for garden enthusiasts with many nearby gems.

Price Per Person: £2495

Single Supp: £295

Deposit: £350

Departure Dates:

2 - 5 June 2025

Duration:

3 nights / 4 days

Your Holiday Includes:

Three nights bed and breakfast at The Swan at Lavenham
Private coach transfers and excursions
Three evening meals and four lunches
Services of the Tour Host and Tour Leader
Guided visits to sites listed in the programme
Detailed programme and garden notes
All entrance fees, taxes, and gratuities for coach drivers and serving staff

Tour Lecturers

Charles Fox

Charles Fox comes from a long line of gardeners who are responsible for the creation of at least three remarkable Cornish gardens: Penjerrick, Trebah and Glendurgan. In the early 1990s Charles qualified twice as a garden designer, at Kew Gardens with Merit. Since that time he has led many garden tours in the south west, and having lived in Cornwall most of his life is well qualified to talk about the county's history. He has written one book about Glendurgan, the property where he and his family now live, and which was given to the National Trust in 1962.

Sophie Piebenga

Born in The Netherlands and based in the Cotswolds, our expert Sophie Piebenga has lived most of her life in the UK. Trained with the National Trust and qualified at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, all whilst working as head gardener of a private estate, Sophie quickly developed a particular interest in the conservation of historic gardens. This eventually led to a doctoral study at the University of York, researching the work of the early Victorian landscape gardener, William Sawrey Gilpin. Sophie has since worked freelance, mostly in the field of historic landscape conservation, and, for the last 25 years, has regularly led Boxwood tours around the UK and to Ireland, France, Spain and The Netherlands.