| Gatton Park - Surrey's Best Kept Secret |
| Gatton Park is a 250 acre parkland estate which is mentioned in the Domesday book. It has many features of outstanding natural beauty and it is just 20 miles south of the centre of London. Better still - it is just 250 yards from my front door. Here are some photos I took of various activities and flora to be found within the park. |
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| Gatton Hall At the centre of Gatton Park with a commanding view over the Lake is the imposing building of Gatton Hall. Rebuilt in 1934 following a fire which razed the old hall and all its art treasures to the ground. The top floor windows are obscured by an extra two courses of masonry - ordered by Sir Jeremiah Coleman (Coleman's Mustard) when he found out that his servants could see into the Guest bedrooms from the lawn! |
| For the Official Gatton Park Website - visit www.gatton-park.org.uk |
| 250 acres of parkland including about 30 acres of woodland, a 30 acre lake, a canal, smaller lakes and ponds, formal gardens, wilderness, paddocks, stables, recreation fields, woodland and lakeside walks - so much to do. Gatton Park is open to the general public only on the first Sunday of each month. |
| The Recently Restored Japanese Garden and some pink flowers breaking through the snow |
| A recent bonfire used to help clear woodland waste and recreate a clearing in the undergrowth. |
| The Japanese Garden built in 1911, fell into disrepair for over 50 years until restored in 1999 by Gatton Park Conservation Volunteers. The restoration project featured on Channel 4's "Lost Gardens" series. It's hard to believe that these ponds were 6' below the silt and the whole area was a jungle of fallen trees and undergrowth. There are other formal gardens at Gatton, including a Rock Garden with ponds, and a "Lost World Garden" yet to be resored. Restoration work is undertaken by Conservation Volunteers on Sundays, and major schemes co-ordinated with the School. |
| The West side of the Lake - just before sunset on March 4th 2001. After a long, hard day clearing woodland to help make it more accesible to the public, what a view to take in on the walk home. |
| All photos Copyright (c) Ken Boak 2001 |
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| Much of the conservation work at Gatton Park involves tidying up dead wood from the woodland areas. The only way to deal with this valuable resource, currently is to burn it. Sadly, the loss of all this firewood is beginning to play on my conscience, and so I am investigating charcoal burning as a means of getting a greater benefit from the waste wood. Here are a couple of the bonfires which we have had over the last few weekends. The larger timbers are about 4' long and 4" in diameter. |
| Gatton Park is owned by the Royal Alexandra & Albert School. The hall is used to host conferences and for special occasions. Gatton Park Conservation Volunteers and Gatton Park Educational Trust work in conjunction with the School to offer wider access to the park and its educational facilities. |