This wonderful estate near Bristol will have its old secrets and recent developments revealed in an interesting study day. There may be no country house, together with its garden that better represents the High Victorian age than this remarkably intact and, until recently, very little known survival.  The National Trust opened the house to the public, cobwebs and all, within ten weeks of the purchase in the summer of 2002. Restoration and conservation work that has
followed a substantial Heritage Lottery Fund grant continues. Largely rebuilt in 1864, has proved to be a warm and welcoming house of superlative craftsmanship and a serious interpretation of the Gothic Revival by the architect John Norton and a review of the influence of Augustus Pugin and John Ruskin and of the High Church Movement. The gardens, too, are full of delights, having been mainly laid out by William and Blanche Gibbs around 1850, featuring plants from James Veitch and benefitting from the advice of Alexander Roos. Four generations of the Gibbs family continued to care for Tyntesfield and the contribution of each is fascinating, the stubborn maintenance of the gardens by the last generation being of particular interest to us.

Thanks to the ongoing restoration, one can still see several gazebos, an Italian loggia, cedars, azaleas, Portuguese laurels and a large kitchen garden. There is a continuing sense of discovery at Tyntesfield, whether from research, the letters of past employees or visitors, or the sudden appearance of rare orchids in the lawn near the house.

Morning: at the Sawmill, the NT’s beautifully renovated conference centre with speakers including

Francis Greenacre author of the National Trust's guidebook to the house.

Kath Campbell-Hards, the building surveyor who has been working on the garden buildings and ornaments, now substantially restored.

Paul Evans, Head Gardener who knows every inch of the grounds

Afternoon:  tour of the gardens with volunteer gardener and unguided visit of the house. National Trust members: free; non-members: normal charges apply.

Cost: £40, limited number of places available for full-time students at £15

Cheques payable to The Association of Gardens Trusts,

to be sent to 70 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EJ

Phone/Fax  020 7251 2610 E-mail: gardenstrusts@agt.org.uk

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