Saling Hall
The Gardens

The Gardens

History of the Gardens

Saling Hall was historically — from the 1700s backwards — a much larger estate, comprising hundreds of acres of land around Great Saling and across towards Stebbing to the west.

The gardens themselves at this point in time were relatively modest in size: a small park to the south adjoining the village; a fashionable canal formed from the historic moat of the earlier dwelling on the site; the walled garden of 1698 directly to the west; and an orchard and meadow to the north. The garden area itself was therefore around five acres or less at this time, while there was a large field to the north referred to as "Saffron Shot", likely due to the crocuses grown for saffron.

Historic map showing the extent of Saling Hall's garden in the early 1800s
The likely more modest extent of Saling Hall's garden area in use in the early 1800s

When Saling Grove was built for John Yeldham in the late 1700s, he also purchased Saling Hall and the accompanying Saling Hall Farm in 1790. By the time Bartlett Goodrich acquired Saling Grove, Saling Hall and the Farm in 1796, the much greater quantity of land accompanying Saling Hall was allocated to Saling Grove, leaving the former with an overall land area much more akin to the twelve acres it has today.

At this point the South Park of the house was formed, likely with landscaping input, such that there was a small garden courtyard directly in front of the house's south elevation and then parkland beyond, with the large duckpond a key feature therein.

The moat and surrounding area will have remained unchanged, as did the walled garden — the latter being notable in its survival directly adjacent to the house, at a time when fashion dictated moving such gardens further away. The preservation of this feature, via the reduced status of the house during this period, is today a key benefit.

The gardens will have benefited little from the multiple-occupation period of the 1800s. It was really after 1935, when Lady Isabel Carlyle acquired the house, that the gardens began to develop. Lady Carlyle was clearly a keen gardener: she laid the walled garden out ornamentally rather than for food production, and began to stretch the boundaries of the garden beyond their historically tight band around the house.

When Hugh and Judy Johnson bought Saling Hall in 1971, one of the attractions was the set of huge Elms at the house and in Great Saling more generally — the village had the country's largest trees. Following the devastating impact of Dutch Elm Disease a couple of years later, Hugh took the opportunity — also during a period of authoring seminal books on trees, alongside his similarly significant books on fine wine — to develop the large field to the north of the house, Saffron Shot, into an arboretum of rare trees, whilst also enhancing the existing gardens more generally.

Aerial view of the embryonic arboretum in the late 1970s
The embryonic arboretum in the late 1970s

During this period, in 1987, Saling Hall's gardens were listed by Historic England as a Grade II Registered Park & Garden. There are only around 1,700 such listings in England. Curiously, Great Saling is the country's only village with two Registered Parks & Gardens, as Saling Grove also holds a Grade II listing due to its association with Humphry Repton.

In 2013 Hugh and Judy left Saling Hall, the gardens transformed aesthetically and also having gained significance as an important collection of rare trees.

The arboretum seen from outside approaching the village from the west
The arboretum seen from the outside when approaching the village from the west

Following five years during which the house was empty, Matthew and Jennifer O'Connell took time to get to know the gardens before beginning a long-term enhancement scheme — including an ambitious programme of sourcing and planting rare trees. The Plant List today reflects a combination of Hugh and Judy's dedicated earlier development of the arboretum, and the more recent additions which continue on an ongoing basis, as shown by the Nursery Area section of the Plant List.

Since 2024, Matthew and Jennifer have been working closely with Jo Thompson — widely recognised as one of the country's leading landscape architects — on a long-term masterplan for the gardens, one very much aligned with Jo's romantic approach to planting and her sensitive hand when working with historic gardens.

The garden is fortunate to have the knowledgeable and talented Jack Dykes as its long-term Head Gardener, assisted by Steve Hockley.

Arboretum custodians past and present: Hugh Johnson and Matthew O'Connell deep in conversation
Arboretum custodians past and present: Hugh Johnson and Matthew O'Connell deep in conversation

The Gardens Today

Over the coming years the gardens will continue to undergo gradual change as the masterplan is executed. New rare tree plantings are undertaken each year across the full twelve acres of the estate, with the most interesting woody plants certainly not limited to the arboretum. Key areas of the gardens include:

The duckpond in South Park with a coracle in the foreground

South Park

The area south of Saling Hall's Dutch-gabled elevation has a courtyard immediately in front of the house, which opens up into parkland comprising meadow areas along with a large historical duckpond and a seasonal pond. The meadow south of the duckpond is particularly rich in new rare tree plantings.

The duckpond is home to an extensive wildfowl collection, photographs of which can be seen in the Gallery.

The moat canal with new plantings along the east bank

Moat

The moat canal runs parallel with Saling Hall's east elevation — the elevation truncated by a fire in around 1860. The easterly bank of the moat is made up entirely of new plantings with a particular focus on autumn colour.

The Walled Garden at sunset

Walled Garden

The walled garden of 1698, immediately to the west of the house — with Saling Hall's west elevation serving as the fourth wall — is listed Grade II in its own right. It is somewhat unusual in being laid out ornamentally rather than for food production.

It is notable for its deep perimeter herbaceous borders, extensive central beds and lawn areas, and a pair of particularly beautiful parasol-pruned old apple trees. The walled garden is currently undergoing a systematic replanting which will continue across the coming years.

Aerial view of the Main Arboretum

Main Arboretum

The main arboretum was historically used for saffron production and then, in the first half of the twentieth century, as a poplar plantation. Hugh Johnson landscaped the area from the mid-1970s onwards, planting it as an arboretum of rare trees whilst adding a water body — the "Red Sea" — in the north-west corner, and the Temple of Pisces folly at the northern tip.

Today the focus is primarily on developing the tree collection, whilst implementing particular elements of the landscape masterplan — including a large bank of Japanese maples at the southern end, and the enlargement of the Red Sea.

Daffodils and spring blossom in the Upper Arboretum

Upper Arboretum

The large glade above the east side of the Main Arboretum is an evocative area of the garden, with beautiful morning and evening light and a profusion of daffodils in spring. There is now a meaningful tree canopy, making this an area where more delicate rare trees are planted.

In recent years an overgrown "Long Walk" was redeveloped into a network of large beds containing interesting shrubs and small trees.

A mown path through the wildflower meadow in summer

Wildflower Meadow

In 2020, approximately two acres of the then somewhat redundant west side of the garden was sown as a wildflower meadow. Today it is established as a diverse perennial meadow and a haven for wildlife.

The edges of the meadow are proving ideal for new tree and shrub plantings, particularly an extensive area of Magnolia cultivars at the southern end.

The Oak Glade with wildflowers beneath the English Oak canopy

Oak Glade

Created from retained seedlings of the adjacent large English Oak, the Oak Glade today is a sheltered area where new understorey trees enjoy dappled shade, sharing the space with bluebells and other bulbs.