Manderston - a grand garden of the Edwardian era

There are quite a few stately homes in the Scottish Borders, each having their own place in history and their own sense of style. But there’s nowhere quite like Manderston, arguably the youngest and most well-endowed of them all, and often referred to as the swansong of the great classical house.

The outstanding terrace

Built in the early 20th Century, to an unlimited budget, Manderston is still largely the same place as it was when it was built. And that, for a stately home, is not all that common. At least not for the gardens, which tend to fall victim to fashion, natural events, sheer impracticality and shortage of resources.

A haze of bluebells

The house and its contents we will leave for other commentators, but, if you get the chance to visit, do! While it has been beautifully decorated and furnished, it is not an austere residence and very much has the feel of a real, albeit large, home.

In its day, Manderston had 22 staff looking after the house alone; we don’t know how many gardeners but, judging by the complexity and size of the gardens and grounds, we believe there would have been quite a squad. But times have changed. When we visited, we counted 5 robot mowers and a very busy head gardener, preparing for the bank holiday weekend. We’re not sure there are many more in the team, but we hope, for his sake, he has more than robots for company.

Perfect placing of an Actinidia adjacent to the steps leading up to the terrace

Despite this, the gardens, particularly near the house, are generally in very good order. The grass was well- mown and edged. The hedges were very neatly clipped and the gravel was nicely raked. These things matter in a large garden, and for that matter, in small ones too. The rose and peony borders in the formal gardens were well-hoed and there were signs of restorative re-planting in a few parts of the garden.

But one gets the impression that the garden, and perhaps the house too, has reached a crossroads. There is a slightly melancholic air about the place, a sense of ‘care and maintenance until further notice’.

The loggia in the formal gardens, bedecked with roses, clematis and honeysuckle

The formal gardens, Italianate in style, are looking forlorn in places. They must have been grand in their day, horticultural displays of affluence, with some huge planters, statuary and beautiful stone- and ironwork. There is a lovely sunken garden and a brick-plinthed loggia. But the paving is uneven and desperately in need of grouting. The timber and glass of what must have been two impressive display houses (with intriguing artificial rock planters and a grotto-like pool) have been removed, leaving just the brick base and staging. This area has become a rather unkempt and neglected plant nursery with commercial irrigation all too evident - this is just not in the right place and really destroys the ambiance of the area. There is a garden with ornately- shaped formal flower beds around a very ornamental water feature. But water it hasn’t seen for a long time due to cracking. And a water feature without water is a sad thing indeed. Further, the formal beds were unplanted. Granted, early May is too early for summer bedding and the place was only open for a month, but a few tulips, polyanthus or wall-flower would have been transformational. As the gardens were only open to the public until 6th May, we wondered whether these beds would ever be planted in 2025.

The Sunken Garden, with a strong Arts & Crafts influence

We visited at the beginning of May, just two days before they closed for the season and just three weeks before their incredible rhododendron display of over 1,000 plants reaches its peak. A shame really, as one or two had started to bloom early giving a feel of what the full collection in flower around the lake must look like. A strange timing decision horticulturally but presumably scheduled around filming and exclusive-use events.

However, the bluebells approaching the house, were in flower, a whole carpet of them, a blue haze under the wonderful fresh green of newly-emerged leaves on some very impressive deciduous trees. This is quite an approach, with the house itself looming into view behind.

Round the front of the house, overlooking the lake is a beautiful terrace with impressive balustrading, mirrored lily ponds, yew and box topiary and formal beds. Not much in flower, as one might expect for the time of year, but the design of this space with the original facade of the house on one side and the lake on the other is jaw-droppingly beautiful, fitting most naturally into its surroundings.

Near the marble dairy and the photogenic home farm, there is a beautiful wisteria and some stunning magnolias, including a huge evergreen M. grandiflora, sadly not in flower at the time of our visit.

A dedicated peony border, sadly not in flower, with beautifully-trained apples.

The current Lord Hugo Palmer is a relatively young man whose primary residence is in the south of England whereas, for his late father, Manderston was home. In those days, it’s evident that the gardens were Adrian’s pride and joy, and clearly more cared-for. In the next few years, both house and garden are likely to demand much in the way of resources simply to remain as they are. One hopes the decision to focus on private, exclusive-use events and filming will secure the necessary funds for Manderston to continue to flourish. Certainly, tourism in the Scottish Borders is still a fairly small industry, and maybe stately homes are rather over-represented in this county, although it is more likely that Alnwick Castle and Gardens has exponentially greater magnetism these days. One hopes for Manderston’s future - it would be sad if we were about to witness the swan-song of the swan-song and subsequent reversion into the ugly duckling of another sanitised corporate country house hotel.

Manderston House is only occasionally open to the public. For details, please refer to their website.

A beautiful Wisteria, growing beside the doorway to the marble dairy.