Celebrate 30 years of Cressing’s Tudor walled garden this summer

The existing walled garden at Cressing Temple Barns dates to the second half of the 16th century. It was built by Sir John Smyth and his family, along with a Tudor mansion and the granary, when they purchased Cressing Temple in 1539.

Sir John, who was Baron of the Exchequer at the time, benefitted from the Reformation and redistribution of the Church’s wealth at the end of Henry VIII’s reign.

Cressing Temple at the time would have been a farming estate of moderate size and wealth, with 800 aces of arable land and pasture for 32 cattle and 600 sheep.

The Tudor garden was built to serve the everyday needs of the residents of the manor, as well as providing somewhere for the owners to relax and entertain guests.

It covered an area of 0.6 acres, was rectangular in shape and enclosed by nine-foot-high protective red brick walls. On the south side it was joined to the chapel and Tudor cellar, forming a small courtyard where residents could enter directly from the house.

The estate was sold at the end of the Civil War in 1646. Over the next 300 years it changed hands several times and we know the Tudor manor house was demolished during the 18th century – as it does not appear on an estate map dated 1794.

The walled garden was cultivated as a kitchen garden, serving the needs of the different tenant farmers who lived in the 16th century farmhouse and ran the estate.

When Essex County Council purchased the site in 1987 it was owned by the Cullens, a well known Essex family who farmed the land as seed merchants.

Essex County Council set out to develop the site for Cressing Temple Barns, including the walled garden, as a focal point for the historic heritage of Essex. Excavations were carried out in the walled garden over a four year period in the 1990s.

Very little of the original Tudor layout survived the centuries of alteration and re-digging. However, some herringbone pathways and the remains of a raised brick walkway along the entire length of the eastern wall were discovered.

This suggested it originally may have been laid out as a pleasure garden with a Tudor formal design, perhaps including an arbour and fountain similar to the ones it has now.

Two landscape architects, John Hunter and Martin Wakelin, were commissioned to produce a design for the new garden. Sandra Nicholson, a garden historian from Writtle College, researched the plants of the period and developed the new planting plans.

Using the earliest books published on plants and gardening, old estate records, manuscript illustrations and medieval woodcut images, a structural design of the garden began to emerge.

Finally, a modern interpretation of a typical Tudor garden, informative and practical as a heritage site, was created.

Since opening in 1995, the walled garden has been a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of herbs and plants of the Tudor period and a visual delight for the casual visitor.

The garden is well stocked with information boards and plant labels, giving interesting snippets and anecdotes, providing visitors with a glimpse of everyday life and telling the stories of the plants and people from that fascinating period of English history.

Today its maintained by head gardeners Rebecca Ashbey and Alison Warwick and supported by an enthusiastic and dedicated group of garden volunteers.