The old cliché about the British loving their gardens is true, and many enjoy visiting the many grand and beautiful examples in the UK. I often find myself craning my neck trying to peep into somebody's private lands, just to admire the form and planting.

Fortunately for us nosy parker garden lovers, there's a national garden scheme that allows many of our usually private gardens to be visited for one or two days a year, with the proceeds going to charity. Yearly, around 500,000 visitors choose from around 3,600 gardens, with over £2m going to various charities (many of which are for cancer care).

During the last open day during the August Bank Holiday on the last Monday of August, I was in Wales visiting my parents. During a lunch in the local country pub, we noticed a sign confirming the gardens of Cefntilla, near Usk in Monmouthshire, was open for the day. My father immediately perked up as this was an estate house he had long wanted to have a poke around; it is home to Baron (Lord) Raglan.

Lord Raglan

History buffs generally have a rather unkind image of the first Baron Raglan. It was he that led the British Army during the failed Battle of the Crimean in the 1850's. Raglan made some poor choices over battle tactics, and worse, ordering too few warm clothes for his men, and refusing to buy firewood and banning fires during the bitterly cold winter. As a result, most of the army were too sick to fight.

One interesting story about Raglan was that in battle at Waterloo, he lost his arm. Raglan demanded that it be fetched to him, as his hand had a ring on it that had been given to him by his wife. Raglan was obviously a man of a British stiff upper lip, but still in touch with his romantic side!

When Raglan died of illness during the Crimean, his supporters and admirers clubbed together to buy and renovate a farmhouse that used to be in his family, along with a couple of hundred acres of farmland. This is Cefntilla. My Welsh is rather rusty, but I believe the estate is pronounced as Kef-En-Tilla.

Although much renovated when bought for Raglan's family, Cefntilla has a little landmark in history as the place where the last castle standing for the King (Raglan Castle) was brought down by treaty during the English Civil War in the 1640's.

The Gardens

The gardens are down a suitably impressive long driveway. I was unsurprised to find the fifth Lord Raglan, a rather elderly duffer in his 80's, sitting in a small plastic marquee selling the £3.50 entrance tickets. I know that the owners of the houses in the national gardens scheme often like to enjoy the atmosphere of the day.

Unfortunately, the private education of the Lord seemed to be lacking in arithmetic. Once we had convinced him that four £3.50 tickets were £14 rather than the £10.50 he had calculated, we were on our way.

The gardens themselves are quite small, being perhaps 5-6 acres in size, and maintained by Lord Raglan and a couple of part time helpers. Surrounding the gardens are around 300 acres of farm and woodland.

The main feature of the garden is the fishponds; extensively extended, so that the local fire brigade can use the water to put out any potential fire at the house. Indeed the ponds proved so fascinating for one elderly visitor that she ended up discovering just how deep they are. By the look of her bedraggled state, she discovered the bottom some 9 feet under!

I always love the water lilies and there are some nice healthy specimens in these ponds - it's just a pity our 10-foot pond wouldn't cope with such large leaves. I think the arched bridge (think Monet), would also be over the top in our garden! The surroundings of mature woodland set off the pond beautifully.

Unfortunately, one plant that doesn't impress me is the rose, and of course with my luck, the rose garden is Cefntilla's pride and joy. The rose garden is at the front of the house, surrounded by a lovely ornate old low wall, and originally planted in the 1600's. Unfortunately, the huge effort in keeping these delicate but unattractive bushes for their over showy flower display for just a couple of weeks a year loses me.

Another more attractive area of the garden is the nicely trimmed and manicured evergreens at the side of the house. These set off the lovely old stone house beautifully. We found plenty of seating dotted around which was very handy to enable my elderly father to take his breath every now and then. It was also a good excuse to enjoy the view of the house from different settings.

The House

The house itself is a wonderful building, and I just wished that as well as the gardens, we could take a peep inside.

As it was, I had to be content with enjoying the old stonework, and the wonderful old stone courtyard and stables at the back of the main house, commandeered for the day by the great and good of the local church, who were selling home baked cakes and cups of tea there.

I particularly like the large number of different roof levels and long chimney pots on Cefntilla House, which gives the place a very gothic look. Although the house isn't huge, it is certainly imposing.

The ornate stone front porch of the house has an inscription, which tells the story of the farmhouse being donated to the family. It must be a bittersweet sight, knowing that the house came because of the regard held for a forefather, against the knowledge that charity houses you.


Directory

Unfortunately, Cefntilla isn't open permanently, but the Lord told us it does open for a couple of events each year, including the National Gardens Scheme at the end of August. The interior of the house unfortunately isn't in a suitable condition to show people round.

While Cefntilla isn't one of the great must-see gardens in Britain, it is a lovely place to spend an hour or two should you be in the area.

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cr01 asserts his right to be associated as the author of this review -2008-

Anyone not able to wait until the next open day can take a look at some pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cr01/sets/72157607279408832/

Given as we didn't expect to visit Cefntilla, this is a British Find in the true sense of the word, and as such is worthy of entry into Barbara's excellent write off.


Recommended: Yes