Rock Garden
The rock garden retains a strong Edwardian atmosphere.
The rock garden was one of the major innovations of Mrs. Jeffreys, the first member of the Oldfield family to occupy Doddington Place. It was constructed before the First World War using Kentish rag stone from a quarry near Maidstone. A series of descending pools culminate in a large pool that was restored in 2003.
Rock gardens were fashionable in Edwardian times and have been unfashionable ever since - perhaps partly because of their labour-intensiveness both in creation - with many many tons of Maidstone rag stone hauled in and positioned - and in maintenance.
Nearly a hundred years on many of the original trees and plants had become too large. The fall of a hugely dominant Atlantic glauca cedar tree in the 1987 storm had the initial effect of providing much more light, which resulted in tremendous growth, and now many shrubs and trees, such as the cypresses which from the original planting of the garden, are far too big.
During the winter of 2005/6 a programme of clearance was instigated. The project will involve removal of some of the trees and shrubs and temporary clearing of many of the plants to provide more or less a blank sheet for replanting and for greater emphasis on the shapes of the rocks. Many of the original rocks were revealed and it is once again possible to imagine what it must have looked like in its early years. (see picture on www.doddington-kent.org.uk)
The rock garden can be expected to remain more of a mess than usual during the early stages of the progject. We hope that you will tolerate and excuse this and come back to visit when the restoration is completed.
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