These Japanese Gardens, Designed At Gatton Park In 1909, Were Lost For 50 Years

Tucked away in acres of Surrey parkland on the Gatton estate lies a Japanese Garden that once was ‘lost’ for over 50 years.

Yes, you heard that right – this beautiful garden, originally designed in 1909, became completely abandoned until the late 20th Century when it was reconstructed back to its former glory.

Now celebrating the 25th year since its restoration, I decided to travel down to Reigate in Surrey to visit this small, unique garden and to find out more about how it was rediscovered.

The Gatton Park Trust & The ‘Lost Garden’

“It’s a long way back now that our charity first began volunteering in 1995,” shares the Head of the Gatton Trust Louise Miller.

“At that time, someone living on the estate who was fascinated by the history here approached a television production company who were planning on transforming historic gardens in only five days.

“Luckily we were selected to be one of those gardens.”

“The Japanese Garden at Gatton Park was originally commissioned by Jeremiah Coleman, the great mustard man, in the early 1900s,” explains Dan Ryan, the Head Gardener at Gatton Park.

“He sadly passed away in 1941 and the estate was disbanded, which meant that, unfortunately, the gardens were lost for many decades.

“It wasn’t until the Gatton Trust was formed in the 1990s that the interest in the gardens started to take shape again.”

“Before the restoration process, you wouldn’t have been able to see anything here,” he continues.

“It would have been completely overgrown and the plants were completely out of sight.

“It looked like a swampy mess, so the ponds had to be dug out and redesigned, as was the tea hut and cascade.”

Features Of The Japanese Garden

“The garden isn’t an authentic Japanese garden per se because it doesn’t show the same qualities as some of the specific gardens from Japan at the time,” Dan says.

“However, it has those elements that you’d expect to see in a Japanese garden, such as the bridge, the flowing water, the lanterns and acers.

“That’s what gives it its character, so we try to manage it now as an Edwardian interpretation of a Japanese garden rather than the real deal.

“Every Japanese garden should have a tea hut, and ours is one of the key features in the garden landscape,” he adds.

“When you’re stood up underneath it, you get the best view of the garden itself as you are looking over it.

“My favourite view from here is to look across towards the bridge, as you get the reflection in the water and the fantastic stems of those Japanese black pines.”

“One of the more recent features of our Japanese garden here is the glade of flowering cherry trees that we planted about three years ago,” continues Dan.

“We planted 100 trees that were donated by the Japanese Embassy which included three different flowering varieties to give the breadth of interest over the spring.

“The variety flowering here at the moment is Prunus × yedoensis ‘Somei-Yoshino’ and it’s one of the most widely planted flowering cherries in Japan.

“It’s an early pink, flowering cherry that will be followed by two other varieties.”

Spring Highlights

“We’re in early spring at the minute and things are just starting to take off in the garden,” shares Dan.

“We’ve already had Snowdrops, so now the Daffodils are now just coming through. You can also see Primroses which are starting to carpet around the back of the garden.

“These are then followed by Hellebores, which I love. They have that beautiful open bell-shaped flower and then the nice architectural leaves that remain on the plant throughout the summer.”

“One of my favourite little plants in the garden is the Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’,” he states.

“It’s a fantastic dwarf flowering cherry and at the minute it just looks perfect, with beautiful, delicate flowers. Come summertime when the flowers go, you’ll barely even notice it, but right now, it’s got a nice little charm.”

Discover More

“Looking after the garden is a privilege and seeing it develop over during my time here has been great,” says Dan.

“We’ve come a long way I think in the last 25 years since the restoration of the garden and hopefully that’ll carry on right into the future.”

Gatton Park is a private garden that is open on selected days throughout the year.

To find out more about the open days and when you can visit, make sure to visit their website.