Myddelton House

8th February 2022

Myddelton House Gardens is the hidden gem in the crown of North London gardens. The life-long home of E A Bowles was a recipient of the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2011 and restored to tell the story of the famous botanist's life and gardening style.

Many of the features that Bowles created remain, such as the rock garden and an Alpine meadow, inspired by Bowles' plant hunting holidays in the Pyrenees mountains. The intriguingly curved lawn which runs down the middle of the garden, bookended by two bridges over grass, neither of them leading anywhere useful, was a branch of the New River running through Myddelton House to fill up the pond. Another feature is his so-called "lunatic asylum" of horticultural oddities, including the corkscrew hazel (Corylus avellana 'Contorta'), an unusually warped pine tree, extra spiky 'hedgehog holly', and an upright ivy bush. Once word spread, other gardeners sent Bowles cuttings of their own 'demented' plants for his collection.

The old Enfield market cross was salvaged to become the centrepiece of the rose garden. Parts of the medieval London Bridge have been in the gardens for some time. Around the garden are a number of round stone balls that are in fact medieval shots, used in catapult-style weapons. They were acquired by Bowles when they were discovered by a friend of his, after being uncovered by coastal erosion in Sandgate in Kent.