Hidcote: Walking Through a Living Tapestry
The Magic of Discovery
Hidcote is special. I have visited many times, at different times of year - and I never fail to come away inspired, rested and feeling sheer joy at so much beauty in the world. There are gardens you can take in at a glance, and then there are gardens that refuse to be seen all at once. Hidcote, high on a Cotswold hill above Chipping Campden, is very much in the second category. It draws you in step by step, room by room, until you are completely absorbed.
Created by Major Lawrence Johnston in the early 20th century, Hidcote is perhaps the most celebrated example of the Arts and Crafts style in gardening. Johnston was a passionate collector of plants and ideas, and here he wove them together into something that feels less like a design and more like a living tapestry.
A Garden of Rooms
The heart of Hidcote lies in its garden rooms. Enclosed by hedges or stone walls, each has its own character and mood. Step through an arch and you might find yourself in the Red Borders, blazing with scarlet and orange. Turn a corner and you enter the White Garden, calm and cool, all silvers and whites. Another path brings you to a pool, its surface still, its edges softened by planting.
It is this constant sense of discovery that makes Hidcote so compelling. You never quite know what lies ahead, and the surprise is always delightful. The rooms feel like chapters in a book, linked yet distinct, each advancing the story in a different way. When I visited in spring this year I couldn’t take my eyes off the magnolia tree - its position in the garden, the quality of the flowers, the light that day all made for an experience I still remember.
Seasons at Hidcote
I have walked Hidcote in every season and each one has its own gifts. Spring is bright with primroses, tulips and blossom, when the garden’s structure is most clearly revealed. Summer is the great crescendo, when every room is full and flourishing. Autumn brings a quieter richness: warm colours, fading borders, low light catching the seedheads. Even in winter, there is interest — the clipped hedges stand strong, the views lengthen, and the architecture of the garden carries it through.
This seasonality is part of Johnston’s genius. He gave the garden a framework strong enough to hold its shape, but also the planting to keep it alive and changing. The National Trust have worked hard to maintain that spirit of Johnson whilst gardening in a space which is full of visitors all year round. On my last visit (late August 2025) I was so sad to see the effect of the incredibly dry summer they have had in that part of the country. Borders which I last saw on the cusp of blooming looked wilted and sorry, almost ashamed of themselves. A sculpture exhibition had just been installed and this lit up the garden and accentuated the late summer flowering.
The Spirit of the Arts and Crafts
Hidcote is deeply rooted in the Arts and Crafts spirit. The use of local materials, the craftsmanship of the walls and paths, the way the garden sits within its wider Cotswold setting — all reflect that philosophy of harmony between human design and natural beauty. Johnston was not just a collector of plants; he was a craftsman of space. He didn’t just collect plants for the sake of it - he always wanted the very best examples of a species - and to put in in the right place. He wasn’t afraid of innovation or changing things around and the Trust have continued this philosophy whilst remaining true to the spirit of Hidcote.
A Garden to Return To
Perhaps what I love most about Hidcote is that it is never finished. Every visit offers something new, not because the garden changes drastically, but because your own attention shifts. One time you notice the play of light across a pool; another, the fragrance drifting from a border; another, the geometry of a hedge line.
Hidcote invites you to return, to look again, to keep discovering. That, for me, is what makes it one of the great gardens of England. It is not a single picture to be admired, but a series of experiences to be lived.
