Author(s): Sue Snell

Gardening general

Set in the heart of the Sussex downs, Charleston Farmhouse is the most important remaining example of Bloomsbury decorative style. But the garden, described by Virginia Woolf in 1916 as 'charming!now run rather wild' became and remained central to life in the farmhouse. The walled garden, created by Vanessa Bell and Roger Fry from the vegetable garden after the first world war, the pond, the orchard and the fields beyond, all contributed in a major sense to the creative energies of the place. And this creativity is reflected in the numerous works of art (in particular the sculpture by Vanessa and Clive Bell's son Quentin) placed around the garden to enhance, and sometimes to comment on or to provide a counterpoint to the simple but expressive planting schemes. Now, for the first time, the year-round beauty and glory of this most English but most artistic of gardens has been captured by one of Britain's leading garden photographers. The result is a book that will enchant, entertain, and remind the many thousands who visit every year, and will tempt, explain and record the splendors and the exuberance of it all for others.