was the life's passion of one man, self-taught gardener Lawrence Johnston who created his 'garden of rooms' here.Lawrence Johnston was born in Paris of American parents. He came to England to study at Cambridge University.

After graduating, he fought for the British Army. He was so badly wounded in the First World War that he was laid out for burial. His colleagues realised that he was still alive only after he moved slightly Johnston spent 41 years creating what would become one of England's most influential 20th-century gardens. He began work in 1907, becoming interested in making a garden out of the fields surrounding the house.

The garden was developed in the fashionable Arts & Crafts style: a series of outdoor 'rooms' offering surprises and discoveries at each turn.