I just paid a visit to Compton Acres, now regarded as one of the most important historic gardens in the UK. Located just outside Poole in Dorset, on the south coast of England, it is blessed with a mild and favoured climate, enabling the cultivation of a wide range of hardy and not so hardy plants. I have visited several times before, but not for a number of years.
Despite its importance Compton Ares was a garden in decline, almost lost and on the verge of being submerged under modern development.
The garden was created in the early s by Thomas William Simpson, an entrepreneur who had made his fortune from margarine.
The original house was surrounded by a classic English Arts and Crafts garden, and beyond that a ring of themed gardens in late Victorian Mixed Style. These included the best known Italian and Japanese gardens, the latter being perhaps the most authentic Japanese garden in the whole of Europe, created by Japanese craftsmen and horticulturists. Simpson died in , followed soon by his head gardener. The gardens were cared for by the chauffeur until sold. J Stanley Beard, a London architect bought the gardens and opened them as a tourist attraction in This involved various alterations to accommodate the large visitor numbers.
Since then they have undergone different ownerships and have coasted along, areas becoming choked by the advancement of existing planting, particularly Rhododendron ponticum. They have also been nibbled at, as areas of land have been sold off for development; not all bad as this has undoubtedly been a lifeline for the garden.
