Medieval secrets, new ideas Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire
THE great cedar that stands to one side of Canons Ashby, home of the Dryden family for nearly 500 years, is the last of six that were planted in 1780. Luckily, this one was well placed, but another, planted much too close by, died and four others were squeezed in on either side of the central flight of steps leading down from the top terrace. Photographs from the 1880s show that these hid much of the house and anyone standing on the doorstep would find branches obscuring the most dramatic view the garden offers.
This leads down three grassed terraces towards a fine pair of Baroque gates and along what, in the 1880s, was a double avenue of
