Threads THAT BIND

There is a fairy-tale quality about the walled garden at Hoveton Hall, from the moment the latticed Spider Gate swings open to reveal a flinted cobweb motif held captive by borders spun from gossamer-like flowers, ready to entrap dewdrops. “Walking through in early morning, you are hit by the colours of roses and peonies, dew on neatly mown grass and, more importantly, the stillness of early summer punctuated by bird song. For a short while, all your worries melt away,” says Harry Buxton who, with his wife Rachel and their four children, represents the latest generation to care for this 620-acre Norfolk estate.

The walled gardens are woven into a tapestry of woodland and farmland,