Self-Fulfilling PROPHECY

Tucked down a lane in deepest Devon, between Dartmoor and the River Tamar, is what one expert described as “possibly the most breathtaking garden in the country”. An idyllic mix of naturalistic planting and more formal areas, The Garden House is home to more than 6,000 plant varieties from around the world, many of them brought back from far-flung places by the passionate gardeners who have left their individual marks on the garden like fingerprints in time.

The Garden House was the creation of Lionel and Katherine Fortescue, who moved into a former Georgian vicarage in Buckland Monachorum in the 1940s. Soon after moving in, Lionel gave the building its present name at his wife’s suggestion. He