Marks Hall Estate

What makes a good arboretum? I have no idea, but what I do know is that this place has it.

I found myself with a couple of days off and in a lockdown-eased Britain at my disposal. What we craved more than anything was some wide-open space, fresh air and long-ish drive to listen to some good music.

I turned to the Gardener's World for some inspiration. Sadly we didn't remember to pick up the 2-for-1 reusable card for 2020, owed mainly to COVID as we figured our opportunity to visit more of the gardens and properties near us would be fairly limited.

Nevertheless, GW delivered and I came across Marks Hall Estate. The estate lies between Braintree and Chelmsford in the town of Coggeshall, Essex. The site comprises the former grounds of a Jacobean country house owned by the Markshall family in the 12 century, before changing hands a couple of times until its eventual demolition in 1950, having fallen into a state of disrepair in post-war Britain.

The house and estate has a rich history which is highlighted on appropriately placed information boards, peppered along the paths around the gardens. Today the site is a popular wedding venue.

Arriving at Marks Hall Estate you are greeted with set of black-wood clad buildings - admissions booth, restaurant and a bijou garden centre. Having paid we set off to discover what MHE had to offer us, following the below map provided free of charge.

The gardens are split into curated zones which feature trees and other woody stemmed plants from all manner of biomes. The map suggests a number of different routes depending on what you care to see as a visitor but also on the time of year that the given area is at its best.

After meandering through the initial open grassland, punctuated with trees, we were lead to the lakes which are nestled between a 'Millennium Walk' and nuttery* on one bank, the walled garden on the other. We decided to stick to the right hand side of the lake and proceeded through the Walk and then following the path of the stream to the memorial site.

*This day I learnt this is the official term for an orchard of nut producing trees.

This route was framed with stunning, ancient trees which evoked a sense of sacredness. I, at times, felt awestruck to be in the presence of such impressive organisms. No more so than the Honywood Oak. Located on the west side of the book, the 800 year old specimen is one of the last remaining survivors of the 300 of so oaks which used to comprise the 130 acre deer park that now forms the Arboretum. With a 28 ft diameter trunk, it is a most impressive sight and gives pause for thought about what trees like this have borne witness to across their lifespans.

Most exciting of all for me was 'Gondwanaland'. It's name derived from the supercontinent Gondwana that existed from the Neoproterozoic until the Jurassic period which included modern-day South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, the Indian Subcontinent, Zealandia and Arabia.

This zone sports specimens from much of this collection of land masses, presented and planted delicately to create stunning vistas from any view point. It is difficult to not be swept up in this landscape and begin searching for koala bears amongst the eucalyptus.

Particularly mesmerising was the bark of the eucalyptus' which already existed on my list of 'must-have' plants in my future garden but after visiting Marks Hall Estate they are now perhaps even further up the list than they once were. Some specimens so beautiful that their trunks looked as though they had been hand-painted.

Underplanted with a myriad of grasses and other southern-hemisphere plants such as Agapanthus, this fantastic combination went a long way to embed these trees into the landscape.

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Before heading back towards the entrance someway away, we stopped by the walled garden. The former Victorian/Edwardian kitchen garden, now host to a number of different garden spaces, is divided by yew and hornbeam hedges and filled with drifts of grasses, summer flowering-perennials and beautiful flowering shrubs.

We did feel that some of the design elements whilst admirable in their achievements seemed a bit passé and we would have personally enjoyed seeing the garden used for its original purposes as a productive yet decorative space.

Overall I would definitely recommend a visit here if you are looking to stretch your legs and get some fresh air. Entry was £6.00 (£6.60 with Gift Aid) with access to the entire site. Parking is free and plentiful.

https://www.markshall.org.uk/