Great Dixter facts for kids
Great Dixter is a special house and garden located in Northiam, a village in East Sussex, England. It was built between 1910 and 1912 by a famous architect named Edwin Lutyens. He took an old house from the 1400s that was already there and combined it with another similar old house brought from Benenden, Kent. Then, he added his own new parts to create the Great Dixter we see today. The house is a very important historical building, listed as Grade I. The garden is also very famous for its beautiful plants and is listed as Grade I in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
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The Story of Great Dixter House
The original house on this spot was called Dixter and was built in the mid-1400s. In 1909, a businessman named Nathaniel Lloyd bought it. He had an idea to make it much bigger. He found another old house from the 1500s in Kent that looked similar. This second house was carefully taken apart and moved to Northiam.
Architect Edwin Lutyens then combined these two old houses with his own new designs. This created the much larger home we now know as Great Dixter. It was designed to look like a romantic medieval manor house. It even has rooms like a great hall, a parlour, a solar (a private living room), and a yeoman's hall.
Exploring the Famous Great Dixter Garden
Nathaniel Lloyd and Edwin Lutyens started creating the garden at Great Dixter. However, it was Lloyd's son, Christopher Lloyd, who made the garden truly famous. Christopher was a well-known garden writer and television personality.
The garden is designed in the Arts and Crafts style. This means it combines natural beauty with skilled craftsmanship. You can find amazing topiary (plants shaped into fun forms), a very long flower border, an orchard, and a wild flower meadow. The garden is full of plants, but it's also very organized. Christopher Lloyd was known for trying new and bold ideas with plant shapes, colors, and combinations.
Today, the garden is looked after by Fergus Garrett. He worked closely with Christopher Lloyd until Christopher passed away in 2006. Fergus has continued to add new and exciting ideas to the garden's planting.
Other Buildings at Great Dixter
In the grounds of Great Dixter, you can also find three oast houses. These buildings, dating from the 1700s, were once used to dry hops for making beer. They are all under one roof. There is also a large barn from the 1400s. These buildings are also important historical structures, listed as Grade II*.
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The entrance porch
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Close-up of the porch details
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The front door inside the porch
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The historic oast houses
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Roof beams inside the thatched barn
How Great Dixter is Managed Today
Great Dixter house and garden are open for visitors from late March to late October each year. There is also a plant nursery that is open all year round.
In 2003, Christopher Lloyd set up the Great Dixter Charitable Trust. He did this to make sure the property would be looked after and preserved even after he was gone. A big part of the trust's work is education. They offer student placements and scholarships every year. This helps teach people the special skills needed to manage such a detailed and complex garden. The trust also holds study days, workshops, and lectures often.
