Rock Garden
The rock garden retains its original Edwardian framework but has recently been totally renovated
The rock garden was one of the major innovations of Mrs. Jeffreys, the first member of the Oldfield family to occupy Doddington Place. It was constructed before the First World War using Kentish rag stone from a quarry near Maidstone. A series of descending pools culminate in a large pool that was restored in 2003.
Rock gardens were fashionable in Edwardian times and have been unfashionable ever since - perhaps partly because of their labour-intensiveness both in creation - with many many tons of Maidstone rag stone hauled in and positioned - and in maintenance.
Nearly a hundred years on many of the original trees and plants had become too large. The fall of a hugely dominant Atlantic glauca cedar tree in the 1987 storm had the initial effect of providing much more light, which resulted in tremendous growth, and now many shrubs and trees, such as the cypresses which from the original planting of the garden, are far too big.
During the winter of 2005/6 a programme of clearance was instigated. The project will involve removal of some of the trees and shrubs and temporary clearing of many of the plants to provide more or less a blank sheet for replanting and for greater emphasis on the shapes of the rocks. Many of the original rocks were revealed and it is once again possible to imagine what it must have looked like in its early years. (see picture on www.doddington-kent.org.uk)
The framework is that of the old rock garden. But the overall effect is now much more dramaic as several tons of additional stone have been incorporated as well as stone from a rock garden in Ireland. The series of descending pools have been restored and in addition there is a new viewing area over the largest pool. One side of the large pool has been built up to resemble a quarry face with water trickling down it.
Over the course of this (2008) summer the rock garden will be planted up with a mixture of traditional rock garden plants, grasses, shrubs and trees. There is a small section devoted to alpines.
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