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The Gardens

Sharpham has been a dwelling since the 14th century but the present Palladian Mansion was built in the 1760s.

The gardens have been through many changes over the years and are set in a Lancelot Capability Brownian landscape. There are 19th century pleasure gardens around the house and the formal terraced gardens were designed by Percy Cane in the 1960s.

Ruth and Maurice Ash bought the Sharpham Estate in 1962, and Ruth especially put much time and effort into rejuvenating and developing the present Grade II* listed landscape.

The Percy Cane garden has been refreshed into a Tea Garden, stocked with medicinal herbs for well-being, thanks to funding from the Devon Gardens Trust and the work of Head Gardener Bryony Middleton and her team. See the story here:


The gardens today are beautiful AND productive: people staying on retreat at The Barn work in the vegetable gardens there, and our gardeners with volunteer help tend the produce growing in the 18th century Walled Garden behind Sharpham House.

Our gardens and grounds

Our Walled GardenWalled Garden at Sharpham House

The present walled kitchen garden has the remains of several greenhouses, including three that were sunken and heated by hot water circulated in large pipes that are still visible. The old boiler is still in place below ground nearby. The present greenhouse was built around 1985 and grows grapes, peaches and nectarines.

In the 1960s, a swimming pool was built in part of the Walled Garden and the old potting shed was turned into the changing rooms. The circular pool outside the Walled Garden is all that survives from a 19th century flower garden.

View of Percy Cane garden when it was redesigned in summer 2021The Percy Cane Garden

Thanks to investment from the Trust and funding from Devon Gardens Trust, the Percy Cane Garden has been refreshed into a place where fragrant tea & tisane herbs grow.

Head Gardener Bryony Middleton has preserved Cane's Italianate look, with the incredible view to the River Dart, re-planting the quartered beds with a variety of herbal plants which will support retreatant's journeys while they stay at Sharpham. Find out more here and read a piece about the renovation here.

Woodland gardensWoodland Garden at Sharpham House

We do not know when the Woodland Garden was established, however, the Ash family developed and extended it in the 1960s and 70s. The lower part of it was a Victorian pinetum and there are still several fine specimen trees there. In the last few years, we have removed large areas of overgrown Rhododendron Ponticum and Cherry Laurel and are currently redesigning some of the newly opened up areas.

Sharpham orchardsOrchards

Two orchards have been planted since 2000, designed by Ben Pike, Sharpham's former gardener. Grand Sultan, Sops in Wine and Doll's Eye are just some of the lovely quirky and playful names of the apple varieties that grow here.

The Barn gardensMeditation retreats at The Sharpham Trust

Retreatants practice mindful gardening daily at The Barn - helping to produce organic food to be prepared, cooked and eaten there. Polytunnels help to provide food all-year-round there.

For more information about this page, contact

Name: Head Gardener Bryony Middleton
Email: [email protected]