A brief history of the gardens
The history of the cultivated estate can be divided into three documented phases: the formal garden of the first half of the 18th century, as recorded in Rocque's map of 1745; the more picturesque landscape from the 1st Earl of Mansfield's time, as painted (with some imagination) by John Wootton in 1755; and the landscape remodelled by the 2nd Earl of Mansfield in 1793-6 and completed by the 3rd Earl, largely to Humphry Repton's Designs.
The landscape was designed to be seen from a planned circuit walk that provided a series of evocative views, contrasts and "surprises" for which Repton was well known. One of today's greatest and most delightful "surprises" is to find this gentleman's estate complete with farm, dairy, stables, kitchen garden, lakes, woods and meadows still surviving so close to the centre of London.
Bordered on three sides by Hampstead Heath, the Kenwood estate, having been maintained as a designed landscape until the 1950s, has a different character from the Heath. In recent years, over-competitive species have taken over and Kenwood began to resemble a 'wild' heath loosing the balanced collection of contrasts between grassland, woodland and wetland. Current restoration seeks a more balanced variety, so that wild flowers, trees, animals and wildfowl may all flourish.
Kenwood is Grade II* on the English Heritage 'Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest'.
Garden highlights
- A historic landscaped park with beautifully sloping lawns and lakes.
- The walled garden with its kidney shaped butterfly bed.
- The Ivy arch, leading from flower garden to a raised terrace with stunning views over the lakes. The contrast is dramatic and is one of Repton's famous 'surprises'.
- Inner and outer circuit routes around lawns, over bridges and through woods follow almost all of the original walks laid out by the 2nd Earl on Repton's advice for viewing the landscape.
- Hay meadows on the western side bloom white with Pignut (Conopodium majus) in May, turning pink with Yorkshire fog (Holcus lanatus) in June and July.
- The ornamental Flower Garden which lies to the west of the house features a lawn with side borders of rhododendron and azaleas which provide a blaze of colour in May.
- The Brew House café garden was designed by Landscape Architect, Arabella Lennox-Boyd.
Rare and unusual plants
The Specimen Handkerchief Tree, 'Davidia involucrata', has creamy bracts that resemble folded handkerchiefs. Large, old Swamp Cypress, 'Taxodium distichum', stand out like church spires in the hay meadow whilst 'Zelkovaserrata', a member of the elm family, colours yellow, orange and red in the autumn. In May and June the Rhododendron plantings in the Flower Garden and lining the walk up to the Dairy provide a dramatic spectacle. The frost tender 'Crinodendron hookerianum' bears unusual red flowers in May.
Wildlife and wild areas
About one third of Kenwood is a site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to its semi-natural ancient woodlands. Here standing deadwood and over mature trees provide homes for over 750 species of invertebrates (beetles and other insects) including five Red Data Book Species and nine Nationally Scarce Species, which attract many woodpeckers, nuthatch and tree creepers.
Four species of bats roost on the site, which boasts the largest Pipistrelle bat maternity roost in London. Trees include Sessile Oak, Beech, Mountain Ash, Holly and Wild Service. There is also a small 'Sphagnum' bog and a wide variety of other interesting wood and meadow habitats.
For more information on endangered wildlife and habitats visit the Natural England web page.
