Published in Amateur Gardening magazine
The underground Edwardian gardens at Dewstow House in Monmouthshire were created in 1893. The gardens were buried just after World War II and rediscovered in 2000. Most of the restoration work is complete and the gardens which covers seven acres are open to the public.
The gardens contain many ponds and rills and interestingly a labyrinth of underground grottoes, tunnels and sunken ferneries.
Dewstow House is a Grade II listed building notable for its “network of very rare and unusual underground gardens” constructed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The house is a “simple three-bay villa” with extensive views over the Severn Estuary. Within the grounds lie one of the most extraordinary gardens in Britain, “a network of underground passages and top-light chambers with artificial rock-work and stalactites.”
The garden structures have three separate Grade II listings as a result of their importance. The rock gardens are made up of a mixture of real stone and faced stone using various types of Pulhamite. The ground level at Dewstow Gardens is spectacular with a landscaped network of rock gardens, ponds, water features ad ornamental areas.
Monika Kudaseva said: ‘It is a very lovely place with lots of fresh air and scenic views. There is an abundance of horticultural diversity: and it is a very romantic setting.’
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