0:00:05 > 0:00:08Four iconic English gardens.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11Each is the product of one moment in history
0:00:11 > 0:00:15and each one gives us a fascinating window into the century
0:00:15 > 0:00:18in which they were made and the people who created them.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Much more than just a history of gardening,
0:00:22 > 0:00:27these are extraordinary tales of escape, social ambition,
0:00:27 > 0:00:29heartbreak,
0:00:29 > 0:00:31downfall and disaster.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35In unravelling these remarkable stories,
0:00:35 > 0:00:39we reach back over the centuries to see these four great gardens
0:00:39 > 0:00:42through fresh eyes and gain a greater understanding
0:00:42 > 0:00:44of their real significance.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Nymans is situated on top of a hill
0:01:05 > 0:01:08overlooking the picturesque Sussex Weald.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13The garden is the creation of three generations
0:01:13 > 0:01:15of one highly creative family.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18With its roots in the 19th century,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Nymans went on to become one of the most fashionable
0:01:21 > 0:01:24and romantic gardens of the Edwardian and interwar years.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29One of the critical transformations that takes place
0:01:29 > 0:01:32in the life of this garden is the change from high Victoriana
0:01:32 > 0:01:36into Edwardian style gardens.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40By the time the Edwardian era came along,
0:01:40 > 0:01:45it was about compartmentalisation, creating spaces that were usable.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48They were human, they were spaces in which to entertain,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51they were spaces in which to socialise.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56The garden's creation is an extraordinary story
0:01:56 > 0:02:00shaped by the most turbulent half century in recent history.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04What fascinates me here is that this garden was created
0:02:04 > 0:02:07by a German family of Jewish descent,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11who not only managed to rise to the top of society in England
0:02:11 > 0:02:15but they also created one of the most quintessential English gardens.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Nymans garden is spread over a large rural area
0:02:20 > 0:02:22bordered with fields and woodland.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27As well as having grand open parkland with spectacular views,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30there are smaller, more intimate spaces.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37The gardens are both informal and formal.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43And are filled with exuberant plants.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47You don't see the trees that we're seeing today at Nymans
0:02:47 > 0:02:49in parks and towns and cities.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52This is quite a unique collection of trees.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59But at its heart is an extraordinary mysterious Gothic ruin,
0:02:59 > 0:03:03which overlooks the garden, a poignant reminder
0:03:03 > 0:03:06of a disastrous event to hit the family who lived here.
0:03:08 > 0:03:13It endured despite the fact that almost every conceivable disaster
0:03:13 > 0:03:15and challenge was thrown at it.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Today, the garden is run by the National Trust
0:03:24 > 0:03:26and is one of the most visited in the country.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33It embodies all that we've come to expect of the archetypal English garden
0:03:33 > 0:03:38yet it was created by a so-called foreigner, Ludwig Messel.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45Ludwig's family were successful bankers
0:03:45 > 0:03:49who originated from a small town called Messel in Germany.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Ludwig Messel, together with his brother, came to London in the 1860s
0:03:55 > 0:03:58in search of further opportunity,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01reputedly with gold coins sewn into their shirts.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10Ludwig was ambitious and had a keen financial mind.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12He founded a successful stockbroking business
0:04:12 > 0:04:16and was part of a new emerging class of wealthy financiers.
0:04:19 > 0:04:24In 1871 he married Annie Cussans and they had six children
0:04:24 > 0:04:28who ranged in 17 years from eldest, Lennie, to youngest, Muriel.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Ludwig set out to find a house in the country
0:04:35 > 0:04:37to bring up his large family.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43New railways meant the Sussex Weald and neighbouring counties
0:04:43 > 0:04:47became the perfect getaway, soon to be known as the stockbroker belt.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57Land was cheap and plentiful and Ludwig quickly purchased Nymans.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01The Georgian house came with 600 acres including woodland,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04fields, farm cottages and a small four-acre garden.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Ludwig saw it as the perfect home for his family,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13but it also fulfilled his desire to be accepted by society.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21Historian Andrea Wulf is going to unravel the Messels' life story
0:05:21 > 0:05:24and what prompted them to start a new life in rural Sussex.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29The moment the English countryside or the kind of traditional
0:05:29 > 0:05:34rural life was under threat in the late 19th century,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38that's the moment when the nostalgia for country life begins.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43That's the moment when city dwellers like bankers, merchants,
0:05:43 > 0:05:47stockbrokers, when they come and want to have one of those houses
0:05:47 > 0:05:48in the countryside.
0:05:48 > 0:05:53So the country house becomes a symbol of ancestry,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56of this golden age that is vanishing suddenly.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07Garden designer Chris Beardshaw is exploring why the Messels' new home
0:06:07 > 0:06:10presented great opportunities for creating a garden from scratch.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16The appeal to Ludwig for coming to this space
0:06:16 > 0:06:19must, in part, have been its proximity to London
0:06:19 > 0:06:21but also its relative remoteness.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25The idea that when we sit in this landscape,
0:06:25 > 0:06:30we don't see any towns or villages, so you do feel as though you are
0:06:30 > 0:06:32pioneering in that way.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35And in fact he was pioneering with his design ideas,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38with his horticultural ideas and his horticultural passion,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41so it fits perfectly that he ended up here.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46Ludwig Messel enlarged and altered the existing Georgian house.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53But the real focus of his attention was the garden.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57Even at this early stage, he demonstrated that he had
0:06:57 > 0:06:59hidden horticultural talents.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03Ludwig was undoubtedly a horticultural entrepreneur.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05He was one of those individuals who wanted to create
0:07:05 > 0:07:07something slightly different.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10He was very much on trend, following fashions, leading fashions,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12and the greatest example possibly in this garden,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14the first example is the heath garden.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19The idea that one would introduce heathers and ericaceous specimens
0:07:19 > 0:07:22is something that hadn't occurred to anyone else,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25at least not with that particular range of plants.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28It was that pioneering spirit that meant only he was able to do it.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32He had the knack of being able to spot something different,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35deploy it in the garden and then give it space to breathe.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Nymans was planted with rare and expensive plants.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47Ludwig's investment was considerable,
0:07:47 > 0:07:52no more so than in his pinetum, which he stocked with newly discovered trees.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Alan Power is Head Gardener at Stourhead
0:07:58 > 0:08:01and has an unquenchable passion for trees.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06He's come to explore the collection at Nymans which, when planted in 1895,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09was another fashionable item on Ludwig's tick list.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15You've got to get up close to these things
0:08:15 > 0:08:18to really appreciate the scale. Look at the size of that tree.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23These trees weren't just fashionable,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Ludwig planned they would also act as vital protection
0:08:26 > 0:08:29for his garden from the harsh prevailing winds.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34You could create a shelter belt that would provide this,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37almost a microclimate, all year round and it would protect your garden,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40it would protect the slightly more tender plants.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42But it didn't just perform that function,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45it performed a really curious, beautiful aesthetic function
0:08:45 > 0:08:49in the garden as well that gave you interest around every corner.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54It wasn't a cheap thing to plant a pinetum.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59You know, in modern terms on a young tree you could be spending £300-£400.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02And, you know, when we look at the array of trees that are behind us
0:09:02 > 0:09:05here at Nymans, that £300-£400 adds up pretty quickly.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07He could have spent his money on anything.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11He could have bought buildings, he could have built huge mansions all over the country.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14He chose to spend the money on his passion.
0:09:14 > 0:09:15These trees were his passion.
0:09:21 > 0:09:26Ludwig's big ambitions also included being accepted by the local community,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29but with a name like Messel, it wouldn't be easy.
0:09:29 > 0:09:35When Ludwig Messel arrived here as a German of Jewish descent,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38he must have felt like an outsider, really,
0:09:38 > 0:09:42because at that time there was definitely still, you know,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46quite a bit of anti-Semitism going on here in England.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51For example, take the prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Jewish descent but then he converts to Christianity.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Every time there was, kind of, a problem with his politics,
0:09:57 > 0:10:01he was accused as being a Jew, a Shylock, a Fagan,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Chief Rabbi Benjamin.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06So they were really abusing him
0:10:06 > 0:10:10and they always pulled out the kind of Jewish roots.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15So there are definitely discussions which are carried by anti-Semitism.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21At first, Ludwig found it difficult integrating
0:10:21 > 0:10:24with the local squirearchy, but he had one thing in his favour.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27He discovered that many of them, especially his neighbours,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30shared his love for horticulture.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32This was Ludwig's way in.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38It can't be an accident that a man who was so keen
0:10:38 > 0:10:41to not only stamp his credentials horticulturally,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45but to stamp his credentials from a social and cultural perspective,
0:10:45 > 0:10:49ended up in a neighbourhood surrounded by people
0:10:49 > 0:10:51who he must have admired.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58This small corner of Sussex gave birth to a treasure trove of gardens
0:10:58 > 0:11:00which were all famous in the 1900s
0:11:00 > 0:11:03for a unique Sussex style of woodland gardening.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11Borde Hill, which is just five miles from Nymans,
0:11:11 > 0:11:16is a 200 acre estate, run by four generations of one family
0:11:16 > 0:11:18and is famous for its rare trees.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24Leonardslee, also within a few miles, was celebrated
0:11:24 > 0:11:28for its range of prize winning Rhododendrons and unusual wildlife.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33And High Beeches, which shared a boundary with Nymans,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35was run by the Loder family.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39The Loders were members of an elite gardening dynasty who supported
0:11:39 > 0:11:43great plant hunting expeditions and packed their garden
0:11:43 > 0:11:45with fashionable new specimens.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50The gardens in this particular part of England
0:11:50 > 0:11:54are hugely notorious, they are trendsetters.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57There's a great deal of competition between these gardens
0:11:57 > 0:12:02and to gain that extra notch up, to get a slightly improved cultivar,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06and if you could name it after, perhaps, the gardener,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09the landowner, the designer, the garden itself,
0:12:09 > 0:12:10then so much the better.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Entering this elite gardening circle
0:12:15 > 0:12:19satisfied both Ludwig's social and horticultural ambitions.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24The friendly rivalry fuelled Nymans' evolution and Ludwig decided
0:12:24 > 0:12:29to start cultivating his own plants, greatly helped by a key personality,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Nymans' first head gardener, James Coomber.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39One of the key to successes really in creating a garden,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42especially a garden from scratch, is that you have to ally yourself
0:12:42 > 0:12:45with someone who really knows the business
0:12:45 > 0:12:48and knows what to do, to cope with the conditions.
0:12:48 > 0:12:54And so Ludwig allied himself with Coomber who was a man who understood
0:12:54 > 0:12:57how to get plants to perform.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01So what we see is a relationship where you have one person
0:13:01 > 0:13:06full of ideas and ambition and drive, and the other is the facilitator.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09And that is the great secret in a garden like this.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Ludwig was creating a garden for the long term
0:13:14 > 0:13:19and it was to be shaped and moulded by successive generations of his family.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Today, Ludwig's great-grandson, Alistair Buchanan,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31is still keenly involved with the garden's development.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36His contribution has been creating a number of sculpted box hedges.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41I created those and that is my legacy to the garden.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45Alistair has a flat on the estate
0:13:45 > 0:13:49and works alongside the National Trust as the family advisor.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53I don't have to pay the wages,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56and I don't give orders.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00But I can suggest and propose
0:14:00 > 0:14:06and I'd like to think that I was a point of continuity.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10Therefore, I would hope to be consulted
0:14:10 > 0:14:14when there are changes and so on. Sometimes I'm not and so on.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17But I accept the level of responsibility
0:14:17 > 0:14:20of keeping the family connected with the National Trust.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27While Ludwig was absorbed with developing the garden,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30his large family of six children had grown up.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35His eldest son, Lennie, was pursuing a beautiful young socialite,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37Maud Sambourne.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39The Sambournes were highly artistic.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Maud's father, Linley Sambourne, was a Punch cartoonist
0:14:43 > 0:14:46and mixed with a fashionable London set.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49They lived at Stafford Terrace in Kensington,
0:14:49 > 0:14:51which today is preserved as a museum.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Maud's family wealth didn't remotely match that of the Messels
0:15:00 > 0:15:03but, nevertheless, Lennie was smitten.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Maud, on the other hand, was less sure of her feelings
0:15:06 > 0:15:09and initially resisted Lennie during a nine-month courtship.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14She spent many weekends down in the country at Nymans,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17relaying her personal thoughts in letters back home.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24These letters are really wonderful because they give us
0:15:24 > 0:15:27a real insight into Maud and what she thinks.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31So there's this funny observant teenager.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35She's very cheeky, she's making fun of them being German,
0:15:35 > 0:15:39and there's, again and again it kind of pops up in her letters.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43And there's one which I find very funny because I'm German
0:15:43 > 0:15:46and I always get teased for being very punctual,
0:15:46 > 0:15:49where she says "We are dreadfully regular.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53"Everyone comes down the minute the second bell rings.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57"Breakfast at eight sharp, to the minute.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00"Lunch at three, also sharp, to the minute."
0:16:02 > 0:16:04You know, this is just a slightly stroppy teenager making fun
0:16:04 > 0:16:07of what she sees, but also describes very well
0:16:07 > 0:16:09what they're doing every day.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13And what she describes is this very typical life
0:16:13 > 0:16:15of the wealthy at that time,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19which is one big round of garden parties, there's tennis,
0:16:19 > 0:16:23there's croquet, photographed in sunshine and everybody's happy
0:16:23 > 0:16:25and beautifully dressed.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28And this is exactly what Maud is presenting in her letters here.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36Eventually, Maud fell under Nymans' romantic spell
0:16:36 > 0:16:38and agreed to marry Lennie.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42She's said to have finally accepted his proposal to her in the garden.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Their marriage would combine Lennie's huge wealth
0:16:45 > 0:16:49with Maud's creativity and a shared love for the garden.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58So far, Ludwig's ambitions to establish his family
0:16:58 > 0:17:01at the heart of English society was paying dividends.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09I think that Ludwig did everything according to the rule book, really.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13So he creates this image of England here at Nymans.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16He sends children, his boys to Eton
0:17:16 > 0:17:19and he hangs out with the right people.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24So he is really moving up in English society and when you look around,
0:17:24 > 0:17:28I think he was pretty successful with what he is trying to do.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45But the birth of Maud's first child prompted her to express some observations
0:17:45 > 0:17:47about the family she'd married into.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55There's a letter where she's just had her first son, Linley,
0:17:55 > 0:17:59and she's again writing a letter to her mother, who is in London.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04"I feel quite annoyed at it being a boy," so her son being a boy.
0:18:04 > 0:18:09"I only hope it will turn out a fair haired blue or grey eyed youth
0:18:09 > 0:18:14"with a loyal feeling to his mother's side of the family.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19"If he dares to have dark hair, well, I shall dye it golden."
0:18:19 > 0:18:22She makes it very clear she wants her children to look like her,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24not like her husband.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30The family thrived on country living.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Lennie's youngest sister, Muriel, developed a keen interest
0:18:34 > 0:18:38in one area of the garden which today is the centrepiece at Nymans,
0:18:38 > 0:18:40the herbaceous border,
0:18:40 > 0:18:45a key component in any serious English garden.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48And for Ludwig, a fashionable must-have on his tick list.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54This year, the garden team have completely re-worked them
0:18:54 > 0:18:56and after months of detailed planning,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59several thousand plants are carefully bedded out.
0:19:01 > 0:19:06100 years ago, the borders were influenced by young Muriel.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10She was horticulturally very gifted and her first ideas were shaped
0:19:10 > 0:19:14with the help of a big name in the gardening world, William Robinson.
0:19:15 > 0:19:21Muriel was said to be guided by the great William Robinson,
0:19:21 > 0:19:26who, of course, is a most influential individual.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30Somewhat curmudgeonly, very clear in his opinions
0:19:30 > 0:19:33on how gardens should be presented.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38He wanted to reintroduce nature, he wanted to really allow nature
0:19:38 > 0:19:41to sweep right into the heart of the garden.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45He wanted the informality of trees and woodland
0:19:45 > 0:19:50and meadow to offer that curtain, that backdrop to the border,
0:19:50 > 0:19:54and it's that marriage between informality and relative formality
0:19:54 > 0:19:58which Robinson was so carefully crafting at that time.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03Robinson was reacting against the highly formal planting schemes
0:20:03 > 0:20:06of the mid-Victorian era which favoured flat groups
0:20:06 > 0:20:10of densely planted perennials picked out like the patterns of a carpet.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20His vision was of borders that could be spectacular masterpieces
0:20:20 > 0:20:22in three dimensions.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25These are the centrepiece of Nymans, really.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27It's very theatrical.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31You've got the fountain, the arch and it sort of adds theatre and drama
0:20:31 > 0:20:34as you walk into this area.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Sadly, Muriel Messel didn't reach her 30th birthday.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50She fell victim to the deadly influenza pandemic
0:20:50 > 0:20:53which killed a quarter of a million people in Britain.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57Her legacy, though, is now the crowning glory at Nymans.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02It's lovely, because it all goes out in one go
0:21:02 > 0:21:05and it's just a good effect at the end of the day.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10You definitely have to wear your sunglasses when you come down this section of the garden,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12because it's a bit like an '80s disco. We love it.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32In the 1890s, one of the critical elements of a garden
0:21:32 > 0:21:35on the tick list of ingredients
0:21:35 > 0:21:38was undoubtedly the herbaceous border.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41It's a very new concept, it's a new idea.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44Putting plants together, weaving them, creating a tapestry,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47using plants from around the Empire.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51But it becomes the ultimate expression of control, manipulation
0:21:51 > 0:21:55and artistry within the confines of horticulture.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06And it is that impact, that high impact and drama that was demanded,
0:22:06 > 0:22:08that was the role of the herbaceous border,
0:22:08 > 0:22:12to draw you through the site, and it is like a theatrical performance.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41In 1890, when Messel first came here and set out his plans
0:22:41 > 0:22:44for a grand landscape and grand park and garden,
0:22:44 > 0:22:49I don't think he would ever have contemplated that a few years hence
0:22:49 > 0:22:53it would be open to the public and it would be treated as a public park.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57I'm sure he would have appreciated how many people
0:22:57 > 0:23:01come in through the gates and marvel at what he was able to achieve.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09Ludwig created Nymans during a period that marked a change
0:23:09 > 0:23:12in the way that people thought about their gardens.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20The Messels made full use of Nymans as a focal point
0:23:20 > 0:23:24for endless garden parties and social events.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28It was something of a halcyon era but it wasn't to last.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Momentous social and political changes
0:23:32 > 0:23:35would ruffle wealthy families like the Messels.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41The most extraordinary thing, I think,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44is Lloyd George's People's Budget.
0:23:46 > 0:23:52He introduces that in 1909 and this is the very first time in Britain
0:23:52 > 0:23:57that there's a serious attempt to redistribute wealth.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02So this is a budget which includes taxing the rich,
0:24:02 > 0:24:06there is insurance for unemployed people,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09there is old age pensions.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12The death duty again is increased.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14So this is really why it's called the People's Budget.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19This is taking away power and wealth from the nobility
0:24:19 > 0:24:21and from the upper classes.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25This is the end of how the world used to be
0:24:25 > 0:24:27and it scared people like the Messels.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30There is an amazing photograph here in this album,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34which is titled The Budget.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39And on this picture, this is clearly taken in Nymans, in the garden,
0:24:39 > 0:24:43you see roses in the background, you see one of the family members
0:24:43 > 0:24:45a woman all dressed up nicely,
0:24:45 > 0:24:49is standing on a piece of paper which is clearly the budget,
0:24:49 > 0:24:51trampling on it.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55So they do not like what the Chancellor Lloyd George
0:24:55 > 0:24:59is doing there with this budget because it's going to change their world.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02This is... These are the last moments of this world.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07However strong the family's reaction, they were not prepared
0:25:07 > 0:25:10for a far bigger event that would have much more serious implications.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18When war broke out in 1914,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Ludwig found his loyalties were torn in two.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24He had relatives back in Germany and although he'd lived in England
0:25:24 > 0:25:28for over 50 years, he still spoke with a German accent.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36There is a moment in May 1915 when this anti-German sentiment
0:25:36 > 0:25:38really comes to a height,
0:25:38 > 0:25:43which is when the Germans, without warning, sink a passenger ship.
0:25:43 > 0:25:471,200 people die and there are riots all over the country.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51So it must have been pretty awful for Ludwig
0:25:51 > 0:25:55in his kind of English lovely bubble here at Nymans.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59And it's so bad at that time that even the king, George V,
0:25:59 > 0:26:03thinks that he has to become more English, and he cuts all ties
0:26:03 > 0:26:06to his German relatives.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10He changes the very German sounding name of the royal family,
0:26:10 > 0:26:14Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, into the House of Windsor.
0:26:14 > 0:26:15This is when it starts,
0:26:15 > 0:26:19so even the king thinks that he is too German at that time.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24Ludwig's son, Lennie, had studied at Oxford,
0:26:24 > 0:26:26even enrolling in the British Army,
0:26:26 > 0:26:30but it wasn't enough to prevent the family being viewed with suspicion.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37I think it must have been an absolute terrible time for him
0:26:37 > 0:26:40because he tried so much to be English
0:26:40 > 0:26:44and suddenly it just percolated down to this one thing, he is German.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49In 1915 Ludwig died, heartbroken.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04During the war years, gardens up and down the country
0:27:04 > 0:27:09withered with neglect, but Nymans was more fortunate.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13Because of the family's German connections, Lennie was debarred
0:27:13 > 0:27:14from serving overseas.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Instead he was based close by, training up young soldiers
0:27:17 > 0:27:20so he was able to prevent the garden from suffering.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27Lennie took Nymans over after his father's death.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30But he was surprised when his wife, Maud, declared her distaste
0:27:30 > 0:27:34for the house and wept bitterly at the thought of having to move in.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36Lennie found a solution,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39promising Maud she could completely remodel it.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48The house we see today is very, very different to the house
0:27:48 > 0:27:50that Ludwig Messel moved into and extended.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57So if you look at the photograph, you can see a house
0:27:57 > 0:28:01which his daughter-in-law later called a hideous German folly,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03and I kind of agree with her a little bit.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07So her condition for moving here was that she would be allowed
0:28:07 > 0:28:10to completely re-build the building.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17What Maud is doing here is, she is creating an atmosphere
0:28:17 > 0:28:22of a family which has been here for centuries and centuries and centuries.
0:28:22 > 0:28:23They are part of England
0:28:23 > 0:28:27and they have been part of England for a very, very long time.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31So she's not just moving back 100 years or a couple of hundred years,
0:28:31 > 0:28:33she's moving back centuries and centuries.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40For Maud, this successfully rooted her young family.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Nymans' rebirth was on a grand scale.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46It had a great hall, a billiard room,
0:28:46 > 0:28:48a library and numerous bedrooms.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53The old German folly had been transformed but at huge cost.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57Well, it was never going to be a practical house.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00It needed a great many servants.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02The heating problems, the servant problems,
0:29:02 > 0:29:04it was totally impractical.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09I would have said it was a colossal waste of family money.
0:29:13 > 0:29:17When they start building it in 1923,
0:29:17 > 0:29:20England is hit in post-war depression.
0:29:20 > 0:29:25So you have, for example, the 9th Duke of Devonshire in Chatsworth,
0:29:25 > 0:29:29once one of the wealthiest families in the country,
0:29:29 > 0:29:32is deciding to blow up the great conservatory in Chatsworth
0:29:32 > 0:29:34because he can't afford to heat it any more.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38So you have the banker here, the kind of nouveau riche,
0:29:38 > 0:29:41creating this folly
0:29:41 > 0:29:46which gives them this link to England's past,
0:29:46 > 0:29:50which tells the story of continuity and very firmly places them
0:29:50 > 0:29:55into this golden age of when everything was still in order
0:29:55 > 0:29:57and land was power.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05To remodel the architecture so that it appeared
0:30:05 > 0:30:10as if the architecture had perhaps been here longer than the garden,
0:30:10 > 0:30:14and the garden had flowed and was inspired by the architecture itself,
0:30:14 > 0:30:16I think was an absolute work of genius.
0:30:16 > 0:30:21It's something that really makes this garden stand out from any other.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25The bravery to say this isn't working but this piece is,
0:30:25 > 0:30:27let's change this.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34Maud hoped this costly refiguring would get the recognition
0:30:34 > 0:30:36she felt it deserved.
0:30:36 > 0:30:41She got her answer when Country Life wrote a glowing article about Nymans
0:30:41 > 0:30:43after the alterations were completed.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49The Messels have really arrived in England.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52Their house is part of the English tradition.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55There's a wonderful sentence here.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00"So clever a reproduction it is of a building begun in the 14th century
0:31:00 > 0:31:03"and added to intermittently till Tudor times,
0:31:03 > 0:31:08"that some future antiquary may well be deceived by it."
0:31:08 > 0:31:11So I think Maud would have been very proud opening this,
0:31:11 > 0:31:15seeing on the first page that she did such a good job,
0:31:15 > 0:31:17that someone in the future might be deceived by it.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20Everything perfect, just as she wanted it.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29The alterations meant the romantic house and garden
0:31:29 > 0:31:31now complemented each other perfectly.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34Lennie and Maud's influence in the garden pushed it
0:31:34 > 0:31:37to the top of fashionable gardens to visit
0:31:37 > 0:31:39and escalated Nymans' reputation.
0:31:41 > 0:31:46The pinetum had some rare species that were credited as the tallest in the country
0:31:46 > 0:31:50and Nymans won the coveted Cory Cup for a new hybrid -
0:31:50 > 0:31:52eucryphia nymansensis.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57There's a great deal of celebration attached to the gardens
0:31:57 > 0:32:00and the plants associated with the Messels,
0:32:00 > 0:32:03and of course, many are hugely valuable
0:32:03 > 0:32:07in the horticultural world today and persist in our gardens.
0:32:08 > 0:32:13Lennie inherited his father's desire to be rooted in English society.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17He successfully cultivated numerous plants which still thrive today.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21The Messel name became synonymous with good horticulture,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24winning prestigious prizes at the Royal Horticultural Society.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31To be accepted by any royal society is a great mark of one's achievement
0:32:31 > 0:32:33climbing socially.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36And to be accepted by the Royal Horticultural Society,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39well, it was the ultimate accolade. They've made it.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45By the 1930s, the garden and family were at their peak.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56Lennie and Maud's youngest son, Oliver Messel,
0:32:56 > 0:33:00was emerging as a creative genius in the world of theatre.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07He would go on to be the most celebrated designer in stage and film.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12Many of Oliver's designs were said to be inspired
0:33:12 > 0:33:15by his upbringing at Nymans and the theatricality of the garden.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22Together with his sister, Anne, they were part of the fashionable
0:33:22 > 0:33:23Bright Young Things.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27Anne had two marriages.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30Her son from the first marriage, Anthony Armstrong-Jones,
0:33:30 > 0:33:33carried on the family creative streak,
0:33:33 > 0:33:36becoming one of the country's best known fashion and portrait photographers.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40And the family's rise reached a pinnacle
0:33:40 > 0:33:43when Anthony married royalty, becoming Lord Snowdon.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50But on her second marriage, Anne scaled new social heights herself,
0:33:50 > 0:33:54becoming a countess by marrying Michael Parsons,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57the 6th Earl of Rosse and moving to Ireland to live at Birr Castle.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02This created a marriage of two great gardens,
0:34:02 > 0:34:04which still continues today.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15Anne and the Earl of Ross's eldest son, William Parsons,
0:34:15 > 0:34:19inherited the estate and title in 1979.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22He has continued with the family tradition
0:34:22 > 0:34:25of being a very keen gardener just as his parents were.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30This portrait here is of my parents
0:34:30 > 0:34:35set, rather romantically, in the garden of Birr
0:34:35 > 0:34:38with my parents in that lovely attire,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41dressed, though, very much for gardening,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45as you can see from the little pair of secateurs
0:34:45 > 0:34:48and the tiny little fork at the bottom.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50It's lovely, I think, bringing together
0:34:50 > 0:34:53something of my mother's creativity and passion,
0:34:53 > 0:34:58my parents' passion for fashion and dress, with real love for gardening.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03Anne's talent for gardening was no doubt inspired
0:35:03 > 0:35:06by her upbringing at Nymans.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08She was a skilled horticulturalist
0:35:08 > 0:35:10and quickly made her mark in the gardens at Birr.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16These cloisters were designed in greater detail
0:35:16 > 0:35:20by my mother, very much on the back of an envelope,
0:35:20 > 0:35:25as a cloister with these windows looking in to the great urns,
0:35:25 > 0:35:29that are baroque urns that come from Bavaria.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33No element of the gardens here has, I'm afraid, ever been designed
0:35:33 > 0:35:35by any professional garden designer.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39It's always been designed by the members of the family
0:35:39 > 0:35:41in each generation in turn.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47Evidence of Anne's creativity is unmistakable in the archives at Birr.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51House manager at Nymans, Rebecca Graham, has come to Birr
0:35:51 > 0:35:55to learn more about Anne's skills as a designer and horticulturalist.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58Birr's got such an amazing archive
0:35:58 > 0:36:02and it's got two whole sections devoted to the Messel family.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04So for us at Nymans, we've got a certain amount,
0:36:04 > 0:36:07but nothing like what's here.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10I'm interested in Anne and to have her sketches and see them,
0:36:10 > 0:36:14and also to see the finished article either in the garden
0:36:14 > 0:36:17or in the house, is just amazing.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26The relationship between the gardens at Birr Castle and Nymans was fruitful.
0:36:28 > 0:36:33Philip Holmes, acting head gardener at Nymans, visits Birr every year
0:36:33 > 0:36:36to ensure this close connection continues to thrive.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43This is a wonderful wisteria.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46The way it's been trained in this sort of dome fashion is amazing.
0:36:46 > 0:36:51The scent is very heady and just hark at the bees.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57It's very important to keep a link with the family
0:36:57 > 0:37:00and also over the years, we've exchanged plants.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04Nymans has sent a number of the plants which were raised there
0:37:04 > 0:37:08and named after either the family at Nymans or the garden itself.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12We've exchanged here with Birr and vice versa.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30Birr is especially well-known for its rare tree collection
0:37:30 > 0:37:33but William's real love is for exotic plants.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37If we can get underneath.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43The beauty of this Birr sensation, as it's now called,
0:37:43 > 0:37:47is that its flowers are basically purple
0:37:47 > 0:37:52but round the edge of the purple, this is edged with white.
0:37:52 > 0:37:57And other people sometimes are prone to joke about this as being
0:37:57 > 0:38:03the floral equivalent of a good head to an Irish pint of Guinness.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10Lord Rosse has travelled the world to satisfy his thirst
0:38:10 > 0:38:13for plant collecting, but he only recently discovered that
0:38:13 > 0:38:17a consuming passion for collecting is actually a family trait.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21From the age of seven, I'd started collecting coins.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25I'd been given a coin of William the Conqueror and it started me
0:38:25 > 0:38:31in my own desire to go on collecting not only coins, but plants.
0:38:31 > 0:38:32Plants from all over the world.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35I had a passion for collecting,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38which I now realise is very much a Jewish tradition
0:38:38 > 0:38:41and was inherited.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43But that word was never used.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48The Jewish connection was of course never used in conversation with us.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51But it's made me realise, for instance,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54that I'm every bit as proud to be a Messel descendant
0:38:54 > 0:38:55as a Parsons descendant.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01Lord Rosse spent time at Nymans during the war years
0:39:01 > 0:39:03when he was a boy.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08Now, Rebecca, let's see what you've been finding.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12I don't remember ever seeing that before.
0:39:12 > 0:39:18I do remember being fascinated by the snow at Nymans as a small child.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22What does that say, Rebecca? Can you read that?
0:39:23 > 0:39:26- William in the snow. - Yes, it is! It is me!
0:39:26 > 0:39:28Goodness, thank you for discovering that!
0:39:29 > 0:39:33I've never seen myself in the snow at Nymans before!
0:39:33 > 0:39:36That's a real finding. Lovely. Thank you so much.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38You're very welcome.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58In 1947, Britain was gripped by the worst winter on record.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02Nymans didn't escape the snow
0:40:02 > 0:40:04and the bitter cold enveloped the entire house.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14A plumber with a blowlamp was on hand to thaw the frozen pipes.
0:40:17 > 0:40:23In February 1947, in the night of Lennie's 75th birthday,
0:40:23 > 0:40:26he's lying in bed, he's recovering from a minor operation,
0:40:26 > 0:40:30and he wakes to see his room filled with smoke.
0:40:33 > 0:40:38When the fire brigade arrives, they find that the pipes are frozen
0:40:38 > 0:40:41so they have to get the water from the pond below the house.
0:40:41 > 0:40:47So they're standing outside in the deep snow, cold, old, frail.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51Lennie and Maud just watching the flames licking away their house.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54It must have been heart-breaking for them.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56No matter how hard the firemen fought,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59there was little they could do to save the house.
0:41:02 > 0:41:07It was filled with their treasures which they had collected all their life
0:41:07 > 0:41:09so of course they wanted to rescue some of it
0:41:09 > 0:41:12and the person who did that was the butler.
0:41:12 > 0:41:13I mean, you look at the pictures,
0:41:13 > 0:41:16it's just a tiny little pile of furniture, not much,
0:41:16 > 0:41:19most of it just burnt to the ground.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26This house was filled with treasures.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30Lennie had a very valuable painting, a Valeska painting,
0:41:30 > 0:41:33which was in the library above the fireplace.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36There is a very touching story about this painting,
0:41:36 > 0:41:40because during the fire, there was very little time
0:41:40 > 0:41:43to rescue the valuable treasures in this house,
0:41:43 > 0:41:44and there was a choice.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48The choice was between this very expensive painting
0:41:48 > 0:41:50and then a painting of Lennie's mother,
0:41:50 > 0:41:53which only really had sentimental value for them.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55In the end they chose Lennie's mother.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00The house was uninhabitable.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03Lennie and Maud found temporary accommodation close by
0:42:03 > 0:42:05to recuperate and gather their thoughts.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11They lost many possessions, but the one that meant the world to Lennie
0:42:11 > 0:42:16was completely destroyed - his collection of rare botanical books.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22The terrible news spread quickly to the rest of the family.
0:42:24 > 0:42:29I was at school in Oxford when I had news of the fire
0:42:29 > 0:42:33in a letter from my mother saying the greatest tragedy in the world
0:42:33 > 0:42:35had happened, Nymans had been burnt.
0:42:35 > 0:42:40She'd rushed down to be with my grandparents there at Nymans...
0:42:42 > 0:42:46..and how terribly difficult it was to organise anything
0:42:46 > 0:42:51or sort out anything because the snow was still very, very, very deep.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56And how obviously heartbroken my mother was
0:42:56 > 0:43:00at the loss of her own great family home.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03The botanical collection of books...
0:43:05 > 0:43:07..went completely. What a tragedy that was.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13The house had undergone its remodelling barely 20 years previously
0:43:13 > 0:43:16and now a large part was reduced to rubble.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20Ironically, this only served to enhance
0:43:20 > 0:43:22the garden's romantic appeal.
0:43:25 > 0:43:30If their aim and ambition was to create a piece of the Gothic ruin,
0:43:30 > 0:43:35a piece of Gothic romanticism, a baroque castle,
0:43:35 > 0:43:38what better way of demonstrating it than a genuine ruin?
0:43:38 > 0:43:42And so, rather perversely, the fire is also responsible
0:43:42 > 0:43:45for heightening the romance that they so much sought.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51Despite the disaster, Lennie and Maud made the extraordinary decision
0:43:51 > 0:43:53to keep the garden going
0:43:53 > 0:43:57and over the intervening decades the garden continued to thrive
0:43:57 > 0:43:59and attract critical acclaim.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04And today it still draws family members who visit regularly.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10Victoria is one of Lennie's grandchildren.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13Smells peppery.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16Victoria inherited the Messel creative gene
0:44:16 > 0:44:19with a talent for painting and an interest in botany.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24Over the years she's recorded a vital botanical archive
0:44:24 > 0:44:26by painting the garden's rare plants,
0:44:26 > 0:44:30which were specially named after members of the family.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32Like rhododendron Leonard Messel.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38Camellia Maud Messel.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43And a magnolia named after their daughter, Anne.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51Victoria's improvised studio was in the old dovecote.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56It feels like home.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58You get really good light here.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02You might not think it but it's excellent. Very, very good light.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08Much of Victoria's early childhood was spent at Nymans during the war years.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12She had free rein of the garden which was her playground.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17My nanny, I think, Miss Lorton who took the photograph.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21I was just posed, as the Messels do, we pose.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27The little dress Victoria wore is still intact in the Nymans' archive,
0:45:27 > 0:45:29including one small blemish.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33The colour has kept, hasn't it? It's amazing.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40Now then, I don't think that would fit me much at the moment.
0:45:40 > 0:45:42I love the colours, the clashing colours.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45An amazing orange and the pink.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50I was given some chocolate ice cream for being so good
0:45:50 > 0:45:52and putting this on and being photographed.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55So then I had the chocolate ice cream and spilt it all down the front.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59There, all the way down, that was chocolate ice cream.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02It is lovely it still has the chocolate stain on it
0:46:02 > 0:46:06- because it just shows the whole story.- How bloody greedy I was!
0:46:06 > 0:46:08They had to bribe me to put it on!
0:46:15 > 0:46:18In 1953, Lennie Messel died.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21It heralded an end of an era.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24The family fortunes had dwindled after the war
0:46:24 > 0:46:28and with no one family member able to take on the running of Nymans,
0:46:28 > 0:46:30it was willed to the National Trust.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39Lennie's daughter, Anne, returned from Ireland
0:46:39 > 0:46:43and lived on the estate at Nymans as the first family advisor.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45She was passionate about the garden
0:46:45 > 0:46:48and continued to shape and influence it.
0:46:51 > 0:46:52The courtyard garden was one area
0:46:52 > 0:46:57where she particularly liked to spend time in her advancing years.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01While the rest of Nymans was open to the public,
0:47:01 > 0:47:03this area was closed for her privacy.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08Nevertheless, she found it wasn't always easy working alongside
0:47:08 > 0:47:10the new owners, the National Trust.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14You had to admire her spirit,
0:47:14 > 0:47:18but she wasn't a good person to get into a dispute with.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21She modelled herself, so to speak, on the Queen Mother
0:47:21 > 0:47:24and if I was pushing her round the garden in a wheelchair
0:47:24 > 0:47:28she'd be waving to the public, "Good morning, how nice to see you",
0:47:28 > 0:47:32and so on. Not my style, but it was very much her style.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35I used to hear her muttering,
0:47:35 > 0:47:40"It's all mine, it all happens to belong to me",
0:47:40 > 0:47:43which it didn't, of course, but that was her approach.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48Alistair took over as family garden advisor after Anne became frail.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53But he'd only been in the role two days when yet another disaster
0:47:53 > 0:47:58hit Nymans, this time one that would threaten the future of the garden.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said
0:48:00 > 0:48:03she heard there's a hurricane on the way. Well, if you're watching,
0:48:03 > 0:48:06don't worry, there isn't, but having said that, actually, the weather...
0:48:09 > 0:48:12South East England was hit by winds gusting over 80mph.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20I was astonished to see a television photograph
0:48:20 > 0:48:25taken by a helicopter of a wood where every single tree
0:48:25 > 0:48:27had been blown flat.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30It looked like a box of matches had been just sprinkled,
0:48:30 > 0:48:32all lying in the same direction.
0:48:35 > 0:48:40I walked into the garden and hoping that the pinetum would be OK.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43To my absolute horror, I wasn't looking out onto the pinetum,
0:48:43 > 0:48:46I was looking out onto farm buildings.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51There was just two big sequoias left, and that was it.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59Philip Holmes, Nymans' acting head gardener,
0:48:59 > 0:49:03was a young member of the National Trust team in 1987.
0:49:03 > 0:49:09He rushed to Nymans to discover it had taken the full force of the storm with devastating results.
0:49:10 > 0:49:12What did it look like on that morning?
0:49:12 > 0:49:14Well, it was like a battlefield really.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17A bit like those photographs you see of the Somme.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20Just skeleton trees where they'd been thrashed to pieces by the wind,
0:49:20 > 0:49:23and then there were trees lying on the ground,
0:49:23 > 0:49:25great big root plates had come up, you know.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28And they'd crushed many of the smaller trees beneath them
0:49:28 > 0:49:30which was quite heartbreaking.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33We lost virtually all the trees in this area.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40The storm left Nymans in a very sorry state.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44Hundreds of rare specimens planted during the last 100 years
0:49:44 > 0:49:47were ripped from the ground in a matter of minutes.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51You must have been itching to know what the garden looked like.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54I was. I knew the monkey puzzle on the main lawn had gone down
0:49:54 > 0:49:57because from where I lived you could see it on the skyline,
0:49:57 > 0:50:01and its distinctive rounded top shape was missing from the skyline, was gone.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05And that was a great shame because that was getting on for 100 years old.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08After the great storm,
0:50:08 > 0:50:12I wondered whether we would ever be able to open again.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15We'd lost 486 trees that night.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19Despite the devastation the unexpected bonus
0:50:19 > 0:50:22was the storm had opened the garden up.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25Areas that had become dense and overgrown
0:50:25 > 0:50:28now had a chance to breathe new life.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36Alan Power, head gardener at Stourhead,
0:50:36 > 0:50:39is going to take a closer look to see how one sequoia
0:50:39 > 0:50:41managed to survive the storm.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45This is one of the most exciting trees.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50When they were first discovered they estimated that the trees
0:50:50 > 0:50:56were touching, if not exceeding, 400 feet tall and that is remarkable.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59Some of the tallest trees in the world.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01A really, really important tree on our planet.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09So I'm right at the top of this sequoia and, blimey, what a view!
0:51:09 > 0:51:11That really is quite amazing.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20From where I am, this tree's the first thing that the wind hits,
0:51:20 > 0:51:25and, you know, it's maybe 120, 130 years old,
0:51:25 > 0:51:30and to have experienced two or three big storm events in its life,
0:51:30 > 0:51:32it only gave up once.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35And this scar tells the whole story.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40There will have been one point that the rhythm of the gusts
0:51:40 > 0:51:43and the rhythm of the wind in relation to the tree,
0:51:43 > 0:51:47and when they were both working together that rhythm was broken.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50It's just the point at which the tree went "bang".
0:51:52 > 0:51:55So the story doesn't finish at the scar.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58There's opportunities for the tree that came after the storm
0:51:58 > 0:52:01and this is the tree's response.
0:52:03 > 0:52:07So it leads from the scar and it goes on off into the distance.
0:52:07 > 0:52:12Seeing the way it responded after the storm is...it just indicates
0:52:12 > 0:52:15how determined the tree was to survive,
0:52:15 > 0:52:19in the same way as the family went on to survive and be successful.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26After the storm, Nymans had the chance to start afresh.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30This process of re-invigoration and restoration continues.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35The sunken garden is one of this year's big projects.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42Well, this used to be all old camellias around this site,
0:52:42 > 0:52:44and we decided that many of them,
0:52:44 > 0:52:47because they started to look rather old and untidy,
0:52:47 > 0:52:50we would clear them out and have a fresh start.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54Changes have to happen.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58The sunk garden is being re-imagined,
0:52:58 > 0:53:01drawing from photographs from the 1930s.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05This careful balance between progress and preservation
0:53:05 > 0:53:08is watched over by Alistair Buchanan.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11- I think that would be of the mid-1930s.- Do you?
0:53:11 > 0:53:15There's Coomber, definitely standing like that.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19- That, I think, could be Uncle Lennie. - Yes.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21And of course it shows the old myrtle plants which used to grow
0:53:21 > 0:53:25against the face of this building, which we're going to reinstate.
0:53:32 > 0:53:37Restorations of gardens like this are key to their survival.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41Restoration doesn't mean that you're halting progress,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44at least not in the sense of Nymans.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47Restoration means that you're being consistent
0:53:47 > 0:53:50and you're remaining pure to the original ethos, philosophy
0:53:50 > 0:53:52and concept of the designer.
0:53:52 > 0:53:57And for Messel it was certainly about constant investigation,
0:53:57 > 0:53:59exploration and advancement of his garden.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06An example of this progress is the new South African bed,
0:54:06 > 0:54:10which has been designed by garden team member Kirsten Kelly.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15So this bed used to be known as the "wild bed" to the Messels.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18So what we've done is introduce the South African collection,
0:54:18 > 0:54:22put it in the wild bed and we've now got a South African meadow.
0:54:22 > 0:54:23It's quite exciting.
0:54:29 > 0:54:34By late August the South African plants are soaking up the sunshine.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40The whole idea was to kind of have a low planting,
0:54:40 > 0:54:43to not interrupt that beautiful view over there
0:54:43 > 0:54:45but to attract the viewer's attention to it.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48So how many of the plants that you've utilized in here
0:54:48 > 0:54:51would Messel have tried previously on this site?
0:54:51 > 0:54:55Well, we know quite a few details, because they were definitely
0:54:55 > 0:54:59growing melianthus major at the time and that's quite an interesting plant
0:54:59 > 0:55:03because it's supposed to be evergreen and here it's cut back by the frost
0:55:03 > 0:55:04and then it reshoots every year.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08And much more familiar to us today than it would, of course, have been in his day.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11I think one of the lovely things about these gardens is it gives you
0:55:11 > 0:55:15permission to create really quite brash, colourful combinations
0:55:15 > 0:55:18as you do in the herbaceous border, as Muriel would have been
0:55:18 > 0:55:20very familiar with in the herbaceous border.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22And here you are reintroducing colour combinations
0:55:22 > 0:55:26that on paper shouldn't work together.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29I think the beauty of Nymans is that the Messels were experimenters,
0:55:29 > 0:55:31they were innovators
0:55:31 > 0:55:33and it's testing something new and that's what they did.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36The beautiful thing is it's our responsibility to protect
0:55:36 > 0:55:39the legacy, but it's also our responsibility to try new things,
0:55:39 > 0:55:41and that's why Nymans is exciting.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53It's become an annual tradition that the Messel family
0:55:53 > 0:55:58still gather at Nymans to remember and reflect on Ludwig's legacy.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12It's glorious being back at Nymans
0:56:12 > 0:56:17and being back at Nymans for such a great family reunion.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21But it's certainly true that gardens can never stand still.
0:56:21 > 0:56:26Gardens either grow or they go back, sadly recede
0:56:26 > 0:56:29and they need to be reinvigorated.
0:56:29 > 0:56:33But what is essential, I think, is to keep something
0:56:33 > 0:56:36of the original vision of the person who's created the garden.
0:56:40 > 0:56:45For me, the legacy of Nymans is very much the principal
0:56:45 > 0:56:48of understanding the celebratory nature
0:56:48 > 0:56:50in which the garden was established.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53That sense of fun and theatre, enjoyment and romanticism
0:56:53 > 0:56:57and that's what we see crafted out of the landscape before us.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00It's wonderful to see the family today,
0:57:00 > 0:57:02even though they're slightly more distant,
0:57:02 > 0:57:05maintaining a close interest
0:57:05 > 0:57:08in how this garden continues to move forwards.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15I think Ludwig, my great-grandfather, would be pleased.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19I'm of an age now where I shall be meeting up with him
0:57:19 > 0:57:22fairly soon no doubt, and I'll find out.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30I think my great-grandfather Ludwig's spirit will always
0:57:30 > 0:57:33be in the garden somewhere, even if you don't see it,
0:57:33 > 0:57:37hovering there on Phillip's shoulders.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44One of the most intriguing aspects of this for me has been
0:57:44 > 0:57:48that this is a story about a family, driven by ambition,
0:57:48 > 0:57:51incredibly creative, who arrived here as outsiders
0:57:51 > 0:57:54and then rose through the ranks of society
0:57:54 > 0:57:58and built the most quintessential English garden.
0:57:58 > 0:58:00What a triumph.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08Three, two, one, cheese!