Docton Mill Gardens in North Devon

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We visited these beautiful gardens during our short break a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say I have never felt such a sense of belonging in a place before. The moment we left the small car park, it felt so peaceful, the only sounds were birdsong, trickling water and the leaves on the many trees just lightly moving in the very slight breeze. It had rained a little the day before, and this seemed to have freshened all the plants up. Please be aware this blog goes on and on and on . . . . .

The garden is situated in a stunning valley, 1000m from the coast and, due to the topographical layout, is unsuitable for wheelchairs or people with serious walking disabilities. I fully agree, as there were times during our walk through the garden when I wondered if I would slip down a steep slope! At one point there is an option of ‘easier slope’ for the less agile, so we took that route, no point in falling over at the start of the walk!

The garden began in the 1930’s but fell into disrepair in the 1970’s. 1980 saw the Mill renovated and Garden cleared with extensive planting and the creation of a new Bog Garden and borders, vast numbers of trees were planted. The start of the new Millennium saw developments including a new Magnolia Garden with large herbaceous borders, Woodland Garden and Greenhouse area enabling more extensive plant propagation.
The Wild Flower Gardens theme is to make everything as natural as possible and I think this is why I felt so relaxed there. No formal beds and borders, no regimented planting, simply natural!

Can you see the path to the left in the next photo? Very difficult to walk on when damp! The slate roof of the cottage can be seen, top right, this may give you an idea of the height we were walking down from.

Heading down to more level ground now, the stream and the bog garden are in sight

Hope you’re still walking with us as there’s a Devon cream tea soon ….
!
http://media.growsonyou.com/photos/blog_photo/image/67179/main/CIMG2498cropped_photo.jpg!

These two are residents, Doc and Amy, obviously doing what dogs do in the glorious sunshine!

We then took a walk to Speke’s Mill Mouth beach, not easy with stiles and cattle grids to cross, but we weren’t in a hurry and stopped now and then to admire the wild flowers

We knew there was a water fall at some point, but were completely in awe of it when we saw it cascading down a sheer rock face of sixty feet

Finally, we arrived at Speke’s Mill Mouth beach, it was even better than we’d hoped for

I love being by the sea, comes of being born by the South coast I guess, and am quite content to sit for ages listening to the waves

We wandered back along the path to the gardens, feeling so pleased that we had spent a few hours in this delightful part of Devon.

• 20 Apr, 2011
• 9 likes

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