Great Comp

The owners were influenced by existing features and several gardens visited (for example, Sissinghurst). Two open areas are surrounded by mature trees including limes. A number of important trees, including some limes, were felled in the October 1987 storm. The site has more exposure now, but in spite of the storm the garden is, on balance, improved.

The most spectacular vista is from the house terrace across the peninsulas and promontories of many massed heathers and low growing shrubs with vertical pinnacles of fastigiate conifers and further masses of shrubs and trees. Over recent years more emphasis has been laid on perennial plants and summer flowering shrubs. There is a rose garden, several urns, a temple and two summer houses. Some simulated ruins have been created in recent years.

Mr and Mrs Cameron, in the years since they acquired Great Comp, have built up a remarkable collection of several thousand different hardy plants, trees and shrubs. These are all referred to in great detail in the latest Garden Guide book.