St John's Jerusalem, Sutton-at-Hone

There are few records of the garden and grounds. The moat dates from the 13th century but no other real features exist. The rectangle of land enclosed by the moat includes a walled flower and vegetable garden and an old hazel nuttery. There are grassed areas with miscellaneous trees of no great age, including a row of young horse chestnuts which look rather out of keeping in this medieval setting. There are a few depressions in the ground near the moat which may have been fish holding pools, but there is no historical evidence to support this. The house supports some climbing and wall shrubs including a vine, Magnolia grandiflora and a fig.

The willows which were a distinctive feature beside the moat were badly affected by 1987 storms. Many were uprooted or irreparably damaged, many more required pollarding to prevent future problems with overweight branches. Much tidying up has now been done, and tree surgery carried out. Willows, alder and sweet chestnut have been planted on the outer edge of the moat.

The moat dried up completely in 1976, and in 1988, whilst this section of the main River Darenth had been recently dredged, the moat itself was badly silted up and showed signs of pollution.

The car park and approach area has some fine trees, including cedars, horse chestnuts and walnuts. Most of the 1987 storm damage in this area was limited to the loss of some tree limbs, mostly on the horse chestnuts, and the fine cedar of Lebanon by the house. The cedar and the nearby large copper beech have received beneficial tree surgery since the storm, and both are in good health and retain their fine shape. The wooded area (mostly amenity value) to the east of the moat has suffered slightly worse storm damage.