Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History: The Quest to Restore a Working Farm at Vita Sackville-West's Legendary Garden
Jul 2015 · Open Road Media
Ebook
337
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
About this ebook
"A charming portrait of an ancient and beautiful house in Kent [and] a poignant and amusing portrait of the English class system." —Simon Winchester
From lavish palace for Elizabethan nobles to dreary jailhouse for eighteenth-century prisoners of war, from well-manicured country house for a string of landed families to weed-choked ruin, Sissinghurst, in Kent, has become one of the most illustrious estates in England—and its future may prove to be just as intriguing as its past.
In the 1930s, English poet Vita Sackville-West and her husband, Harold Nicolson, acquired land that had once been owned by Vita's ancestors. Together they created elaborate gardens filled with roses, apple trees, vivid flowers, and scenic paths lined with hedges and pink brick walls. Vita, a gardening correspondent for the Observer and a close friend of Virginia Woolf, opened Sissinghurst to the public. But the thriving working farm began to change after her death. Her son Nigel instituted sweeping changes, including transferring ownership of the estate to Britain's National Trust in 1967 to avoid extensive taxation.
For author Adam Nicolson, the grandson of Harold and Vita, Sissinghurst was always more than a tourist attraction; it was his home. As a boy, Nicolson hiked the same trails that Roman conquerors walked centuries before. With wistful imagination, fascination with natural beauty, and connection to the land, Nicolson has returned home to restore Sissinghurst's glory. His journey to recreate a sustainable and functioning farm, despite resistance from the National Trust, makes for a compelling memoir of family, history, and the powerful relationship between people and nature.
From lavish palace for Elizabethan nobles to dreary jailhouse for eighteenth-century prisoners of war, from well-manicured country house for a string of landed families to weed-choked ruin, Sissinghurst, in Kent, has become one of the most illustrious estates in England—and its future may prove to be just as intriguing as its past.
In the 1930s, English poet Vita Sackville-West and her husband, Harold Nicolson, acquired land that had once been owned by Vita's ancestors. Together they created elaborate gardens filled with roses, apple trees, vivid flowers, and scenic paths lined with hedges and pink brick walls. Vita, a gardening correspondent for the Observer and a close friend of Virginia Woolf, opened Sissinghurst to the public. But the thriving working farm began to change after her death. Her son Nigel instituted sweeping changes, including transferring ownership of the estate to Britain's National Trust in 1967 to avoid extensive taxation.
For author Adam Nicolson, the grandson of Harold and Vita, Sissinghurst was always more than a tourist attraction; it was his home. As a boy, Nicolson hiked the same trails that Roman conquerors walked centuries before. With wistful imagination, fascination with natural beauty, and connection to the land, Nicolson has returned home to restore Sissinghurst's glory. His journey to recreate a sustainable and functioning farm, despite resistance from the National Trust, makes for a compelling memoir of family, history, and the powerful relationship between people and nature.
"A charming portrait of an ancient and beautiful house in Kent [and] a poignant and amusing portrait of the English class system." —Simon Winchester
From lavish palace for Elizabethan nobles to dreary jailhouse for eighteenth-century prisoners of war, from well-manicured country house for a stri...
Discover more
About the author
Adam Nicolson's books include God's Secretaries, Sea Room, Sissinghurst, and Restoration. He has made television and radio series on diverse subjects, from the King James Bible to Homer to the untold story of Britain's twentieth-century whalers, and has written for the Sunday Times, the Sunday Telegraph, and the Daily Telegraph. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Nicolson counts the Somerset Maugham Award, the W. H. Heinemann Prize, and the British Topography Prize among his honors. He lives on a farm in Sussex, England, with his wife and their five grown children.
Adam Nicolson's books include God's Secretaries, Sea Room, Sissinghurst, and Restoration. He has made television and radio series on diverse subjects, from the King James Bible to Homer to the untold story of Britain's twentieth-century whalers, and has written for the Sunday Times, the Sunday Te...
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
