Great Dixter House at Northiam has a new exhibition (open to 25 October) of wonderful 1920s photographs of the Lloyd children, all six of them, growing up at Dixter and enjoying a real country garden childhood.
Nathaniel and Daisy Lloyd bought the property in 1910 and by 1912 had restored the house to its medieval splendour, adding an Arts and Crafts wing designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It was home by 1916 to the four elder boys. During the First World War, the house was converted to a Red Cross hospital and it was after this that Nathaniel and Daisy had two more children, a girl, Laetitia and a boy, Christopher. It is, of course, Christopher who is best known to us today, as a gardener and a writer at Great Dixter.
The photographs show the young Lloyds with their toys and enjoying all the opportunities of such a wonderful setting. There was much emphasis placed by their parents on the learning of the skills of gardening, sewing and woodwork, examples of which are on display in the house. The exhibition includes information about all the children, as most visitors know something of Christopher, but little about his brothers and sister.
Do come to Great Dixter House and Gardens between August 1 and October 25, Tuesday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays. The gardens are open 11am-5pm, house open 2-5pm. Entry to the Exhibition is included in the ticket price of the house and garden. The standard charges are for the house and gardens adult £10, child £3.50; garden only adult £8, child £2.50.
The gardens at Great Dixter, described as one of the most experimental, exciting and constantly changing gardens of our time, surround the house and include yew topiary, carpets of meadow flowers, mixed borders (including the famous Long Border), natural ponds and an exuberant garden of exotics. The house, built in the 15th century, includes the Great Hall, the largest surviving timber framed hall in the country, and contents collected in the 17th and 18th centuries.
(Source: Great Dixter House and Gardens)