Unforgettable Gardens - Sutton Place

This ticket is for this individual session and costs £5, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions via the links below, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 4 sessions at a cost of £16 via the link here. Please note the earlier start time of 6pm.

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

Surrey Gardens Trust are delighted to share some very special and unforgettable gardens from their rich legacy of historic parks and gardens

Week 1. 6 Oct. Sutton Place: Part of a series of 4 online lectures, £5 each or all 4 for £16.

Week 2. 13 Oct. Munstead Wood: Part of a series of 4 online lectures, £5 each or all 4 for £16.

Week 3. 20 Oct. Muslim Memorial Peace Garden: Part of a series of 4 online lectures, £5 each or all 4 for £16.

Week 4. 27 Oct. Albury Park: Part of a series of 4 online lectures, £5 each or all 4 for £16.

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Week 1. 6 Oct: Sutton Place with Cherrill Sands

Sutton Place is a Grade I Tudor mansion with a Grade II* Registered Garden, four miles north of Guildford, on rising ground in the crook of the River Wey. It is an exquisite confection of brick, stone and terracotta and was the home of Sir Richard Weston, friend and courtier of Henry VIII. To the west of the house, a walled garden and small octagonal pavilion survive. Sometime before 1700, a double lime avenue was planted leading northwards. Little was added to the garden. But in the early twentieth century, Lord and Lady Northcliffe created a fashionable wild garden, rose gardens, and a small water garden with some input from Gertrude Jekyll. Later owners were the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland. They entertained lavishly, hosting influential visitors, including the Duke of Windsor and Winston Churchill.

In 1959, American millionaire J. Paul Getty bought the property, who lived there surrounded by his art collection until his death in 1976. The next owner, Stanley Seeger, commissioned Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe to design new gardens in 1980. This immense project, inspired by psychology, symbolism and Renaissance and Modern Art, was only partially implemented, but Jellicoe’s surviving plans and writing are evidence of his imaginative and exciting ideas. He saw the design as an allegory of Creation, Life and Aspiration. Although Sutton Place is closed to visitors, it remains an important Surrey Garden. Those who have experienced it have found it truly unforgettable.

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Cherrill Sands is a garden historian with an MA in the Conservation of Gardens, Landscapes & Parks from the Architectural Association, London. She is the Historical Consultant for Painshill in Surrey and teaches and presents garden history and theatre talks. Cherrill has been a member of Surrey Gardens Trust for over twenty-five years and is a former Chair and member of Council. She remains part of their Research and Recording team.