19th September 2025

this morning as I listened to the news they announced music at The Park without saying where it was.  Well it is at Hylands just a few miles out of Chelmsford.  An old estate of several hundred acres.  We would often go for a walk there, through the Victorian gardens often to see the magnificent wisteria.  From 2011 I wrote this about the park.....

Hyland House

Hyland House fell into disuse in the 1950's and was at one time to be pulled down and the grounds turned into a golf course. Luckily there was enough protest later on for it to be saved, and with the help of lottery money has been restored. So instead of being a place for a handful of people to chase a little white ball around, it has become a place for the public to enter freely, walk their dogs, children, picnic under the trees and generally a place of leisure. Stable block has a restaurant, full of people eating out in the courtyard, with their dogs parked safely under the tables and a secondhand book shop. Plus of course 'events' we went for the craft fair, but really there was only people selling food.

Humphrey Repton drew up the plans for the landscape garden in the 18th century, he did'nt actually undertake any work just handed out one of his little 'red books' with sketches inside. But was the first person to use the term landscape gardener, and he followed on in the footsteps of Capability Brown.

We wandered round the gardens had picnics in the ground and gave thanks to the people who had saved this space.  I am not sure but I think it belonged to the council though of course it must have had a charity to run it.

 

I adore wisteria, it is flamboyant and showy. There is an explanation of how it came to England here.

And about 17 seconds of the World Garden.  I am terrible at videoing, not sure that I am capturing the scene and far too fast as I scroll round, there was a huge totem pole in this part of the garden.

The One World Garden