The Deanery and Deanery Garden is a garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll

Gertrude Jekyll

Gertrude Jekyll was an influential British garden designer, writer, and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and the USA and contributed over 1,000 articles to Country Life, The Garden and other magazines.-Early life:...

, with a house designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens

Edwin Lutyens

Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, OM, KCIE, PRA, FRIBA was a British architect who is known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era...

, in Sonning

Sonning

Sonning, occasionally called Sonning-on-Thames is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Wokingham in the English county of Berkshire, a few miles east of Reading. The village is situated on the River Thames and was described by Jerome K...

, Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Deanery Garden was designed between 1899 and 1901, in the style of the Arts and Crafts movement

Arts and Crafts movement

Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...

. The garden (c. 1 hectare) was designed by Gertrude Jekyll

Gertrude Jekyll

Gertrude Jekyll was an influential British garden designer, writer, and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and the USA and contributed over 1,000 articles to Country Life, The Garden and other magazines.-Early life:...

, like many for Lutyens country houses. Although in the centre of the village next to St Andrew's Church

St Andrew's Church, Sonning

St Andrew's Church is in a central position in the village of Sonning, Berkshire, England, close to the River Thames.- Location :The church is located close to the historic Bishop's Palace, which has long since disappeared apart from some grassy mounds. The historic Bull Inn is immediately next to...

 and the Bull Inn

Bull Inn, Sonning

The Bull Inn is an historic public house — now also a restaurant and hotel — in the centre of the village of Sonning in Berkshire, England.- Overview :...

, the house and garden are very secluded, being surrounded by high walls. However, the garden can be viewed from the church tower.

The house was built for the founder of the early lifestyle magazine Country Life

Country Life (magazine)

Country Life is a British weekly magazine, based in London at 110 Southwark Street, and owned by IPC Media, a Time Warner subsidiary.- Topics :The magazine covers the pleasures and joys of rural life, as well as the concerns of rural people...

, Edward Hudson

Edward Hudson (magazine owner)

Edward Burgess Hudson was the founder of Country Life magazine in 1897.-Career:Country Life was an early lifestyle magazine. Edward Hudson was the owner of Lindisfarne Castle and two other Lutyens-designed houses, Deanery Gardens in Sonning , designed and built 1899–1901, and Plumpton Place,...

, essentially as a show home. It was featured in the magazine. The house has subsequently been considerably extended on its north side.

Deanery Garden was owned by Nigel Broakes and Stanley Seeger during the 1980s. Marian Thompson helped to restore the garden.
The house and gardens, which are now owned by Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page

James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...

, guitarist with the group Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

, are not open to the public.

Further reading

• Angel Perkins, The Book of Sonning, Barracuda Books, 1977. ISBN 0-86023-051-1. 2nd edition, Baron Buckingham, 1999. ISBN 0-86023-051-1. Pages 129–30, 133–5.