Welcome to Riverhill

The Rogers family first came to Riverhill in 1840 and today three generations of the family live on the estate. We are all very involved with the business (including our lovely Labrador, Troy) and we look forward to welcoming you when you visit.

Sadly we lost the 4th generation in 2022 when Ed’s Grandmother, Mrs Evelyn Rogers, passed away at the age of 98. We owe so much to Mrs Rogers, it was she who in the late 1970’s took the bold and brave decision of opening the Gardens to the public. Visitors meant that urgent restoration works could finally begin. Many would have felt overwhelmed by the enormous task of maintaining such a huge and historic garden with so many crumbling structures, but she remained committed to ensuring the survival of our beautiful gardens.

You can read more about her life and works here.

On this page you’ll find out about the history of our gardens and learn about how we’ve restored them to create an enchanting space that’s the perfect day out for all ages.

The oldest part of the present house was built in 1710 on the site of a Tudor farmstead. Although the original Queen Anne house can still be traced in the main block, a third storey was added in Georgian times which gives the roof a more recent look than the early 18th century.

Whilst the family still live in the majority of the house, there are also three let apartments.

A real Country House Rescue story

Thankfully in 2009 help came in the form of the Channel 4 programme, ‘Country House Rescue’. The advice given to us by Ruth and David Watson in the course of the filming was invaluable. We have been able to reverse this decline and breathe new life into these historic gardens!

Read on to find out more about the restoration of each part of Riverhill gardens, or jump directly to the area of interest:
Walled Garden | Rose Walk | Rock Garden | Wood Garden | Terraces

We are fortunate to have John Rogers’ detailed planting records for the Walled Garden in the 19th century. These gardens produced a plethora of vegetables and soft fruit, as well as the more exotic melons, bananas and pineapples that so excited the Victorians. However, as the number of gardeners diminished after the First World War, the whole area became neglected and by 2000 was completely overgrown.

In 2011 Mark Watts and Diana May were commissioned to develop a contemporary scheme incorporating the traditional vegetables, a performance space and a planting scheme that extended the flowering season from spring to summer. Their design is a fusion of strong contemporary land forming, inspired by the cultivation terraces in the Himalayas with elements of a traditional garden – truly inspirational.

During Victorian times, fruit and vegetables were grown on the Rose Walk, covering every wall. It is evident from photographs that this terrace has changed very little over the last 100 years but in fact it was completely restored in 2010, our first big restoration project! The wall at the eastern end had completely collapsed in 2009 but was rebuilt in 2012. Additional buttresses were added to the western ‘wavy’ end of the wall to support it. The steps down to the Orchard Sweep were renovated in 2016. These projects were funded by The Peter Rogers Riverhill Maintenance Fund. The rose beds were reset with metal edging and replanted in 2012. Finally, in 2018, our garden volunteers re-landscaped the area under the fig tree, flanking this with lavender and creating a wonderful area to sit and soak up the views (and hopefully the sun!)

The Rock Garden was created by Muriel Rogers, Ed’s great-grandmother, over 100 years ago.  An ambitious project, 200 tons of stone were transported in November 1908 from near Penshurst (presumably by horse and cart) and set in place in less than 3 months!  It was hoped that a natural spring would be found to fill the water feature, but this was not the case.  The natural springs on the hillside come out lower down where the greensand changes to clay.  Originally, the pond contained lilies and the rockery was planted up with small alpine plants requiring both rabbit fencing and significant upkeep.  To the south of the rock garden, on the flat area, Muriel created a formal rose garden with trellising and a small thatched summerhouse. Sadly there is no evidence of this nowadays.

Unfortunately, after the 1950s, a lack of funds for maintenance meant that The Rock Garden fell into disrepair and was left undisturbed for 60 years.  In 2018, Head Gardener Adam Roberts and a team of volunteers set about clearing the area.  This was painstaking work as there is no access for machinery, so everything was removed by barrow and spade!  The pond was re-lined and a pump installed so that the cascade could flow for the first time.  Finally, grant funding from Enovert Community Trust and Ibstock Enovert Trust meant that the path surfaces could be restored giving smooth access all the way from The Rose Walk.  Given the now shady tree canopy and pesky rabbits, it was decided to plant up using predominantly ferns and spring bulbs.  Thankfully local experts from the Pteridological Society quickly volunteered their help, advice and even ferns, for which we are most grateful.

The Wood Garden was created by the late Colonel John Middleton Rogers, the current owner’s great-grandfather, just before the 1st World War. The success of the garden lies in the artistic use of small maples, placed in conjunction with rhododendrons and azaleas, many of which were grown from seeds from the great plant hunting expeditions. Sadly, the 1987 storm devastated this area of the garden. However in 1989, arborist Alan Mitchell devised a scheme for the eastern boundary, protecting the remaining planting from the cold north wind. Thankfully, this is now well established and there is now sufficient shade for rhododendrons to thrive.

There are fewer built (or crumbling) structures in The Wood Garden which partly explains why this area has been the lower down the list in terms of restoration urgency. Botanically, however, it is a treasure with some of our finest Rhododendron, Azaleas and specimen trees and we are now working on an ambitious plan to record, label and propagate existing planting and then extend the collection.

When John Rogers purchased Riverhill in 1840, the field and small extent of garden sloped directly up to the house. He felt terracing was required to give a suitable foreground to the view. In 1844 John Nasmyth was commissioned to draw up plans for the Italianate terraces. The upper one had balustrading whilst the lower one had a line of large urns along the wall and a wooden summerhouse at the end. These overlooked the formal grass tennis court, bordered to the south by a splendid yew hedge.

Over the course of time, these huge ragstone walls began to deteriorate and collapse. In 2016, with the help of generous grant funding from Country Houses Foundation, we were able to start work on the restoration of the lower terrace. The entire 75m wall had to be taken down, reinforced and then re-built using the lime mortar, gallettes and the original ragstone. A team of heritage carpenters also painstakingly restored the timbers in the old summerhouse, including the lovely curved bench for storing the croquet mallets. The next step will be to restore the upper terrace wall & ballustrading – we are currently investigating grant funding and saving up!