Belmont is an elegant 18th Century house, built by Samuel Wyatt and home to 6 generations of the Harris family. It contains many mementos of the family's history and travels, these include paintings by the Trinidadian artist Michel-Jean Cazabon, fine furniture, Indian silverware and perhaps the finest private clock collection in the country.
The layout of the grounds at Belmont largely date from the 1790s and form part of the Colonel Montresor’s remodelling of the Park, although the planting has been altered and added to by different generations of the Harris Family over the past two centuries.
The Walled Garden to the rear of the stable yard is an intimate enclosed garden with long borders containing an abundance of annuals and periennials. At the far end of the garden is a rectangular pond and rock garden, planted for both spring and summer colours.
The Belmont Kitchen Garden is built to a slightly unusual design; firstly, it is not symmetrical – most walled gardens are rectangular in shape and secondly, the southern wall is only half height. This gives the whole garden a sense of openness, allows it to benefit from the afternoon sun and provides a greater sense of connectivity with the surrounding park.
In 2001, the garden was restored to a design by the renowned Lady Arabella Lennox-Boyd. The resulting design encompasses a part-productive, part ornamental theme and the garden is filled with trained fruit, flowers, vegetables, flowering trees, lawns and water. Although true to the design, it was the Belmont garden staff who, in under 18 months, turned her brief in to reality – introducing new gravel paths, box hedges, metal fruit arches, an ornamental pond, twelve hop arbours and a semi-circular pleached hedge of pyrus chanticleer – whilst also providing home for the original sun dial which is contemporary to the original house.
Belmont also hosts a number of regular events, WoodFest, Spring Fair, Outdoor Theatre, various workshops and regular cricket matches along with many others. Please check the website for up to date information.
The Tearoom is open on Wednesdays throughout the season serving light lunches from 12pm - donations to the garden are always appreciated but not required if just enjoying our tearoom fare. At weekends you can enjoy a delicious cup of one of our speciality teas with a slice of homemade cake in our courtyard tea room from 1pm to 5pm. When the House is closed visitors are encouraged to use the tearooms on a help yourself basis – prices are displayed clearly for this self-service facility.
The House is open for guided tours on Wednesdays at 11.00am & 1.00pm, Saturday, Sundays and BH Mondays at 2.15pm & 3.15pm.
On the last Saturday of each month during April to September, Jonathan Betts, an expert in Horology and formerly of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, conducts a specialist tour around the clocks of Belmont House. Tours start at 1.30pm.
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