Sissinghurst Spring

Spring has arrived

and with it, the reopening

of Sissinghurst Castle garden.

New this year is the invitation

to step inside Vita and Harold's cottage

seen here from the tower.

Vita wasn't allowed to inherit Knole 

but Sissinghurst was regarded as an ancestral mansion  

that had the blood of the Sackville dynasty pulsing through its veins.

Unfortunately it was mostly uninhabitable.

Harold wrote to Vita in April 1930 saying that it was 

most unwise of them to get Sissinghurst.

'It cost us £12,000 to buy and will cost another good £15,000 to put in order.'

We were shown into what appeared to be the kitchen of South Cottage,

but in fact this was originally the flower room.

The kitchen was in an entirely separate building, 

which made for some pretty

nippy commuting at meal times in winter.

Two bedrooms- his and hers.

Hers, curiously, having no wardrobe

and bare brick walls which she insisted upon 

when she saw workmen beginning to apply plaster.

Harold's book room with some of his 3000 books

and their sitting room are all more or less originally furnished.

The bathroom was made comfortable by this nifty contrivance:

a bathrack with integral book rest, candle stick

and wine glass holder -

similar available on eBay should you wish to emulate.

Their son Nigel raised the bath onto a dais to take advantage of the view.

Nigel had the gazebo built overlooking the moat

and used it as his summer office.

The door was open while he worked and visitors' children

were given bread to feed to the birds on the moat.

I spotted Dan Pearson deep in conversation

with the head gardener Troy Scott Smith but despite lurking nearby

behind this statue, did not pick up any free gardening tips to pass on to you.