Bloomsbury group - part II - Sissinghurst

Most people visit Sissinghurst to see its famous and very beautiful garden, but its creators were writers connected to the Bloomsbury group as well.

When  Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West married in 1913 it was the high society wedding of the year. They enjoyed a long and loving marriage inspite of the fact that they both had homosexual affairs. One of Vita's lovers was Virginia Woolf.

When they bought Sissinghurst Castle in 1930, it was mostly a ruin of an Elizabethan mansion  with a farm house and farm buildings. The picture below shows what it would have looked like in the 1760s, although the house is older, possibly dating back to the 14th century. The yellow lines show the remaining buildings.

 Vita grew up in the 365 roomed Knole House, but could not inherit it even though she was her parents' only child, because she was female. So it was a nice discovery for her that Sissinghurst was once owned by her ancestors, the Bakers.

 Great views from the top of the tower.

The garden is designed around a series of rooms with different themes. The design is Harold's but most of the plants were chosen by Vanessa.

 The white garden.

 A little stunning wild flower meadow planted near the entrance.

 Harold had a good sense of humour. I think a lot of gardener's look like this much of the time.

Vita and Harold were both writers. This is a picture of Vita's writing room up in the tower. No photography was allowed.  Garden all day and write in the evening - sounds lovely.

 Makes me think of Ruth.

An inspirational garden.