Run of the mill

Above: The 'tea room' at Bere Mill

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Above: Grape hyacinths and polyanthus thrive under deciduous trees.

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It was under a soft April light that I visited the unique gardens around Bere Mill, in Whitchurch. Drifts of daffodils swayed gently in the breeze, the sounds of flowing water filled the air and verdant, green countryside spread out before me.
When owners, Rupert and Elizabeth Nabarro first saw the historic Bere Mill with its complex of agricultural buildings, they were also immediately drawn to its serene location and the lozenge-shaped land following the riverbank, dissected by side streams. For the past 15 years they have been developing the neglected gardens around the 1712 mill where Portals first made bank-note paper.

The miller’s tale
There has been a mill on this site beside the River Test for seven centuries. From making the paper for the Bank of England the uses changed to flour-making, supplying electricity and in the 1950s as a fish farm. Although the fish farm is long abandoned, the river is still home to brown trout and another claim to fame is that this is where a young Prince of Wales was taught to fish by a former river keeper.
The Nabarros have sympathetically renovated the original house, with few alterations, to respect the continuity of the mill buildings and the history of the site. However the garden has been slowly transformed while still keeping the spirit of its location. Little remained of a garden, apart from some ancient apple trees, the remnant of a wall and a windbreak of 75 Leylandii, which was promptly removed.
Beech and alder were planted instead for wind protection. The traditional Hampshire wall of crushed chalk between hurdles, capped with terracotta tiles, was rebuilt to create an enclosed orchard and is now home to apples, pears, plums, cherries and peaches. It took months to reclaim the beauty of the millstreams and lake with the laborious removal of silt, brambles and nettles. The resulting crystal clear water with its shimmering reflections has refreshed the energy of the environment.

Big in Japan
The design and evolution of the garden has been a fusion of ideas and influences from Elizabeth and Rupert’s travels, especially to Japan, along with an understanding of the ‘sense of place’ in this extraordinary landscape.
“We like the Japanese aesthetic but to reproduce a Japanese garden in England is almost impossible, especially in warm, damp alkaline soil. There are no extremes of climate like Japan. It is almost impossible to grow maples for example. I suppose we have taken from the Japanese style an interest between landscape features – to make vistas and walkways interesting and blended into the surrounding landscape,” comments Rupert.
Advice from some of Hampshire’s leading gardening exponents has also helped to encapsulate concepts, along with additional practical, horticultural input from their two gardeners. However, it is Rupert who ultimately guides the development.
“The garden is loosely fashioned on a Japanese scroll garden. I am very influenced by Japanese gardening, especially the idea of the borrowed landscape – the rivers, fields and hills – being reflected in the garden,” adds Rupert.
Elements of a naturalistic Japanese garden work well in these surroundings, lending a balanced Zen ethos of timelessness and peace. The concept is expressed through an open, free flowing design with the ever-present sight and sound of water. Wild areas, appropriate introduced plants, some structural elements and carefully chosen ornamentation harmonize to create the whole.

Inspired design
In this environment it was important to include places to gaze out from and soak up the atmosphere. Perched comfortably beside the lake is a bespoke teahouse, inspired by a rare Sung dynasty manuscript depicting a scholar’s riverside hut on stilts. It was built by Australian artisan sculptors Paul Jamieson and Rohan Ward on site, out of green oak. They also constructed a deceptively simple self-supporting bridge, spanning one of the streams, out of wedges of a felled local Wellingtonia tree. An unusual serpentine bench and some rustic sculptural pieces add further personality to the garden.
From the outset, planting was aimed at an emphasis on springtime. Massed daffodils form golden carpets and edge the waterways. Every year thousands have been added. Sack loads are planted each autumn to naturalize in the grass, many are semi-wild varieties to suit the natural environment. Once plants are established in the flinty ground they have thrived in the rich, alkaline soil. Amazingly, the river doesn’t really flood and there is not an excessively high water table.
“Trial holes showed three-and-a-half to four feet before hitting water, which is absolutely fine and makes this a wonderful place to garden. We don’t need to water anything,” Rupert explains.

Careful planning
With such an open garden it was decided early on that to make any impact it was necessary to plant out in large blocks rather than small beds. For further spring colour, there are clumps of hellebores, primulas, grape hyacinths and stands of bamboo in a bog garden, an area dedicated to Chinese and Japanese wisterias and baskets of irises lining the streams, inspired by an idea that Rupert saw in a Tokyo park. May should be a peak time for the large variety of irises planted throughout the garden as well. A new woodland, planted with swamp cypresses, parrotia and beeches around a central avenue, is an evolving feature to enjoy.
Along the driveway a contrasting Mediterranean gravel garden is dotted with tulips, anemones and fritillaries. This is the only built-up area, forming a dry spot in the garden, which is baked all day in summer.
As well as being a garden of vistas, this much loved environment is enjoyed by the family and visitors as a place to take walks in, to swim in the streams, as a children's paradise for hide-and-seek games or a delightful spot to just sit and ponder.
Opening times

Bere Mill in Whitchurch is open on Sunday, March 30, Monday,
March 31 and Monday, May 26
between 2pm and 6pm.
Admission is £4 and children go free.
Visitors are also welcome by appointment, Fridays and evenings preferred. The admission charge is £5.
 
To make an appointment, email rnabarro@aol.com.
For more information, visit the National Gardens Scheme online at www.ngs.org.uk.