Hallowe’en and pumpkins at the Gardens of Easton Lodge for its last open day of the year on Sunday 13 October

There will be pumpkin fun for all the family at the Gardens of Easton Lodge’s last open day of the year, writes trustee Jill Goldsmith.

On Sunday October 13, children visiting the idyllic haven near Great Dunmow will enjoy a spooky trail in the Lime Wood, pumpkin bowling, guess the weight of the pumpkin, Hallowe’en craft activities and face painting.

There will be garden games for all the family, including croquet on the historic croquet lawn.

Bishop’s Stortford Ukulele Society will play from 1pm. They have had a busy and fun year and, through their music, have raised money for many local charities. This summer they helped to organise and played at the first ever UkeFest in Bishop’s Stortford.

Masses of soft fruit were harvested this year at the gardens, from early-season gooseberries and blackcurrants through to late-season raspberries. So visitors can try their luck to take some home from the jam and jelly tombola.

Squashes and pumpkins will be on sale as well as the last produce from the kitchen gardens, likely including lots of fresh ripe chillies! There will be craft stalls, including a local wood turner.

Visitors will enjoy the last of the year’s flowers in the gardens – the dahlias, roses, verbena and Michaelmas daisies.

The trees will be starting to turn autumnal, so there should be lots of leaves to kick up a swirl and a range of colours coming to the Glade.

Gardens of Easton Lodge Preservation Trust volunteers will provide hot and cold drinks and local bacon, cheese or hummus rolls and home-made cakes.

The gardens will open at 11am and close at 5pm. Tickets cost £5.50 in advance online through the gardens’ website or Facebook page or £6.50 on the gate. There is free entry for children under 16. Dogs are welcome, but must be kept on leads.

The Gardens of Easton Lodge have a history dating back to Tudor times. They have been partially restored to their former glory by a team of dedicated volunteers and the owners of Warwick House.

Frances Evelyn Maynard, who inherited Easton Lodge in 1865 and became the Countess of Warwick when her husband inherited the Warwick title in 1893, loved her gardens, the countryside around and its wildlife.

She commissioned Harold Peto to redesign her gardens in 1902. His designs included the planting of specimen trees, lime and fir trees to line the Glade and lime trees pleached to form hedges. Peto’s structures in the gardens included the sunken Italian garden and its 100ft long water lily pool, for which the balustrade was restored in 2021; a treehouse, which the trust has recreated; and a rill and other Japanese garden features.

The countess employed a large team of gardeners to maintain the formal gardens and to raise fruit and vegetables for the house. The trust’s archivists will have a special display about the gardeners at this open day.

The Archive Building will be open with its extensive photos and stories from the history of the Maynards, the Countess, Peto and the requisitioning of the estate for use as Great Dunmow Airfield in the Second World War.

Autumn colours start to spread across the trees in the gardens from late September. The Countess’ son, Maynard Greville, who inherited Easton Lodge, mostly did not live there. But he was a tree enthusiast and is known to have planted trees in the gardens, adding to those planted by Peto.

In the 1950s, when the gardeners were laid off and the house and part of the gardens were sold, other trees will have become established, potentially including the large walnuts in the Glade, and the older trees were left untended and grew large.

The trust and its volunteers have been adding to the tree collection, including a number raised by arboriculturist Henry Girling, who worked alongside Maynard Greville.

Further information is available on the gardens website at www.eastonlodge.co.uk. To enquire about volunteering or arranging a private group tour, email enquiries@eastonlodge.co.uk or call 01371 876979 and leave a message.