Cressing Temple takes its unusual name from the medieval monks of the Knights Templar who founded the two vast wooden barns, which form the centrepiece of this delightful rural estate.

Nestled to one side of the barns is the Walled Garden. Inspired by an age when gardens combined beauty and functionality, it is the result of painstaking research and archaeological excavation, and is filled with species widely cultivated at the time.

As you step within the Tudor walls, you step back in time. Here plants have been carefully grouped according to medicinal, culinary and dyers’ plants, a potager and a small orchard and nuttery. The nosegay garden is a fragrant delight with a wealth of sweetly scented plants that were grown for their perfume, whilst the arbour is planted to recall Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with its profusion of roses, woodbine and oxlips. At the centre of the garden is the fount, on which four spouts take the form of the green man, the spirit of vegetation frequently found in medieval carvings.

Set in peaceful surroundings, the gardens make a perfect escape on a clear winter’s day. The barns are open throughout the main season, and visitors can enjoy a full programme of cultural events.
 

Click here to download the Cressing Temple Guide.