Japanese Stroll Garden
Chiddingstone Castle has plans to develop its 35 acres (140,000 m2) of natural landscape into a Japanese Stroll Garden. When completed, the landscaped grounds will feature many winding strolling pathways, a cherry tree garden, a Japanese ceremonial tea garden, a woodland play garden and nature garden.
This project will give Chiddingstone Castle the largest Japanese Stroll Garden in the UK, and will be a fitting addition to the Castle, which is renowned for being home to one of the most important private Japanese collections in Europe. The Castle staff have been working closely with English and Japanese historians to ensure the authenticity of the new garden with the history of the Castle and grounds. Their research has led to discoveries that during the Victorian era, people in the UK became fascinated with Japanese culture. In fact, the interest was so great in London that a Japanese village was built in Knightsbridge, complete with tearoom, gardens, shops and homes! The Victorians also became avid collectors of all things Japanese, especially ceramics. In 2008/09, 150 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and the United Kingdom were celebrated. Following a commemoration of the signing of the Treaty on 26 August 2008, a large number of events took place to celebrate JAPAN-UK 150. As part of the celebration, the Chiddingstone Team promoted Japanese arts, culture and crafts, which culminated in a very popular Japanese Culture and Arts festival held at the Castle in 2009.
To coincide with JAPAN-UK 150, details for the Japanese Stroll Garden in a Victorian setting were revealed during a day of celebration. Specially invited guests came from all over the UK to take part in the opening presentation of the plans. The Chairman of the Trustees, Mark Streatfeild and Garden Designer Marie Jackson revealed the designs and explained how the Stroll Garden would enhance and compliment the history of Chiddingstone Castle. Mr Ken Okaniwa, the Cultural Minister from the Japanese Embassy, attended the event.
Detailed plans and dates for the garden will be released in 2010.
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