Elizabeth Macleod Matthews, chatelaine of Chenies Manor died in April 2016. An amazingly stalwart and resourceful lady, for a period of over fifty years she painstakingly resurrected the gardens of Chenies with a lot of back aching work and great panache.
It is not my purpose on this occasion to discuss the present gardens; the thousands of jewelled tulips in the spring, the blazing Mexican colours of the dahlias in the summer, they are there for all to see.
The history of Chenies is ancient. From 1180 until 1523 it was owned by the Cheyne family. In 1523 Anne Sapcote who had inherited Chenies Manor, married into the Russell family who were to become the Dukes of Bedford.
Royalty was regularly entertained at Chenies. Henry the Eighth with his queen, Anne Boleyn and their daughter Elizabeth staying for a week in 1534. In 1541 Henry again visited Chenies, this time with a new wife, Kathryn Howard. Later in the next century Queen Elizabeth visited several times, staying for one month in 1570, the longest visit recorded to any subject’s house. The gardens would have been on a scale to reflect this.
Two hunting parks lay to the West and South West, one of the parks was of 484 acres which Elizabeth would certainly have enjoyed, hunting was a great passion for her.
Preparations for a royal visit were immense and very expensive, very often bankrupting the hosts. Lord John Russell instituted massive building works. In those days it was the latest fashion for the gardens to contain a banqueting house, he set about building one. A description of this house is on record by the chronicler Leland who visited the manor house while the first Earl and his wife were alive and described his impressions:
‘The Old house of the Cheynies is so translated (changed) by my Lord Ruseell that hath that house in the righte of his wife, that little or nothing remaineth ontranslated (unchanged): and a great deal of the house is even newly set up – made of Brick and Timber; a fair loggings be new erected in the garden. The house is within diverse Places richly painted with antique works of White and Black. And there be about The House two Parkes as I remember’.
Russell was well rewarded for his efforts because in 1539 he was created Baron Russell of Chenies.
So, what would the gardens have looked like when Henry arrived at Chenies? According to English Heritage he would probably have approached the manor from the west, (the modern drive is to the east). His lodgings were facing formal gardens to the north over-looking the River Chess, with large stepped terraces down towards the river. A small Privy garden was probably lying to the south.
A privy garden was always much used by royalty and the aristocracy. It was an intimate garden with easy access from their apartments. ‘Walls have ears’ and a garden was the best place to gain privacy from prying eyes and ears, a place where they could exercise and relax without the formalities of court. This was a garden of repose full of the scent of roses. Cherries and apples would have been espaliered against the walls, fountains playing.
When Elizabeth visited, the second Earl Francis was her host, the gardens would have contained more emphasis on symbolism. She was the Virgin Queen and the white rose symbolising purity would have been planted in her honour, a red rose to represent their love for her. Lavish and expensive masques would have been performed in the gardens in her honour, maybe fireworks over the River Chess which she would have been able to enjoy from the gardens outside the royal apartments.
The gardens continued to be of great beauty. The third Earl Russell was married to an immensely wealthy heiress, Lucy Harrington. She was a most lively, beautiful, intelligent woman and one of her passions were gardens, so much so, that she bankrupted herself, spending the equivalent of millions on designing and stocking her gardens. Certainly the masques and romance of the gardens at Chenies continued under her influence.
Sadly, in around 1608, the Russells left Chenies permanently. Although the gardens were kept in a tidy and orderly manner for a while, a gradual decline occurred, much of the manor was demolished, the house and gardens were occupied by the estate farmers. So although still owned by the Russells, Chenies Manor was neglected and became a backwater, used for agricultural purposes.
In 1745 in the field on the opposite side of the road to the Bedford Arms, hops were grown for beer, and just near to this was a vineyard.
So sad, the roofs were falling in and part of the manor had been converted to five homes for the agricultural workers. In 1760 the Duke of Bedford’s estate manager recommended that Chenies should be demolished.
Thank goodness this was not followed through with and Elizabeth Macleod Matthews was able to bring the gardens back to life. The gardens remain in good hands, Elizabeth’s son Charles and his wife Boo will be carrying on the good work.
The Thinking Gardener 