Wyken Hall, Bury St. Edmunds England

Photograph by Hugh Palmer.

As an editor, sometimes you visit a place that completely captivates you. This is what happened to me when I visited Wyken Hall for the first time. It was April 1998. My maternal grandmother has just died and after the funeral the family went out to dinner at The Leaping Hare, which is part of the amazing family property of Wyken Hall near Bury St. Edmunds in England. We arrived late in the afternoon and went to walk the gardens only to find they had just closed. However, Lady Carla Carlisle, the owner of the house who happened to be walking by, told us to go on into the gardens anyway.



Photograph by Jo Whitworth.
We wandered through with my grand-father delighting in the beautiful combination of flowers, the colour of the house and the outdoor furniture painted a wonderful shade of blue. Later we headed over to The Leaping Hare, the restaurant located in a 400 year old converted barn. The food was delicious and Lady Carlisle stopped by our table. After learning of the sad recent events, she sent over a bottle of wine. Bacchus, one of the wines produced by the estate has a hint of gooseberries and I was soon hooked.




Photograph by Hugh Palmer.
To make a long story a bit shorter, I become enthralled with the place and had not seen it featured significantly in any magazines in the states. I was determined to produce a story on the house and gardens for an American magazine. I gathered the UK articles I came across and in time a few American magazines did indeed feature the gardens but had yet to focus on the interiors, country store and restaurant.




Photograph by Hugh Palmer.
Fast forward to June 2001. Now the mother of Sophia (who at the time was six months old), I was freelancing for Victoria magazine and finally received approval to go ahead and shoot the property. It worked out perfectly as Sophia and I went to England that June to introduce my grandfather to his first great grandchild and I was able to arrange to photograph Wyken Hall during that visit.



This is the map one receives for walking through the gardens. There are over 17 seating areas throughout the grounds along with a maze, herb, knot and rose gardens, the kitchen garden, edible garden, wild and winter garden and much more.


These are the photographs that ran in Victoria in 2002. Taken by David Montgomery.

Carla commissioned the mural in the dining room by French artist Leonard la Salle, showing "all the wildlife of Wyken growing off the grapevine" and the plates, with hares (rather a fixture a Wyken) leaping through the grapevines, by English potter Daphne Carnegie.

The farmhouse kitchen also had its fare share of hare plates and tiles but Carla loves all types of animals and they are depicted throughout the room.

The country store is loaded with wonderful accessories for the home along with children's toys, clothing, outdoor gear, wellies, books and jewellery.

The outside of the barn.

Carla sits on a Gothic bench with her dog Fanny and Dark Brahma cockerel, Silas.

Painted linen wall hangings decorate the walls in the spare room. An American quilt on the bed complements the traditional crewelwork canopy.

Details from throughout the property - the inside of the barn where The Leaping Hare restaurant is located. The Saturday farmer's market, cups hanging along a shelf in the store, organic eggs, a hand tied flower arrangement and a Partridge Brahma chicken.

To read more about Wyken - please check out the website at http://www.wykenvineyards.co.uk/. Carla is a Mississippi transplant who came to England in 1986. Thanks to her vision, she helped transform this old family property into a great destination in the countryside. Make a day of it with a visit to the farmer's market, a meal in The Leaping Hare, a stroll through the gardens and finish off with a shop in the country store. I'm sure you'll be as captivated as I was and will want to come back time and time again.