The Sunken Garden

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A house built in an old quarry in Beckley, Oxfordshire, with a lower garden transformed into a bright, vibrant and welcoming space.

“When I first visited, the lower garden was disconnected from the upper areas and was quite dark and damp. I wanted to create an open, light sense of place, with a strong flow of movement drawing you up into the gardens above. We created a more focussed upper area by organising it into a natural amphitheatre surrounded by wildflowers. We believe strong architectural design should sit alongside wild places.

Aerial view of The Sunken Garden in Beckley, Oxfordshire, showing the house, curved steps, terraces and surrounding planting.
Sculptural curved stone steps rising through planting from the sunken garden to the upper garden in Beckley.
Colourful perennial planting with orange Geum Tangerine, blue Nepeta Six Hills Giant and Descampsia Cespitosa Goldtau beside the steps. The steps are rendered white on the inside to brighten the landscape and invite you up.
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Sunlight and shadow across naturalistic perennial planting beside the pale porcelain terrace - Golden Stone from London Stone.
Soft blue and white campanula persicifolia planting spilling against the stone walls of the Oxfordshire house.
Overhead view shows formal geometry juxtaposed with wild naturalistic planting in the lower seating terrace at The Sunken Garden, designed by Doug Holloway.
Vibrant perennial planting combining orange, blue and purple flowers with ornamental grasses beside the garden wall. Early descampia goldtau shimmer in the breeze.
Digitalis Lutea rising through soft descampsia in The Sunken Garden.
Aerial detail of the sculptural curved stone staircase surrounded by layered planting.
Orange Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’, iridescent in the light, emerging through soft ornamental grasses in this Oxfordshire garden.
Ferns -Dryopteris wallichiana and shade-tolerant planting softening the stone steps and walls in a sheltered part of the garden.
Lower terrace and planting beside the house, with curved walls and steps connecting to the garden above.
Curved stone steps emerging through abundant perennial planting towards the upper garden. Architecture and planting merging together.
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