Front Garden
We
take you first through a wooden farm gate, the original entrance to the
farmyard and its barns, round the corner of the house on to the main lawn.
You pass a large Judas Tree, which may remind you of Greece.
It is at its best in May, when the deep cerise flowers dominate this part
of the garden.
Beyond the Judas tree, the view opens up to a large lawn,
with specimen beech, chestnut, holly and yew planted round it, probably
about two hundred years ago. You will be facing a small temple, made of
wood, with a copper dome, a present from King's College, Cambridge, to
John Raven, while he was a Fellow of the College.
Wander round and pass under two giant beeches, noticing an ancient mulberry
tree to your left.
You
appoach the front of Docwra's Manor. You may notice that the facade is
of red and grey bricks in the style of Queen Anne, rather grand for the
simple seventeenth century farmhouse it covers. It is a surprise that
the facade is only two bricks thick and that the pitched roof rises above
the brick and stone parapet. The flower beds here attempt some formality
to match the straight lines of the facade and the wrought iron railings,
with their magnificent gate.