Devon secret garden wins £188,000 National Lottery grant

A secret garden designed as a refuge for its gay owner has been awarded a £188,050 grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The funding will be used to restore the Italian Garden at Great Ambrook, in Ipplepen, Devon, over three years.

The garden was created between 1909 and 1912, by Arthur Graham, who was homosexual at a time it was illegal.

Behind 15ft walls, it was designed as a private space where Mr Graham could entertain his circle of friends.

The restoration project will focus on developing the garden as a "place of well-being and learning for the local community".

Project leader Stephanie Berry said she was "thrilled" the garden had been awarded the funding.

The Italian Garden at Great Ambrook Community Interest Company (CIC) website describes it as "a window into a historically less tolerant society where homosexual men were driven to seclusion and a secret life".

It adds that "refuge and privacy were the reasons for making a garden separate from Great Ambrook House and its existing garden, with access via a short carriage drive".

The CIC said while at Oxford University, Mr Graham would have followed the trial of a fellow Oxonian, Oscar Wilde.

The garden's four acres (1.6 hectares) were created across the boundary of two fields with an old quarry as its centrepiece and taking advantage of the "dramatic possibilities" of the sloping terrain.

Behind high walls, it had a tennis court, pools, a summerhouse and multiple landscaped walks.

After Mr Graham's death in 1928, aged 56, Great Ambrook changed hands a number of times before falling into neglect in the 1960s.

The garden was eventually rediscovered again in the late 1980s.

A team of volunteers has been working on essential restoration work at the site since 2020, when the CIC was awarded an initial £48,900 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Visitor access has been enhanced since the first grant was awarded, and the CIC said the new funding would allow the completion of "essential infrastructure, improved facilities, repairs to paths and a partial restoration of the summerhouse".

The CIC said the latest grant would also fund new community partnerships, providing activities for school children with learning difficulties and adults in need of mental and social support.

Ms Berry said: "We are thrilled to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players and are delighted this project will allow The Italian Garden to secure its place as a key heritage asset and a unique contributor to the local South Devon community."

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