Corsock House will celebrate its own platinum jubilee this weekend as it opens for charity for the 70th time.
The magnificent achievement by the Ingall family has raised significant funds for charity – £28,440 since 2014 alone – and provided enormous pleasure for the many visitors to a stunning and notable garden.
Corsock House garden includes an amazing variety of designed landscape, from a strictly designed walled garden through richly-planted woodlands full of different vistas, artfully designed water features and surprises, to extensive lawns showing off the Bryce baronial mansion.
The rhododendron and water gardens were begun by the previous owners, General Douglas McEwan and his daughter Veronica, on acquiring ownership in 1919.
Many of the species of rhododendrons they planted were raised from seed collected by George Forrest on expeditions to the Himalayas in the 1930s which the general sponsored.
Peter Ingall bought Corsock House in 1951. He took on a typical post-war ruin of a garden which had been neglected for at least 10 years. Many of the great trees had been felled, others were threatened and rhododendron ponticum had taken over.
In his care, and most notably that of his son Micky who died in 2009, the garden has been restored, extended and embellished with architectural features designed and built by Micky.
The trellis temple was the first of Micky’s creations in the restored water garden and soon followed by the ornamental bridge over the spillway of the mill pond, inspired by that at Kenwood House in London. Across the burn is the ionic temple.
The latest 21st century creation in the old walled garden, the last Micky Ingall built himself, is a Doric temple with cast iron pillars reflected in the canal leading up to it. Beside it are two water sculpture fountains. The two side gates were created by Adam Booth from Kirkpatrick Durham and there are imposing sculpture benches by Clare Bigger.
Micky’s son Alastair and his family now carry on with the evolution and care of the garden. Alistair and his wife Alexandra’s first project was the planting of the wedding wood across the burn with trees given as wedding presents.
A new walk up to the orb sculpture, commissioned from Joe Smith in 2020, provides commanding views.
Devastatingly, Storm Arwen at the end of November cut swathes through the woodland garden. Many wonderful mature specimens came down as did hundreds of more recent plantings. Miraculously no structures were damaged and the water gardens and walled garden remained untouched.
All the drives, especially the front drive, were badly blocked and the drive to the loch and the glade were impassable for quite a time.
Forester Paul Durnan and gardeners Jim Laurie and Jamie Lawrie have worked like trojans to clear almost all of the garden with only the outer woods still requiring attention. The extremely wet weather earlier in the year made heavier equipment difficult to reach some places without sustaining damage to the soft ground so the timber harvester only began clearing the large trunks as recently as March.
The gardens will be open from 2pm to 5pm on Sunday and also by arrangement until June 30. Admission is £5, children free, with proceeds to Scotland’s Garden Scheme charities and Corsock and Kirkpatrick Durham Church of Scotland.
To get to Corsock House take the turning off the A75 for Corsock.
