The UK had been experiencing an extremely dry spell, with temperatures in Hertfordshire reaching a record 39.2°C in Buntingford on July 19.
As a result, the once luscious green Sunken Lawn of Knebworth House dried out, uncovering traces of its Victorian heritage and offering visitors a glimpse into the past.
During the 1840s, novelist, playwright, and politician Edward Bulwer Lytton had a formal garden known as a parterre created to his design, featuring ornate symmetrical box-edged flower beds, gravel paths, fountains, and statues.
The Knebworth House Archive indicated that over 30,000 bedding plants were used to fill the beds, requiring 14 gardeners for maintenance.
Head Knebworth gardener Kevin Hilditch said: “As the summer has progressed it has been fascinating to watch more of the Victorian Garden layout appear on the Sunken Lawn, although I would be much happier if it would rain sometime soon.”
[From The Comet of July 28, 2022]