Charleston’s walled garden was created by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant following designs by Roger Fry. Together they transformed vegetable plots and hen runs, essential to the household during the First World War, into a quintessential painters’ garden, mixing Mediterranean influences with cottage garden planting. Part of the garden’s sense of luxuriance and surprise comes from the variety of sculpture it contains. Classical forms sit side by side with life size works by Quentin Bell, mosaic pavements and tile-edged pools.
The Garden at Charleston is free to visit and is open from 10am-5pm Wednesday-Sunday.
Entry to the Charleston Garden is included with any ticket for the House. Garden only tickets do not need to be booked in advance and can be purchased in our shop on the day of your visit.
The Garden opens one hour before the House.
Learn more about the history of the Garden
“…the garden here was not a gentleman’s garden or a gardener’s garden, it was always an artist’s garden” – Angelica Garnett
Some favourite plants of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant featured in the garden include Wallflower Persian Carpet, Tulip Apeldoorn, Narcissus poeticus, Snake’s head fritillary, Aconitum Napellus, Sweet Peas, Rosa gallica’ Papaver orientalis, Zinnia, Red-hot poker plant, Iris sibirica, Lilium candidum, Dahlia, Globe artichoke, Sunflower, Nasturtium, Cosmos, Asters and Anemone japonica.
Immerse yourself in all things Bloomsbury with our reader in residence Holly Dawson
Join artist Julian Le Bas for a day’s intensive painting, and lose yourself in the atmosphere of the walled garden.
2021. Legendary folk singer Shirley Collins in a unique collaboration with Brian Catling and Matthew Shaw.