About Charlton Down
The House and Estate
Charlton Down House was built in two stages – 1848 and 1938; while the barns, outbuildings and stables were all built in the 1840s. In 1938, Francis Lloyd bought the property, and much enlarged the house to the east (visible in the ashlar stone walls), converting it into a country house in its own right.
The walled garden, greenhouse, chicken enclosure and classical pool pavilion were built by the present owners, Neil and Julie Record, who have owned the house since 2009.
The Gardens & Grounds
The gardens were laid out in their present form in the 1930s after the house re-modelling. The present owners’ Estate Manager Mike Tingay, and Head Gardener Sarah White have developed the borders; stocked the new walled garden with a mixture of flowers (for cutting) and vegetables.
The Estate team planted a Jubilee copse in 2012 at the southern end of the Estate with native deciduous trees – oak, beech, hornbeam, silver birch, field maple, alder, and with a small number of ash surviving ash die-back. The newly-planted whips are London Plane (the only non-native).
In 2019, the owners commissioned a ‘Big Chair’, which is 2 ½ times a standard bench in every dimension except length. Please take a fun photograph of yourselves on it – not just for children!
To celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, our gardener Sarah White created the ‘Queen Bee Trail’. Dotted around the gardens you will find solitary bee ‘palaces’ (marked on the map) designed and built by the Estate carpenter, Mark Goldstone.
The grounds extend to c. 180 acres, mostly sheep-grazed grass.
Upcoming Events
Find out about our upcoming events at Charlton Down Estate here.