Larmer Tree Gardens

The gardens lie in the far south of Wiltshire, on the county border with Dorset, south of Tollard Royal village and about 1+1/2 mi southwest of Rushmore House. They cover around 11 acre. The main entrance is on the south side, where there is a two-storey lodge or caretaker's cottage, built in 1881. Apart from a central lawn the site is planted with mature trees, mostly conifers, oak, and yew, with laurel beneath, and is surrounded by further woodland on all sides except the south. Three Grade II listed buildings dating from around 1880 surround the lawn: the Temple, in limestone ashlar, octagonal with a domed roof and pedimented doors; and two timber-framed ornamental Indian pavilions,…

's The Funeral of Phocion, a copy of which forms the backdrop to the open-air theatre at the Larmer Tree Gardens.]] Many of the Victorian buildings, including the Nepalese Room, the Roman Temple and the Colonial-style pavilion which was originally the Tea Room, remain. The open-air theatre has a backdrop painted by the scenery department at the Welsh National Opera based on The Funeral of Phocion, a 1648 painting by Nicolas Poussin which is in the National Museum Cardiff. Wide cherry laurel-hedged rides radiate out from the lawn, leading to woodland beyond. There are displays of camellias, rhododendrons, hydrangeas and eucryphias among the other trees and shrubs. Peacocks and free-flying…