Laying ghosts to rest

Fifteen abandoned locks were part of the draw for the owners of this astonishing garden, created in the grounds of the former headquarters of the Somersetshire Coal Canal Company, discovers Caroline Donald

- Caroline Donald

IF ever there was a couple capable of tackling the 40 acres of neglected landscape at Caisson House, Combe Hay, near Bath, it is Amanda and Phil Honey. Both are from Somerset farming stock (Mr Honey and his seven siblings grew up a stone’s throw away) and know how gently to nurture the land, but, for many years, they ran Palmbrokers, a company creating elaborate green scenery for big-budget films and events in high-pressure environments. ‘Going into an empty set and building a forest or garden in three days; not that many people have that experience,’ says Mr Honey.

Rolling up their sleeves to create something of wonder and beauty in unusual, tricky spaces is, therefore, their bread and butter—no bad thing, as, together with the Georgian house and dilapidated farm buildings they bought in 2010, are 15 abandoned canal locks at the bottom of the garden. These are the ghosts of a series of 22 locks that was built between 1795 and 1820 as part of the Somersetshire Coal Canal.

Emerging from a pond in front of the house, the new double-ribbon rill makes its way down the slope. Grass is left long on either side and then merges into the meadow which once ran through the Cam valley carrying barges from the pits that dominated the area around Paulson to join the Kennet & Avon Canal.