Second act

An abandoned Monmouthshire garden has been restored to its Edwardian heyday by designer Arne Maynard

- WORDS TIM STRETTON PHOTOGRAPHS JOHN CAMPBELL

Hidden in the hills beyond Chepstow in southeast Wales, there is a little-known Arts and Crafts garden undergoing an amazing renaissance. Under the stewardship of Arne Maynard, and supported by its passionate owners, Mounton House is finally becoming the garden its creator, Henry Avray Tipping, could be proud of.

Mounton's story began in the early 20th century, towards the end of the Arts and Crafts movement. Tipping and the Chepstow-based architect Eric Francis embarked on a grand project to design and build the property above a limestone gorge, which affords views of the Severn Estuary and the countryside beyond. The estate they created was the perfect home for Tipping, then the architectural editor of Country Life magazine, and allowed him a country retreat that was far enough from London to feel apart, but close enough for him to regularly go for work, and keep up with like-minded colleagues such as Edwin Lutyens, Gertrude Jekyll and William Robinson.

His dream was to create a country home that would be recognised as one of the most impressive in the land, and where he could host high-society guests and peers. But the First World War and the subsequent decline of grand country estates meant that Mounton House never fulfilled its potential.

The recent restoration of the house and garden, from 2016, has been sympathetic to the original design and Tipping's planting ideas, with everything on the project being done in a meticulous, thoughtful way, and with real passion. The paths, walls, statues and structures have been repaired and replaced, using locally sourced materials where possible, and with specialist craftspeople carrying out the sensitive work.