Hethersett, (also known as Littleworth Cross), Guildford, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

A woodland garden containing notable late 19th-century rhododendron hybrids, and the site of the first meeting of Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

The house originally known as Littleworth Cross lies 5km east of Farnham and 1.75km south of the village of Seale in an area of mixed woodland. The name Littleworth Cross relates to its position at the south-east corner of the crossing of Littleworth Road, which runs east/west, and Seale Lane, which runs north/south, these two roads forming the north and west boundaries respectively of the site. Woodland abuts the site on the eastern and southern boundaries. The registered site of roughly 5 hectares slopes gently towards the south and is made up principally of pine and birch woodland, underplanted with rhododendrons. The approximately triangular site is enclosed by wire fencing. The house is situated to the west of centre of the site, with the garden front facing south across a sloping lawn. To the north of the house are three separate dwellings, including a lodge and the original gardener's cottage.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

F Jekyll, Gertrude Jekyll, A Memoir (1934), p 7

N Pevsner et al, The Buildings of England: Surrey (1971), p 449

Rhododendrons, (RHS Yearbook 1976), pp 13-17

Country Life, 159 (10 June 1976), pp 1582-3

J Brown, Gardens of a Golden Afternoon (1982), pp 28, 31-2, 95

W Bean, Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles III, (1987), pp 824, 836-7

J Davey, Nature and Tradition. Arts and Crafts Architecture in and around Guildford (1993), p 21

J Brown, Lutyens and the Edwardians. An English Architect and his Clients (1996), pp 25, 47, 70-1

Maps

OS 25" to 1 mile: 2nd edition published 1897; 3rd edition published 1916

Illustrations

E Lutyens, Drawings (RIBA Drawings Collection)
 

Description written: February 2000

Amended: May 2003

Edited: September 2002