The Rill Garden

RillĀ Gardens were traditionally used in the earliest garden designs. Pasargadae in Iran has one of the earliest from C6 BC and the Alhambra in Granada has some of the best known. Usually a linear design inset into paving and lined with stone or tiles, they often form a geometric design and have fountains and flowing water.

Designing our Rill Garden

Our Rill Garden was designed with help from Lizzie Tulip in 2008 inside a rectangle formed from hedges of hornbeam and beech. We were replacing a polytunnel which had been in the space and wanted to include an area of the garden that provided a contrast with the rest of the garden.

Very little planting space, several different coloured gravels and the gentle sound of water make this a wonderfully peaceful garden very different from the exuberance elsewhere. During the winter of 2019/20 the Rill Garden will be getting a refurbishment as it was beginning to look a little tired after 10 years.

Starting work on the Rill Garden
The first day of work on the Rill Garden
Building of the Rill Garden
Work in progress
Building the Rill Garden
The hard landscaping nearly complete
The Rill Garden ready for planting
Ready for planting
Rill garden first summer
The first year
Mature Rill Garden
The planting is much more mature in 2017

Sculptures in the Rill Garden

Sculpture in the Rill Garden
Fair Horse Rising by Mike Lyons

The Rill Garden adds an element of surprise to the experience of visiting Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens. It has also provided the backdrop to a number of beautiful garden sculptures, ensuring that it continues to give something new, even to our regular visitors.

Wednesday's Child in the Rill
Helen Sinclair's Wednesday's Child