Come to the

HOSPICE IN THE WEALD MIDSUMMER PARTY

Sunday July 8th

12:00 – 17:00

Chilstone, Victoria Park, Fordcombe Road, Langton Green, TN3 0RD

Explore the grounds at Chilstone, including the gardens, sculpture, woodland and lakeside walks and beautiful lake.
You can see over 16 working fountains, 4 temples, and hundreds of examples of antiqued urns, benches and more. An exhibition of exclusive summer houses and architectural work will be on display.
Between 12 – 4pm see the workshop demonstrations and how Chilstone is created.
To purchase tickets or for more details please contact Hayley Brown on
01892 820502.

Admission: £6 including Strawberry teas. Sorry, no dogs for this event.

The event is in support of Hospice in the Weald

About Hospice in the Weald

Originally established in 1980, Hospice in the Weald  provide specialist palliative care advice and clinical support for people with life limiting illness, their carers and families. The  Hospice is based in Pembury and comprises a 17 bed In-Patient Unit and a Day Therapy Centre offering a range of treatments, complementary therapies and clinics.  The new Hospice in the Home service provides 24 hour advice and support to the local community and all nursing and medical services are offered alongside family support, bereavement counselling and spiritual care.  All their services and activities are supported by a skilled and dedicated team of volunteers.  No charge is made for these services which are provided on the basis of need rather than ability to pay.

YOUR SUPPORT FOR THIS FINE CHARITY WOULD BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED

Lovely Hole Park in Rolvenden is the venue of this year’s Wealden Times Midsummer Fair.

Held over 3 days from 14th June-16th June from 9am -4.30pm the fair is a popular event with plenty to see and do.

Strolling around the Hole Park estate is not least of the pleasures on offer and you will have a chance to admire the latest addition to the grounds – this fine Chilstone obelisk! I nearly said magnificent obelisk but modesty forbids.

If you cannot wait to see the obelisk, or perhaps visit the fair, tickets are available in advance on 0800 2949011

The latest addition to the many attractions of our showgardens is this thrilling life sized sculpture of the great showjumper Milton – originally owned by the legendary horsewoman Caroline Bradley, the horse eventually became the first showjumper to win £1 million in prize money, ridden by John Whitaker.

This amazing work of art  is a wonderful portrayal of this great animal and is the work of distinguished sculptor Jonathan Wylder. Most noteworthy is the lack of a heavy base that is usually seen supporting an equestrial statue.

The work is designed to stand alone but also to accomodate a rider if wanted. The artist will undertake to create a sculpture of the client to mount the horse. Milton is a limited edition and is available in bronze resin (as featured in our showgarden) or in bronze by special appointment.

May has always been a busy time for Chilstone. Summer is on it’s way, slowly as usual, and we never really get much Sun until midsummer’s day, but even hardened sundial enthusiasts have been taken back by the sudden popularity of our Linford Sundial  (Pictured).

We are not sure if it has anything to do with the forthcoming Jubilee celebrations, perhaps it is a fitting souvenir of the event or perhaps it’s timeless elegance has caught on among the cogniscenti. Whatever the reason, we have sold 10 in the past 10 days and that is surely worth celebrating!

A set of automatic residential gates

It hardly seems worth being a millionaire unless your mansion is guarded by a sturdy set of automatic gates. Look at these in a secret location in Kent.  Solidly engineered with remote control opening and hung from a matching pair of Chilstone gate  piers.

Gates like these are becoming increasingly popular not only to guard your home but also for basic security and controlled access to vulnerable areas such as schools.

Chilstone work in partnership with many local employers and we are proud of our association with top security gate engineers and manufacturers Fort Knox Security.

Fort Knox use Chilstone gate piers as strong gates need strong supports. The company are experts in controlled access and the full range of their services can be seen at www.fortknoxsecurity.ltd.uk.

picture by Duncan Smith

Every year we play host to a wide variety of wildlife. Our  acres of woodland are home to many animals including deer, fox, a troup of rabbits, Poppy the Chilstone spaniel and our own geese. This brace of Canada Geese have raised six goslings in our larger lake and are now walking through our workshops enroute to our smaller pond outside our inner gates. They will play in the pond for several hours and then return to their nest in the lake.

The goslings face a struggle to survive but many succeed  and return to Chilstone year after year to raise families of their own.

If you want to see our goslings, who sometimes like to bathe in our fountains, you have to be quick. The gardens are free and open during office hours seven days a week (and all bank holidays).

Photograph by Jonathan Myles-Lea

Sir Roy Strong, the eminent art historian and noted landscape designer is to mark The Queen’s  Diamond Jubilee with a specially designed monument in his important gardens.

The Laskett gardens were founded in 1974 by Sir Roy and his late wife Julia Trevelyan Oman and are the largest and most important private gardens built since the second World War and are a unique record of the life and work of this extraordinary couple.

Sir Roy, the nation’s leading art historian and one of the most influential landscape designers in the country is celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with a typically unique monument linking the reigns of our present queen with that of his particular subject the reign of the first Queen Elizabeth.

The monument was created by British ornament maker Chilstone of Tunbridge Wells from a design by the great landscape designer William Kent and has been decorated in the unique style developed by Sir Roy and is particular to the Laskett Gardens. The monument is further embellished with fine plaques by artist  Caitriona Cartwright.

The essence of the style is to decorate stone garden ornaments with bright colours and rich gilding. An unfamiliar sight but with echos to be found in the ancient world. The effect is novel at first but quickly grows on the onlooker as the treatment imbues the normally austere ornament with a striking and splendid character rather like a jewel or the plumage of an exotic bird.

The gardens, situated in the village of Much Birch in Herefordshire are still very much a private garden although visitor groups can be arranged.

A lost set of unique garden ornaments have been recreated for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s new home Kensington Palace  by garden ornament makers Chilstone of Tunbridge Wells. The original ornaments were created in artificial stone in the 19^th Century by the famous Pulham company of London,  the Chilstone of their day.

The Pulhamite planters surrounding the pool in the Dutch Gardens at Kensington Palace were over time damaged and slowly disappeared during the last century. Historic Royal Palaces commissioned Chilstone to recreate the urns  from drawings that still exist in the royal archives.

Chilstone were able to recreate the pots from the drawings by making a mould and creating 22 copies using their hand made process that is essentially similar to what is known of the original Pelhamite process, now a lost secret.

Chilstone still make ornaments by hand in the traditional way. “The company is always very interested in helping custodians of our heritage in their conservation work”, says general manager, Steve Clark, “The company are always interested in commissions like this and we once recreated 55 lost urns for Kew gardens. We also helped to restore the Golden Staircase at Hever castle following the great storm of 1987 ”.

Find unusual handmade crafts for the home & garden and enjoy a day out for all the family at the latest Weald of Kent Craft Show. The show is a popular feature in the Penshurst calendar and is a great chance to visit this pretty English village. This late spring show is on the, hopefully, sunny weekend of 5-7 May (May day bank holiday).

There is so much to see at this year’s fair including the Chilstone Ice Garden, Fantastic birds of prey displays, demostrations, workshops and delicious piping hot food and treats.

The Weald of Kent Craft fair features over 250 crafts people with a fascinating range of products and crafts on offer. Chilstone has been a prominent participant for several years now and we do enjoy meeting all the visitors and stall holders who come along. Try to book in advance and you will save money and parking is free too!

Win Win Win! You also have a chance to win £500 worth of Chilstone garden ornaments see www.ichf.co.uk for details!

You can also make a day of it and combine a visit to the show with a visit to the Penshurst Place house and gardens with a special combined ticket that must be ordered a week in advance call the TICKET HOTLINE on 01425 27798