Hartlip House began life as Rose Cottage in the early to mid-eighteenth century. It was a modest two up, two down cottage built around the large chimney you can see from the garden. As was the custom of this time, a grander Georgian frontage was added around 1820 by the newly retired High Constable of Gillingham, William Drawbridge (who notably gave the land and built the Chapel at the other end of the village) The house was further extended over the years; upward at the end of the nineteenth century and outward in the 1940s and 1960s.
The garden has lawns on three levels and views of orchards towards Newington. There are flower beds, vegetables, a pond with a variety of wildlife and mature trees -Walnut, Indian Bean, Eucalyptus, Willow, Yew and Rowan. In the front garden there is a Tulip Tree that blossoms every few years. Herbs grow in a small sunny courtyard.
Hartlip Open Gardens 16th June 2019 