About Us
Deans Court is the perfect setting for hosting this festival with its romantic garden and historic association with the organic movement, of which the late Lady Hanham was a pioneering figure.
The Venue
The festival is taking place in the 13-acre historic gardens of Deans Court, a two-minute walk from the Minster. Inhabited for over 1200 years, the site has been the seat of the Hanham Family since the 16th century. The first domestic house was built in the 14th century on the site of a Saxon Monastery. Some Renaissance heraldic stained glass still survives in the main hall, but the house was remodelled in 1725, possibly by the Bastard brothers (who rebuilt Blandford Forum in the 1730s).
The grounds feature mature specimen trees, including two living souvenirs of the early English exploration of America - a Swamp Cypress and a Tulip Tree, presumed to have been planted in 1606 by Thomas Hanham following his voyage to America to survey land for the first English settlement there, resulting in the foundation of Jamestown in 1607.
Around the open lawns are woodlands, orchards, a trout stream and the organic kitchen garden, which is enclosed by a long serpentine wall, possibly built by Napoleonic prisoners of war. Adjacent to the house are the herb garden and the ancient monastic fish pond. Adjoining the gardens is 'The Leaze', where the earthworks of the original Saxon settlement of Wimborne are still visible.
