Patrick Grant, the renowned British designer, has shared his growing appreciation for espalier fruit trees and his ambition to create a similarly productive and diverse garden to that of Lypiatt Park, a Tudor manor house in Gloucestershire.

Lypiatt Park was saved from demolition in 1958 by sculptor Lynn Chadwick, who used his Venice Biennale prize money to purchase and restore the estate. Chadwick was not only a sculptor but also an avid horticulturist, planting various fruit trees throughout the grounds. These included apple and pear trees around the edges of the walled garden, a pair of kiwi plants in an unheated greenhouse, several fig trees, and two walnut trees now reaching approximately 60 feet tall. The female kiwi plant continues to bear fruit abundantly each January.

Following Chadwick’s death in 2005, the estate became home to his son Dan Chadwick—also an artist—Dan’s wife Juliet, their children, and other resident artists such as Mat Collishaw and Polly Morgan, who occupy Lynn’s former studio. Juliet oversees the walled garden with the help of a small team, growing a variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers to supply their pub, The Woolpack in Slad, and the restaurant Juliet in nearby Stroud.

Several of the fruit trees at Lypiatt have been cultivated for specific culinary uses. For example, the “Mirabelle de Nancy” plum supplies fruit for cheonga, a Korean syrup-like preserve used in cocktails by the pub’s head barman, Kenji. A rare Hunt’s Duke of Gloucester dessert apple was planted at the request of Woolpack head chef Adam Glover to complement Gloucester cheese. Figs from Chadwick’s original trees are eaten fresh or used in herbal infusions, while walnuts serve as pickling ingredients. Apples are processed into cider vinegar or used for a small-batch cider called Sidro, produced by resident artists Imogen and Riccardo.

Grant expressed admiration for the detailed and precise approach to fruit growing at Lypiatt, down to the use of metal medallions stamping the names of rare varieties such as the French “Beurre Superfin” pear. Inspired by this, he has begun creating his own stamped markers for fruit trees in his garden.

A key element of Grant’s garden plans involves restoring an existing fruit wall, recognizable by iron hooks originally used to hold training wires for espaliered trees along south- and west-facing walls. Fruit walls, popular since the Elizabethan era, functioned similarly to glasshouses by providing warm, sheltered microclimates conducive to growing tender fruit trees—without the high cost of glass.

Grant and others note the long history of cultivating dessert fruits in Britain, with figs grown since Henry VIII’s reign and even earlier cultivation of medlars dating back to Roman times. The garden at Lypiatt Park exemplifies how traditional techniques and thoughtful cultivation continue to support diverse fruit production in contemporary settings.