There were but a few clues as to the layout of the Vicarage gardens. The gardens themselves never had the upkeep of a manor house. They were mainly laid to grass with a fruit and vegetable garden outside what was the kitchen window (now the morning room). At the side of the stable, it looks as if chickens may have been kept. The rear of the stable block was most likely a paddock. and the land at the front of the house and side facing the church lawn.
We were hoping to find cobbles or the like outside the stable, and perhaps a terrace outside the French windows, on the side of the house facing the church, we dug, to investigate, but to no avail.
As we have reorientated the view of the house slightly, in that in its days as a working vicarage, the primary view of the house was from the side of the house (sitting room and library, formerly the dining room) towards the church. Now we have two primary views as the Old Kitchen at the back of the house has now been converted to a morning.breakfast room with doors that open up into the rear garden.
You can see to the left the gardens have now been levelled and are just waiting to be planned. The company that cleared The Old Vicarage gardens can be seen clearing the overgrown copse, ready to be replanted with willow trees. Before this, you could not see The Old Vicarage from where this picture was taken.
These were poplar trees and beyond their life expectancy. They were becoming a danger and several would fall each year due to their size. You can see the height of one that is left to the left of the JCB, it is three times the height of The Old Vicarage.
Showing the side view of the house towards the church with patio and the back of the house with a smaller patio. To the right can be seen the Little Ouse river and the Iron bridge.
The gardens have been levelled and are mainly laid to grass in these early photos.
A view of the front of the house. This is where the car park is now. This picture was taken after several months of clearing. It was the first time we could get cars to the front of the house.
The front of the house showing the stable (Orchard Cottage to the left, the well and courtyard and the carpark and front garden. This picture was taken in the first year after the lawn was laid and the yew hedge planted. These are getting larger each year and will soon form a very good hedge.
This picture was taken after several months work. The trees leaning against the stable had been removed and this clearing made to get to the walls of the building.
The The ivy has been cleared off the walls, you can see some of it at the bottom of the walls, waiting to be cleared away.
Now it was time to get it off the roof and chimney of the stable block (Orchard Cottage). Needless to say the roof and chimney came off with the ivy, it had been on so long and was growing through the roof.
The front of the house. To the left of the main house is the stable block and behind that the new Victorian kitchen garden. To the front is the carpark and front garden.
The willow plantation in the field to the front and side is owned and managed by Church farm, which is the buildings in the field behind The Old Vicarage.
The Old Vicarage B&B, Little Ouse 