Set-piece effects \'JOr'kS ot art are arranged throughout the garden to create drama and atmosphere

1 Poolside perfection Gibberd inhented lhe formal pool and the pavilion at its southern end. and he integrated it into the system ot interlocking terraces he created around the house. each with its own artisUc character. Terracott.a pots were placed around the pool. \vith careful regard to their weighting and balance.

2 A dramatic entrance Visitors knov1 they have arrived somewhere 'd1fferent ' when they enter the Gibberd garden. F"lank1ng the gates C'lre a stnking pair' of eagles made of ciment fondu (C'I kind of supermaneable cement) by Gerda Rubinstein. The gates give on to a small parking area where straight ahead a painted breezeblock wall is adorned by lwo '!bstracl pain lings by Stephen Knapp.

3 Narrow lawn and path The front garden \vas arranged by G1bberd so that il feels more like a sculpled space than a domestic necessily. A gate opens on to a straight pal h that runs alongside and above the fronl ot the house. G1bberd's children nicknamed 1t the ML Several large abslract sculptures. including Paul Mounl 's chunky Interlock. are sited on the lawn here and help build l he sense ot anticipation.

4 Not too serious Gibberd made the ca sue 'IS a plaything tor h is gr'1ndchildren - and ot course for h imself. The mound for the keep (originally elm rogs. later concrele) \vas created using the spoil removed for the encircling moat. In G1bberd's hfetime lhe Eng ti sh flag ot St George alw'1ys flew from a flagpole. Ifs an amusing addition 1n a serious garden.

5 Folly effect Perhaps l he most ambitious feal ure is the tableau formed by a pair of Portland stone columns and sw'1gged Coade stone urns salvaged from the frontage of the original Coutts Bank in London. which Gibberd completely remodelled. In the manner of an episode 1n an 18th-century landscape park. the mood 1s gentle melancholy often associated with such decorous ruinahon.

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