The The Garden of Surprises is a wonderful modern water garden with water features, fountains and jets of water suddenly spraying the unwary from wooden archways. It was inspired by a mysterious account of a C16th Elizabethan water garden built by the 1st Lord Burghley at his palace, at Theobalds.
It is hidden behind a tall hedge and is a delight. It is separated into different ‘rooms’ by neatly clipped hedges, which are best seen from the ‘view point’ in a corner of the garden.
Jets of water shoot out of the ground, there are small fountains, a pond and a small stream running down a carefully constructed channel.
A door leads out from the far end of the Garden of Surprises. Next to it is the Cottage Garden, which is described on the board beside it as a ‘project in progress.