Some Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them

We aimed for Sarre and the windmill but instead we turned off at St Nicholas at Wade and saw there was an open garden event going on. So we circled the village and ended up parking in St Nicholas Court where we bought tickets and started on the hike around the open gardens. The guide sheet had a little paragraph at the bottom to say that 'we hope you enjoy your visit to St Nicholas at Wade' and we have to say that we did indeed enjoy it.


This is an ancient Pyrocanthea that Daphne is pointing at. I mean ancient!

We were impressed not only by the gardens which were all working gardens and lived in except for 12A that was put together at the last moment and looked as if the owner had worked on it up to the day of showing. She had! The result was a garden under development that was fresh, bright and surprisingly, once the visitor had stopped to take a good look at it, a well laid out garden that had great potential.



The 14thC undergrond chapel at St Nicholas Court





The treat was visiting St Nicholas Court - and later we learned that this had been owned by the family Tapp whome we met later in the day. The Grandfather grew roses in tandem with fruit trees, mostly apples and the result was a wonderful combination of emerging fruit and rose blooms that entwined with the branches. The rest of the Tapp family had adopted a similar approach and here it gets complicated - the granddaughter and her husband, a most charming couple, live in a house that once belonged to the grandfather and hence there was an ancient apple tree with an equally ancient rose bush embracing it. In the grandaughter's mother's garden there was a similar invasion.





The amazing thing about the visit was the friendliness and the enthusiasm of the people for their church and village. Nothing was pristine which was refreshing and at each place we went the owners were happy to chat and happy to know that two out of towners were willing to come and look at their offerings.



A typical gable end



St Nicholas at Wade is one of those villages that are set off the main road and warrant only a sign pointing the way yet when the visitor arrives it is obvious there is more to the place than merely a pub and a few houses. The buildings are unusual and from the shapes of some gable ends one can see a Dutch influence. The older houses in the most cases have been added to but their 18thC origins remmain and from were the occasional Tudor house is placed it is also obvious that there were more Tudor originals. In other words the place is steeped in history which we have yet to discover.





This cottage is set in a disused chalkpit - circa 1720 which means the pit was worked out by the lime burners sometime before 1800.



We took many pictures of the gardens and the village and as the week end was devoted to the restoration of the church we were also pleased to add to the coffers in return for the openess of the residents. I took a picture of the restored church tower and naturally chose to take it framed by trees and roses. We had said that this time of year is the best time for roses although roses are seen for a long time during the summer.

We can recommend taking time to visit St Nicholas at Wade and maybe combining the visit with a walk to Sarre.





As an accidental visit the day was most enjoyable and has increased our desire to explore Thanet more widely.