Visitor Information
Les Jardins d'Eyrignac,
24590 Salignac, France.
Website: www.eyrignac.com
E-mail: eyrignac@perigord.com
One-hour guided tours, disabled access, restaurant, picnic area, shaded parking.
Eyrignac features on the website of the most beautiful gardens in France. Find out about garden events, entry details etc. and take a virtual tour. Click here to go to the website Les Plus Beaux Jardins de France
Green and Greener
In the most discrete of settings in Perigord Noir, just above
the valley of the Dordogne, lies a unique and unforgettable French garden.
We discover les Jardins du Manoir d'Eyrignac.
There had, it turns out, been a previous garden of
some note at Eyrignac, created during the late-eighteenth century by Louis
Antoine Gabriel, Marquis de Coste de la Calprenède, who had been
appointed Controller of French Overseas Trading Posts (and the Mint) by
Louis XV. Living, like his modern-day descendant, for much of the time
in Paris, the Marquis took his styling cues from the highly-influential
garden schemes of Versailles and Vaux-le-Vicomte, employing an Italian
landscape gardener to draw up the planting plan. In time, however, the
French taste for the formal gave way to the influence of the contemporary
English style, as a softer, more eclectic approach to both layout and diversity
brought a brief touch of the exotic to this quiet corner of Perigord. Of
these earlier schemes nothing remains but a scattering of decorative sculptures
and the stone-built chapel, summer-house and dovecote. And, of course,
le Manoir itself, a serene beauty constructed from rich, golden Sarlat
stone.
As we walk through the heavy dew of a mild mid-March morning, Patrick Sermadiras
shows me with justifiable pride the present gardens which his father commenced
in 1960. Through countless lone forays, Gilles had come to know virtually
every corner of the 122-hectare family estate which had been his home since
childhood. With familiarity, though, came a sadness for the le Manoir's lost
showpiece which only the creation of completely new gardens would assuage.
The logical first step towards this was to approach two highly-regarded designers:
Frenchman Loup de Vianne, and Russell Page, from England. Each produced characteristically
inspired designs, and whilst neither quite corresponded to what Gilles' had
in mind, the exercise did finally cast aside any reservations he might have
had as to the viability of the project.
Since no documentation had survived (and Gilles had never visited the great
gardens of Europe), the only assets at his disposal were the instinct and
determination which sustained him throughout the long process of trial and
error by which his dream began to take earthly form. Around a minimal framework
of the existing buildings, fountains and some clipped box, he combined elements
of both Classical and more Romantic influence to produce a unique garden
whose mood and appearance compliments le Manoir to perfection.
As we walk around his now-mature Utopian vision, the
most striking element of the four-hectare gardens is the surprisingly limited
palette of species with which he elected to work - predominantly box, hornbeam,
yew and cypress. However, the decision not only ensured a tonal unity which
is sustained throughout the seasons, but more importantly, provided the
basis of the avenues of clipped forms whose architectural effect has become
one of the classic images of Eyrignac. I comment on the immaculate appearance
of absolutely everything to Patrick (who, I suspect would settle for nothing
less) and wonder how he manages to keep things looking this good. 'The
more you care for a garden, the more care it demands. We have eleven full-time
employees, including four gardeners, and maintenance costs averaging around
ten thousand francs per day. Since we welcome around eighty thousand visitors
per year, we manage to meet almost all of our costs from those who come
to enjoy the gardens. The rest comes from receptions, conventions and other
events.'
And care it certainly gets. Weeding is carried out by hand. Electric hedge-trimmers
are also shunned in favour of hand-clipping, which is kinder to new shoots.
In order to maintain the overall appearance during the peak growth period
from June until October, further specialist help is brought in as necessary
to hand-trim the topiary with the aid of precisely-aligned templates and
hundreds of metres of slender wires. Despite (or because of) this, the gardens
open their doors to visitors every single day of the year, Christmas Day
included.
After touring the gardens and discussing the occasionally
surprising history of some of their decorative features, we turn our attention
briefly to the newest attraction: La Roseraie, a large formal rose garden
currently lying dormant, but which is due to produce a spectacular display - entirely in
white - in early summer, around the month of June. The design reveals the
hand of father and son, and Patrick tells me of his father's continued interest
and involvement, as we make our way to le Manoir to meet the man himself.
'I would like you to meet my father - he's ninety-one years of age now,
and still coming up with new ideas for refinements to the gardens.' Gilles
Sermadiras is remarkable sprightly, with an easy smile apparently undimmed
by the passing years. Sure enough, he has a new architectural sketch to show
his son. The next couple of hours are a revelation, as Gilles shows me his
ancestral home, pausing by a framed letter of appreciation for the loyalty
of one of his forebears, signed by the King. When I comment on the date -
1667 - inscribed on the huge fireplace, he replies that the real treasure
is above. During the widespread looting and destruction of religious artefacts
by the forces of The Revolution, some local women were raking through the
ashes of one of the resulting fires. In the midst of the destruction they
discovered a painted wooden figure of the Madonna completely unharmed. A
miracle, we agree. Like the gardens. Gilles has no idea just how he managed
to come up with the earthly paradise which he created, but it occurs to me
that the Lady above the fireplace has been watching over le Manoir and its
estate for the past two centuries.
I say my good-byes and leave with some sadness, eased by the certain knowledge
that I'll be back, perhaps to see what happens when the urns shed their frost
protection, the leaves transform the deciduous trees and shrubs, and summer
returns once again to Eyrignac. It should be quite a show.
© Words and pictures Roger Moss
This feature first appeared in everything France magazine Issue 1
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