Château de Canon Garden - A Beautiful Garden in Normandy
Château de Canon Garden is the second garden in our Gardens of Normandy Series exploring the beautiful grounds, parks, and gardens of châteaux around the region of Normandy.
This week we take a look at Château de Canon, a special property because it has been privately owned by the same French family since it was built in the 18th Century. As a result of the family’s care and respect, the property has maintained its original design, aesthetics, and garden plan. In May 2000 , the gardens received the first prize of the Garden Art Company.
More...
“A garden requires patient labour and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfil good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.” - Liberty Hyde Bailey uniquely lived from the 1850s through to the 1950s and co-founded the American Society for Horticultural Science.
Château de Canon - A Historic Monument and A Remarkable Garden
As mentioned, the Château de Canon has been, and is still privately owned and run by the same French family that built it in the 1700s and the Château is now listed as a historic monument with the surrounding grounds officially termed a Remarkable Garden. The term 'Remarkable Garden' is a label created in 2004 by the French ministry of culture that aims to recognise and promote parks that are well maintained and open to the public.
The gardens are the same age as the Château and feature formal beds, natural groves, period follies, numerous streams, waterfalls and watercourses. What is remarkable is that the gardens have remained unchanged since their creation. Found in the department of Calvados, Château de Canon is a 30 minute drive south-east from the city of Caen. Going to Calvados? Stopping in Caen? Don’t pass the opportunity to see these beautiful grounds of Château de Canon.
English vs French style
Home to 13 walled gardens, Château de Canon is often referred to as an open air glasshouse. The grounds include a French Garden and an English Garden. The French Garden consists of a regular layout highlighting the symmetrical harmony of the classical architecture and a mirror pond reflecting the Château. On the other hand the English Garden is in the Romantic style of the 18th Century which embraced the wild untamed side of nature and the affect of the ‘human hand’ is discreet. You’ll find fantastical winding paths, bushy groves, small ponds, and waterfalls! This property fulfils the perfectionists desire for symmetry and neatness, as well as the artists love of the sublime.
Garden Follies
The follies you’ll find on the property were an essential element in English gardens during the Romantic period. They are small whimsical structures used as decorative focal points in garden layouts. Taking the form of the antiquated, exotic, or noble, folly examples include miniature Greek temples, miniature Egyptian pyramids or obelisks, shell-encrusted grottos, and miniature Chinese temples. In the gardens at Canon you’ll stumble across Chinese pavilions and a greco-roman temple which are both very indicative of the period of the garden.
Practical Information on Château De Canon
- Address: Château De Canon, 14270 Mezidon Valley of Auge
www.chateaudecanon.com/les-jardins-de-canon - Opening Hours: Closed during winter and reopens in April from 2pm – 6pm every day excluding Tuesdays.
- Cost: Adult tariff is 7€, children and teenagers 3€.
Are you a gardener?
What do you love about gardens? Is it your own backyard or a botanical garden you visited whilst travelling? We are just loving the beautiful gardens of Normandy and hope you are too. If you missed the first garden we visited, read all about the Presbytère d’Étienville Garden here and Monet's Garden which is also in Normandy.
Related Posts
Enjoyed this beautiful garden? Pin to read again later and share with friends
