The Manor sits comfortably in a gracious garden on the edge of the River Ouse, in the tiny hamlet of Hemingford Grey, Huntingdonshire, England. It’s a place of pure enchantment, as much because of its history and literary associations as its inherent beauty. On my recent visit I was completely caught in its spell.  I wanted to see two things: the gardens, and the patchwork quilts.

Topiary trimmed in the shapes of royal crowns.

Lucky me—I was visiting my sister, who lives in the English Cotswolds. We decided to visit this wonderful place, which was the home of Lucy Boston, author of the beloved Children of Green Knowe series of children’s books, in which past and present come together in magical ways. The Manor is the setting for these books. (Children especially love touring the house, because they can explore the very rooms that Tolly, the boy hero of the books, explores in the stories.)

The core of the house is a 900-year-old Norman hall. It’s one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in England. Over the centuries, the various owners added and subtracted rooms and entire wings, some of which are gone now. On our tour of the house, conducted by the author’s daughter-in-law (and current owner), Diana Boston, we sat in the ancient stone-walled Music Room, where we could feel the atmosphere of the centuries all around us.

Then we went up to the bedrooms to see what I was waiting for—the quilts. When Lucy Boston wasn’t writing and tending to her vast, beautiful garden, she sat by her open fireplace during the cold winters and made quilts. We were privileged to see them—a collection that ranges from simple one-patches made during World War II from any scraps she could find, to her intricate later quilts like this one.

High Magic Patchwork made by Lucy M. Boston

Quilt in the cozy attic room where Tolly, the boy in the Green Knowe books, slept.

All the quilts are pieced, appliqued, and quilted by hand. No sewing machine and—no rotary cutters! It’s a tribute to the skill and patience of this multi-talented writer, gardener, and quiltmaker.

Everything about The Manor—from its gardens in spring bloom to the peaceful, willow-lined river, to the thatched houses in the village beyond—is exactly we Americans want traditional England to be. Charming, and more than a little enchanted.

To find out more, visit www.greenknowe.co.uk

The River Ouse

Thatched house in the village of Hemingford Gray

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