Gin in the Garden

Gordon’s Gin and the National Trust for England have together recreated the original juniper walk at Ham House in Surrey as part of an ongoing project to replicate the seventeenth century gardens using original drawings. This unlikely partnership of distillery and heritage preserving organization is planning to plant more of the berry-producing strain of juniper rather than the current non-berry producing plants; in this way, visitors can then enjoy the fragrance of juniper berries on the bush and not berries placed in pots, as at present.

Gin is distilled from grain and then re-distilled with or over juniper berries, citrus peels, cassia bark, angelica root, coriander seeds, and other botanicals which give it its distinctive fragrance. First used as a medicine in Europe of the 1500's, gin (and tonic) is now one of Britain’s favourite beverages, having overcome its notorious image as the sinful balm to the gin-soaked, poverty-stricken residents (including children) of London’s slums during the industrial revolution.

At Ham House, the juniper walk of the 1700's was reserved for the privileged aristocracy only, and as such was the site of intrigue and seduction. It is said that Lady Dysart, mistress of Ham House, not only acted as a double-agent for Charles II but actually seduced Oliver Cromwell among the scented juniper bushes!