The landscape at Domaine Evremond. A collaborative and ongoing project with Marian Boswall Landscape Architects. 

Marian Boswall’s vision for the landscape around the new Domaine Evremond winery is one of connection and longevity: “I wanted to weave the complex history of the area with the exciting new opportunities the winery brings. The rolling Kent Downs with its scarps and scalloped valleys are an ancient tapestry of shelterbelts, shaves and striations. This valley has a long history of horticulture that has created the visual texture with which we are familiar. Since Henry VIII brought sweet French cherries to nearby Teynham in 1533, the area has seen cherries, nut plats and hop gardens, with pears and apples in more recent times.  As the vines now recreate this familiar striated landscape, I wanted to design a setting for the iconic winery building that tells the story of the connection with Taittinger and also embeds our deep connection with this ancient land and its wildlife. 

The new vineyards are on a seam of chalk which gives the wine its terroir and is also perfect for the rare chalk downland meadow and its wildlife. The c.20 acres around the winery have been designed as a haven for some of these creatures and a stepping stone for others. Since the large pond was dug we have already seen swallows, dragonflies and redstarts return. In time we’d love to see swifts, and insects like the nationally endangered black-veined moth and the Duke of Burgundy butterfly forage here.  We have carefully created gentle slopes to the pond, and seeded six hectares of wildflowers, thickened hedgerows and wilder shaves for the turtle doves that still purr nearby and we hope will make a permanent home here too. 

The layout is inspired by the history, geology and topography of the land: the exposed chalk wildflower waves along the contours evoke part of the famous labyrinth at Reims, which was twinned with Canterbury by Pierre Emmanuel’s father in 1961. An ancient Gallo-Roman chalk pit just below the site is the inspiration for a new amphitheatre, reminding us of the cool chalk hollows or ‘crayeres’ still used to store champagne. The hard landscaping around the winery has been designed with sustainability at the fore: the chalk comes from the dig out for the winery, the pond is fed by rainwater harvested and filtered through the winery’s planted roof and the slopes around the terrace are planted with local wildflower. We have used green concrete, with a permeable core planted with wildflower to soak up rain, and lined the drive with crab apple trees to provide food for insects and birds in the colder months. Among the many native trees we also have wider connections in a small group of Great White cherries. Prunus ‘Tai Haku’ was saved for the Japanese nation by Kent’s own Collingwood ‘Cherry’ Ingram, and these were gifted by Japan as part of the Sakura project in recognition of 150 years of friendship, and grown in the UK.

It has been a joy to work with Patrick and the Domaine Evremond team who care for the land so much. When we began we were designing for 3 hectares, but when Patrick saw our proposals he immediately doubled the area for wildlife to 6 hectares and agreed to a second shallow scrape or dew pond in the lower field. We were visited by Operation Turtle Dove recently who were as excited as us by the changes here.