The English country garden is an idea very much alive in suburban London and Essex, but some prime examples are now almost forgotten, as EDMUND TOBIN discovered.

MORE than 1,000 acres of Loughton is dedicated to gardens with examples ranging from small backyards to the well known open spaces at Ripley Grange, the Warren and the former Debden Hall.

One particular garden, in Goldings Hill, has now largely been lost to history, but it was once highly praised and forms the subject of a new book from two members of Loughton Historical Society, Chris Pond and Richard Morris.

The Lost Garden of Loughton tells the story of Dr Fred Stoker, a surgeon, who came to live in Loughton around 1920 having moved from Northumberland.

He first lived at Oak Lodge in Baldwins Hill, and would later buy five acres of land between that road and Goldings Hill, which he developed into a garden of national renown.

At the time of purchase Dr Stoker described the land as “covered by hollies, crabs and hawthorns, clumps of gorse, thickets of sloe, tangles of bramble which defied penetration by an animal”.

Dr Stoker had a particular interest in science and the study of plants and was drawn to the collection of wildflowers growing on the site which included harebells, thyme, sorrel and hawkweed.

While at Oak Lodge he spent years observing his own patch of flora from which he was able to write his influential book, Shrubs for the Rock Garden.

In 1927 Dr Stoker, with his wife, Mary, decided to build a house on the north-eastern side of the plot which he named The Summit.

During his time at his new home Dr Stoker developed a particular attachment to lilies, which he grew with great success.

He subsequently became one of the original members of the Lily Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society, which awarded him its Victoria Medal of Honour in 1937.

Among his creations at The Summit were a sandstone rock garden and a plot created from 20 tons of Westmorland limestone especially brought down to the site by lorry.

He created six allotment beds each allocated a certain type of soil for growing plants from various parts of the world and also filled in a nearby bog with “several hundred cartloads of soil”.

A network of greenhouses was set up to house rare specimens and a gardener’s cottage built to house a permanent member of staff to tend the plants.

By 1932 Dr Stoker was described as the most successful amateur at the Royal Horticultural Society’s annual show, and in 1933 he gave a series of talks for the BBC.

He would continue to write about his passion for gardening throughout his life and had articles published in various papers including The Times.

Dr Stoker died in 1943, but his wife continued to live at The Summit until her death in 1964 when she left the garden to the National Trust.

However the National Trust declined the offer of the land and in 1971 it was put up for sale with 41 houses subsequently built on the plot.

Making way for the new estate, The Summit was demolished, but a number of its larger trees still survive and offer an enduring legacy to this day.

Dr Fred Stoker and the Lost Garden of Loughton is available to buy from Loughton Bookshop priced £3.