His latest book delves deeply into the history of his home, a land covered in woodland, diverse pasture and flowing with streams. Nicolson gives extensive and occasionally long-winded descriptions of how the land developed throughout the centuries.
Sissinghurst has transformed from farmland to Elizabethan glory and even a prison for sailors in the French navy. Throughout the ages the architecture excelled with opulence but at other times it deteriorated into ruins.
Nicolson’s colourful grandparents, Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson became guardians of Sissinghurst in 1930.
Their devotion to the estate created a garden and mixed farm, that reflected their passion for the landscape.
However, in the 1960s their cash-strapped son, Nigel Nicolson negotiated to sell Sissinghurst to Britain’s National Trust. He retained the right to live on the property but lost control of its development.
By the late 20th century, Adam Nicolson describes Sissinghurst as “increasingly unlike the mixed farm of the past, until by 2000, there was no farmer at Sissinghurst, no farm animals, and no buildings put to any farm use”.
When he brought his family to live at Sissinghurst he campaigned for the National Trust to return the estate to the sustainable working environment. Attempting to make changes remains an ongoing and seemingly impossible challenge.
Nicolson’s passion for Sissinghurst is entrenched and therefore readers may find it easier to digest the content in small bites. There is a colossal amount of agricultural history, many descriptions of effusive negotiations and poetic prose about the landscape.
