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Around the Duchy
Highgrove
Highgrove House near Tetbury in Gloucestershire is The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall’s family home. The Duchy of Cornwall owns Highgrove, and bought the house, garden and nearby farmland now known as Duchy Home Farm in 1980. When The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall are at Highgrove, they are on Duchy land.
The house, which is often pictured with its striking cedar of Lebanon, had been the home of Maurice Macmillan, Conservative MP for Farnham and son of the former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, for 14 years.
The Duke chose to live in Gloucestershire because of its easy access to London, Wales and other parts of Britain including the western counties where the Duchy has most of its properties.
The Duke hosts many briefings and receptions at Highgrove, and one of his most recent projects was the construction of a function suite in the grounds known as the Orchard Room, which was built in Cotswold stone.
The garden at Highgrove embodies The Duke’s environmental philosophy – that it is better to work with Nature than against it – hence the garden is run on an entirely organic basis.
A specially built reed bed sewage system, much loved by dragonflies at its treatment end, is used for all Highgrove’s waste. Rare trees and plants are planted for future generations to enjoy and heritage seeds are planted in areas to keep the varieties going.
This ethically sound management is carried through to the house too, where bottles and cans are recycled, as are newspapers, cardboard and shredded white office paper; all kitchen waste goes through the composting system. An energy-saving programme ensures the fitting of energy-saving bulbs where appropriate and solar lights are used in the staff car parks.
The Duke is proud of his garden and since the early 1980s has regularly invited various groups to visit, such as local charities. Around 250 groups visit each year for a tour.
Today, after much time and effort, the gardens at Highgrove and the Duchy Home Farm are flagship examples of the organic movement, both in terms of their environmental sustainability and their natural beauty.