with openings to lawns,
herbaceous borders, and other
garden rooms including the
Walk of the Unicorn. In 1925 the property was purchased by Lt-Col Reginald Cooper, who was the oldest friend of
Sir Harold Nicolson, having been his contemporary at
Wellington College and a colleague in the
Diplomatic Corps. Nicholson was the owner of
Sissinghurst Castle Garden, and both were friends of
Hidcote Manor Garden's Major
Lawrence Johnston and
Edwin Lutyens. Cooper arranged for restoration of the gatehouse and the house in a "sympathetic" manner, to retain the medieval look and feel. Nicholson's
diaries indicate that the gardeners exchanged ideas, and that "Reggie came to stay and advised me on the length of the bowling green". Cooper's larger projects included moving the
River Tone to save his favourite
pine trees from erosion. Sissinghurst was laid out in 1932, with one garden writer describing Cothay as the "Sissinghurst of the West Country". From 1937 to 1947 the property was owned by
Sir Francis Cook, 4th Baronet and housed much of his famous art collection during
World War II although it was dispersed after the war. In 1947 the house and gardens were bought by Vera Astley-Rushton, widow of Vice Admiral
Edward Astley-Rushton. In the 1960s, Vera and her daughter Penelope opened the house and gardens to the public, publishing a short history in 1970. They re-established Catholic worship at Cothay, being the first Catholics to live there since the Bluett family. The first Catholic Mass since the reformation was celebrated there by Archbishop Thomas Roberts S.J. in 1953. They also farmed, using organic principles, keeping a herd of Jersey cows. They sold in 1972. Subsequently, the property was the home of
Taunton MP Edward du Cann who sold the property to Alastair and Mary-Anne Robb in 1993. Alastair's great-grandmother Mary-Anne was a plant hunter, with the
Wood Spurge ''
Euphorbia amygdaloides 'var. robbiae''' named after her,
nicknamed "Mrs Robb's Bonnet" because she had to hide it in her hat to smuggle it through customs. In 2008 and 2009, the manor was the subject of a
Channel 4 television programme presented by hotelier
Ruth Watson as part of her
Country House Rescue series. In the first episode, the owners expressed concern about the cost of operating the manor and the £1 million tax bill. Watson provided some advice on increasing the revenue from visitors to the manor and gardens by increasing the commercial appeal. In an interview in August 2011, the Robbs said they had accepted some of Watson's advice as they had discussed in the "revisited" episode (which aired in November 2009) but had also implemented some new concepts of their own with a "little bit more soul, spirit and meaning". After Alastair Robb died in December 2015, the family retained ownership of the property. The book, "The English Country House Garden: Traditional Retreats to Contemporary Masterpieces" by George Plumptre, provided an extensive overview of the manor's history and of the gardens and arboretum as they appeared in 2013. In 2018, the manor served as a film set for the
Robert Downey Jr. film
Dolittle (2020) about a doctor who can converse with animals. In June 2020,
Country Life magazine published the latest specifics about the manor with its "medieval rooms [including] the vaulted Great Hall and Great Chamber, the Winter Parlour, the Gold Room, the Guest Chamber and the exquisite Oratory, a tiny chapel over the porch." and sold in October 2020 to its new owners for £5.25M. ==See also==