Lytes Cary Manor takes its name from the River Cary that flows through the estate and the Lyte family who lived there from the early 14th to mid 18th centuries. The house started life as a medieval hall house of notable quality and was gradually rebuilt and extended following the architectural trends of various periods. It is a Grade I listed building. The agricultural estate still shows many traces of its history, with the remains of a deserted medieval village, areas of ridge and furrow, evidence of river manipulation and a field pattern and ecology that owes much to its history of traditional mixed farming.
The horticultural importance of Lytes Cary is derived from its association with Henry Lyte (c.1529-1607), a scholar who in 1578 published the Niewe Herbal, his translation of a famous Flemish herbal written by Rembert Dodoens. Although Henry Lyte undoubtedly had a garden at Lytes Cary Manor, no trace of it survives. The gardens of today owe their existence to the Jenners who bought the manor in 1908 and created Arts and Crafts style gardens around the house. The gardens are Grade II listed by English Heritage.
Today, Lytes Cary Manor, its gardens and estate are owned by the National Trust. Visitor numbers to the property have risen rapidly, particularly during the 21st century. This places pressure on parts of the manor house and its landscape that were not designed to cope with numerous people. In 2010, Teasdale Environmental Design was commissioned to prepare a conservation management plan for the manor house, outbuildings, gardens and wider estate. Extensive research was undertaken into the history of the property and its evolution. Its current condition was comprehensively examined. The Plan then identified those aspects of the property that are historically significant and where the property’s vulnerabilities lie. Extensive consultation took account of the views of specialists from within the National Trust, English Heritage and the local planning authority. The views of many local people and visitors were also collected through interviews on site and workshops held in the nearby village.
Finally, the Plan set out a management framework for the future care and presentation of the manor and its landscape that will protect their special qualities, while still allowing visitors to enjoy the property to the full. The Plan identified issues relating to visitor traffic, access patterns, and the need for management of the growing visitor numbers but also identified opportunities for restoring the agricultural estate to a traditional mixed farming regime and enhancing the wildlife of the property.
