COOMBE Trenchard, a beautiful Grade II listed Edwardian country house and arts and crafts garden near Lewdown, will be the setting for an Indian-Summer Party this Saturday, September 18.

The party will offer a fine dining experience for guests at this atmospheric house, and the evening will start with canapés and cocktails on the terrace, followed by a three-course dinner which includes Coombe Trenchard pork.

Philip and Sarah Marsh, the current owners, bought Coombe Trenchard in 2007. The estate comprises more than a hundred acres of parkland, pasture and woodland, with the fine house at its centre, approached via a 1km drive. Originally forming part of the much larger Lewtrenchard estate and owned by the Baring-Goulds, the estate was designed and built for their friends, the Sperlings. The garden was laid out by Walter Sarel, a collaborator of Gertrude Jekyll, providing terraces, garden buildings, paths and bridges with vistas of Dartmoor and Brentor.

In its early years the garden benefited from lavish care and attention, but by the time Philip and Sarah bought the estate, the house and gardens had been in a state of gentle decline for decades.

Sarah said: 'We have been working hard on a restoration project which has seen forgotten paths, a woodland garden, water gardens and the pattern of long forgotten Edwardian planting being discovered.

Our hope is that we will be able in time to bring the estate, and particularly the gardens, back to their Edwardian splendour.'

In 2009 Philip and Sarah opened the gardens to the public for the RNLI, for the first time with much success and they now open them regularly for group visits, and for other charity open-garden days. The restoration is ongoing and the Indian-Summer Party is the first in a more comprehensive series of planned events at the estate which includes open-air theatre and a garden festival in 2011.

More information about the party can be found on the website, http://www.coombetrenchard.co.uk">www.coombetrenchard.co.uk or tickets can be obtained from Sarah on 01566 783179 or at [email protected]">[email protected]