Tjolöholm Castle is the best example of Arts and Crafts building in Sweden. The castle was built between 1898 and1904 and is a fascinating mix of Tudor, Art Nouveau and the latest innovations of its time. The property stands on its own peninsula by the sea, and the entire estate was designed as a model community. Within the castle gates, in addition to the main building, there are workers’ cottages in the Arts and Crafts style, as well as a castle chapel, outbuildings and stables.
The uniquely British castle grounds make Tjolöholm an unusual sight on a tour of Scandinavian gardens – no other garden is such a clear statement of the Arts and Crafts style. The castle gardens were designed, like the castle itself, by Lars Israel Wahlman, and appear to merge into the surrounding wilderness, in accordance with the ideals of the time. Closest to the castle the garden is disciplined and neat, but as you move away it becomes softer, gradually blending into the surrounding landscape. The floral splendour of a past age has been recreated with new flowerbeds and borders, and the magnificent avenue of roses that links the castle to the sea will soon blossom again.
Helen and James Dooley working in the castle gardens.
With the help of the garden design partnership of Helen and James Dooley, Tjolöholm Castle has been restoring this unique avenue. The trees in the nearby English park have been thinned out to avoid shading the roses, and freestanding arches have been erected. New roses were planted in 2015 that were specially grown to cope with the conditions on the site, and the borders flanking the avenue have been emphasised with beautiful perennials.
The castle grounds are open to visitors all year round. Guided tours of the garden can be booked in summer, when the castle’s own gardener will point out the original design of the park and its fascinating plants.
Jane Austen EXHIBITION
Rolling English countryside and stately homes populated by an elegantly dressed and lovelorn upper class – this the image that springs into many people’s minds when they think of the nineteenth-century author Jane Austen. Others stress her perceptive insight into human relationships in a society where the rules of the game were rapidly changing. Regardless of your view, Jane Austen’s books translate well into the twenty-first century. In 2016, Tjolöholm Castle was exhibiting costumes from several of the most popular dramatisations of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, in an exhibition that centres on Austen’s immortal tales. The costumes were displayed in the authentic castle setting and were worn by actors such as Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth and Kate Winslet. The exhibition did run from 16 January until 25 September 2016.
In 2017 costumes from Downton Abbey will be displayed. More information at Tjolöholm Castle.