The heavy iron security grille on the old front door testifies to its origins as a working farm and inside, the central reception room is typically Tudor with its dark oak panelling, and linen-fold carving. The stone floor has been polished by generations of footsteps and the ceiling timbers are buffed to a deep reflective shine. The large inglenook fireplace would once have been the sole source of heat for the house, but fortunately, there are now modern comforts in the form of central heating, although radiators have been discreetly sited so they don’t spoil the period feel. On the walls, there are copper warming pans and fine oil landscapes in ebony frames. Instead of trying to lighten and brighten, working against the original style, Mr and Mrs Lloyd, the charming owners of Edenbridge House, have embraced the rich, dark hues of this part of the house and made the most of them. The couple, a retired lawyer and his wife, seem to love the solidity of this house. The windows are dressed with heavy linen curtains in Jacobean style prints of fruit and flowers and Mrs Lloyd shows me the original sliding shutters. They are carved out of heavy oak but amazingly, they still work. When these were closed, the centre of the house must have been almost impenetrable. It rather makes you wonder quite how wild this part of west Kent was in the 1500s. A broad flight of stairs with wrought-iron and oak supports rises from here to the first floor above, where the landing, bedrooms and study can be found at varying levels – another clue to the fact that the house has been added to over the centuries.

On the ground floor, the drawing room and adjoining library are constructed in typical 1930s country house style, with light oak panelling, and grandly proportioned fireplaces. Double doors can be closed between the two rooms, and the library has the feel of a gentleman’s club with its rows of well-thumbed books, wingback leather chair and a huge bay window with windowseats overlooking the gardens. It seems that my imaginings of house-parties here were not entirely fanciful, when Mrs Lloyd tells me that a number of notable figures of the 1930s and 40s stayed here, including Ginger Rogers and Ivor Novello, who even composed “We’ll Gather Lilacs” for his 1945 show, ‘Perchance to Dream’. The song was incredibly successful, and its chorus,

“We’ll gather lilacs in the spring again, And walk together down an English lane, Until our hearts have learned to sing again, When you come home once more” perfectly captured the yearning for England and the return of all those who had fought in the war. As we look out of the window, it’s easy to see how this most typically English and lovely garden inspired Novello to write his classic song.

“It was the garden that sold the house to me,” says Mrs Lloyd, as we step out onto the broad flagstone terrace, and it is easy to see why. It’s a perfect example of an Edwardian garden, laid out as a series of “rooms” with a sweeping central lawn, edged on either side by formal borders and clipped yew hedges. To one side there is a pretty summerhouse and on the left, a brick oast roundel. The delicate yellow Rosa banksii “Lutea” clambers over the rear of the house and more roses are entwined through the lattice brick walls at the edge of the terrace. On certain days during the spring and summer, Mrs Lloyd opens the garden to the public for the benefit of the NGS (the National Gardens Scheme), an organisation that raises money for all sorts of charities through garden openings. “We serve teas here on the terrace,” says Mrs Lloyd and visitors seem to enjoy the views.”

We begin our tour of the gardens around one side of the house, where a formal paved area has been arranged as a knot garden, with deep purple tulips and bronze wallflowers in the centre of each bed. There is a sheltered loveseat in one corner and against the warm brick wall there are some rare paeonies. Mrs Lloyd shows me her favourite flower in the garden, a Joseph Rock tree paeony. It has exquisite, tissue-like white petals and a dark, claret-coloured centre. She especially values it as each bloom only lasts a day. “It’s a very difficult plant to find,” she says, “so I had to send to France for it.”

We move on to the water garden. Here a romantic series of ponds and pools stocked with goldfish and waterlilies are fed by a stream that cascades down a gentle slope. Small wooden bridges are covered in the twisting branches of wisteria. There is a larger pond surrounded by white roses, jasmine, magnolia trees, lilacs and a beautiful weeping pear. Behind a low fence there is a wildlife pond that is home to several families of ducks. Beyond, the orchard boasts over 80 fruit trees, and though a number were lost during the 1987 hurricane, a huge variety remain. Mrs Lloyd points out apples, plums, pears, quince, greengage, walnuts and cherries. The blossom is breathtaking, and many of the trees have old roses scrambling through their branches too.

The meandering path then takes us through a magnificent rose walk with highly scented, old varieties such as Cardinal de Richelieu, Fantin Latour, Tuscany Superb, Bleu Magenta and Parkdirektor Riggers. To the right is the fruit and vegetable garden. Neat rows of potatoes, onions, brassicas, courgettes, asparagus and herbs are edged with low box hedges and there are impressive tunnels of runner beans and gourds. “I visited the gardens at Highgrove,” explains Mrs Lloyd, “and was really inspired by the way that they grow vegetables there. I thought these tunnels were a lovely idea.” Orderly rows of espaliered fruit trees lead to an enclosed soft fruit cage with several varieties of raspberries, strawberries, black- and redcurrants, and gooseberries. Mrs Lloyd has a gardener to help her and he obviously enjoys the orderliness of the kitchen garden. There is more than enough to supply the kitchen here. There is also a cutting garden. Mrs Lloyd loves having fresh flowers in the house, so she also grows tulips, iris, lilies, roses, delphiniums, dahlias and chrysanthemums as well as many annuals. There is a pretty Victorian glasshouse in which they raise tender plants, and nursery beds for growing on plants that are for sale on open days.

Back towards the house we pass through the formal rose garden with its tall yew hedges and visit one of the newer parts of the garden: a gravel area with exotic banana plants and palms. A walk across the broad lawn is irresistible and the borders are well stocked with iris, paeonies, phlox, poppies, downy leaved stachys and umbrella-like achilleas. Vertical interest is created by huge cardoons and pillars of climbing roses. There is a circular pond and fountain in the centre of the lawn and the view of the house and terrace from here is lovely. The atmosphere at Edenbridge is so gloriously romantic, one can almost see the ghost of Ginger Rogers waltzing across the flagstones…