Farm rooted in Thanet 

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Tucked away beside Northdown Park 
is one of Thanet's undiscovered gems 
- East Northdown Farm and Gardens 
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Unique plant nursery 
East Northdown Farm's situation 
on this stretch of the East Kent 
coast, just minutes away from 
Botany Bay, is ideal for Will and 
Louise Friend's Botany Plants 
family business, which takes 
advantage of the area's famous 
micro climate, growing plants 
from areas in the world that enjoy 
a Mediterranean type of weather. 
After graduating from 
Oxford, Will returned to 
the farm that has been in 
the family for centuries, and 
began to build a botanical 
collection, which now has 
more than 3,000 plant varieties 
maintained in the gardens and 
nursery. The family also owns 
a second nursery and business 
centre in the conservation 
village of Mucklestone on 
the borders of Staffordshire, 
Cheshire and Shropshire. 
In Thanet, the Friends 
propagate plants from stock 
plants in the gardens that 
thrive in the local chalk soil, 
with low rainfall and drying 
salty winds, including many 
tender seaside plants, while 
their nursery in the West 
Midlands specialises in a 
complementary range of plants 
Family rooted in Thanet 
Will's family is 'well rooted' in the 
area and the name Friend, which 
means 'strange', is said to date 
back to when the Jutes settled in 
Thanet in the 6th century. However, 
the story starts with the Tomlins, a 
family first recorded at Northdown 
in the 14th century. Two brothers 
disputed the inheritance of a field 
at Botany Bay. Unusually, the ruling 
went in favour of the younger 
brother, reflecting the local 'Jutish' 
tradition of Gavelkind (equal to 
each child), rather than the usual 
Norman law of Prima Genitor (to 
the first born). The tradition of 
Gavelkind resulted in many small 
owner-occupied farms, farmed 
24 	Isle Magazine 

better suited to the cooler, 
wetter, more acidic conditions 
of the north and west of 
Britain, including pond, 
meadow and ericaceous plants. 
This, combined with a full 
range of bedding, veg and 'old 
fashioned' conservatory plants, 
means Botany Plants offers a 
uniquely comprehensive range 
of garden plants suited to the 
different growing conditions 
across the country. 
In the community 
East Northdown Farm's 
Business Centre serves as 
a community hub, offering 
affordable premises to an ever- 
growing range of small local 
businesses, groups and charities. 
Visitors to the nursery 
can also enjoy a delicious 
light lunch or tea and cake in 
Taddy's Barn tearoom, named 
after Will's grandfather. The 
tearoom is a community project 
with local business partnership 
'The Looking Ahead Project', 
providing valuable skills and 
learning support for young 
adults with special learning 
needs, who gather work 
experience in both the tearoom 
and the plant nursery .• 
by the 'Yeomen of Kent' rather 
than by large country estates. The 
land at Northdown was repeatedly 
broken up between siblings, then 
re-amalgamated by marriage of 
cousins or death of uncles and 
aunts with no children. The Estate 
reached its heyday with James 
Taddy Friend. 
Taddy was only five, when his 
father, George Friend, passed away. 
He grew up at East Northdown 
Farmhouse with his mother Ann 
(nee Tomlin), and across the lane 
from his grandparents. He and his 
mother bought Northdown House 
in the 1840s and extended it into 
a large country house. Today, 

the property is owned by Your 
Leisure and is open as a venue for 
functions. 
Taddy kept an estate fishing 
boat in a boat house at 'Friend's 
Gap' near Foreness point, which 
was dismantled and rebuilt in the 
stackyard at East Northdown in 
about 1900. Local fishermen still 
refer to the run of water off Palm 
Bay between the Foreness and 
Margate Harbour as 'Taddy's 
Hole (or Haul)'. This is where the 
nets were dropped for a last run 
in to home if the catch had been 
a bit thin.ln the late 1980s, the 
boathouse doors were salvaged 
once again and incorporated into 

'Taddy's Barn', the Nursery Barn 
and tearoom. 
If you're a visitor enjoying the 
beautiful golden beaches and bays 
of Thanet, then the Gardens of East 
Northdown Farm make a wonderful 
place to repair to from the open 
elements of the seaside. Wander 
through vibrant, scented gardens, 
browse the selection of unusual 
plants at the nursery, and refresh 
yourself with tea and homemade 
cake at Taddy's Barn Tearoom. 
East Northdown Farm, 
Margate, Kent CT9 3TS 
 01843 862060 
 www.botanyplants.co.uk