Garden Castle (1961)

Laindon, Essex. Various shots of the garden of Sidney James (not the ’Carry On’ star); it has many arches, pathways, ponds, bridges, statues, gnomes, stonework and so on - rather crowded! Commentator tells us the ornamental garden “has taken eight years to build and Mr James, who is still adding to it, says he will probably never finish“. Sidney walks through a large wooden gate with a portcullis above it, then through a smaller iron gate to a small reproduction of St Mary and St Michael Church in Stepney. He starts applying some cement to the brickwork; C/U of a crucifix on the side of the church and religious statues in two niches. Various shots of stonework and statues in the garden; L/S of the garage Sidney built to look like a castle; panning right to show Sidney at work on a garden seat. We are told “Stone from Waterloo Station, Charing Cross Hotel and a bank in Bishopsgate, London, have all been used here“. We see Mrs James coming out of a door and walking through the garden, stopping