THE garden of former Wiltshire High Sheriff Gen Ashley Truluck's home is one of six opening to the public to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and raise money for Ukrainian refugees at the same time.

All six are in Broad Chalke and are normally private, but on June 12 they will open their gates - including the one at Reddish House, made famous by photographer and fashion designer Cecil Beaton.

Artist Jason Brooks and his wife Lucy Yeomans, a former editor of fashion bible Harper’s Bazaar and ex-editor-in-chief at Net-a-Porter, moved in last March.

They are looking forward to showing off the grounds. The photographer lived there from 1947 until his death in 1980 and often left villagers agape at the glamorous models, film stars and showbusiness icons who visited.

Greta Garbo liked the Grade II-listed Queen Anne home so much she stayed six weeks. Other much-travelled suitcases to cross its hallway belonged to Truman Capote, David Hockney and Francis Bacon. In more recent years it was owned by music stars Robert Fripp and Toyah Wilcox.

Jason and his wife have resisted the temptation to put their own stamp on the gardens just yet. “I love the sense of history of the place and all the people who have stayed and been photographed here,” said Jason.“But it’s also the fact that you can see what the different owners have done within the gardens. It is a photographer’s garden and when Cecil originally designed it, he was thinking about all the different backdrops where things could unfold.”

Kings Old Rectory just down the road, is a Grade II* listed building with a garden where Beaton photographed Greta Garbo. The 15th Century house was leased by novelist and poet Maurice Hewlett in the early 20th Century and he created water features from the River Ebble which flows through the garden. Current owners Sir Christopher and Lady Fiona Butcher have replanted it, taking care to retain the characteristics of a very handsome English country garden.

Coniston next door is built on land that was once the Kings Old Rectory’s orchard. Its disused watercress and withy beds are echoes of a cottage industry that saw watercress taken to London by train in baskets made from the witheys. Some willows were lost in recent storms which, coupled with the removal of ailing Ash trees, has opened up the garden and its water and water-meadow features to good effect, says owner George Todd.

Michelham Cottage further up the road was planted out in 2005/06 when owner Derek Brown had a former paddock combined with the existing plot. The result is a meadow garden dotted with perennials, trees and shrubs and which has flower beds, a kitchen garden and a pond.

Anthony’s Ground is a short walk across the water meadows of that name in the centre of the village, overlooked by a pretty 18th century thatched farmhouse owned by Wiltshire’s recent High Sheriff, General Ashley Truluck.

His wife Jenny has created a lovely south-facing cottage garden of lawns, shrubs and flowerbeds, with a patio and summerhouse overlooking the meadow.

Chalke Pyt House is a gracious Georgian farmhouse - home to Andrew and Di Jeans who farm the chalk downs on this side of the river. Their large garden has ornate flower beds casting a riot of colour around a neat lawn semi-formal lawn.

Tickets and a guide map to the gardens will be on sale at the Village Hall in the centre of Broad Chalke from 12.30pm. Just £7.50 grants access to all six gardens, as well as a photographic exhibition, flower display and organ recital in All Saints Church opposite. The gardens are open until 5.30pm

Refreshments and toilets will be available in the village hall, and a flower display and village archive exhibition will be available in the church opposite, throughout the afternoon. Visit broadchalke.info for more details.