From the 2011 survey report:
"SUMMARY OF THE HISTORIC INTEREST

Garden laid out in the early C20, with rose garden, water garden and shrubbery by Sir Edward Meyerstein (of which little survives) around a house of different periods from the C15 (its oldest part) to its considerable extension and re-fronting in the C20.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

The earliest surviving record of Morants Court is a land grant document of 1272 signed by William Moraunt, who claimed the manorial title in 1293 from the Archbishop of Canterbury at Otford. The land of the manor lay partly in the parish of Chevening and partly in the manor of Otford; as a sub manor of Chevening it held its own manorial court. Sir William Moraunt, Sheriff of Kent in 1337 and 1338 in the reign of Edward III, added to the estate, buying land in Chevening and Brasted. Morants Court is marked on maps from 1575 (Saxton, Symonson, Mudge). By 1594 the estate, 339.5 hectares in area, was sold to William Blackwell of London.

In 1712 the house and estate were sold to Pendock Price of Westerham, the Price family retaining ownership for many years. Hasted (published in 1797) notes that the court baron for the manor continued at that time, under the jurisdiction of the duchy of Lancaster; evidence of a first-floor court hall survives in the present-day house. The Mudge map of 1801 shows a number of buildings on the site but there is no identification of gardens or parkland. Maria Fry, daughter of Thomas Price, inherited the estate in 1804; following her husband’s death it passed to their son, John. At this time the house and estate were leased to William Tonge and in 1809 and 1811 Fry mortgaged the estate to Tonge for a total of £12,500. On Fry’s death in 1818 the estate passed in trust to his daughter Mary. The tithe map of 1842-4 shows the house with a number of buildings to the east, listed in the apportionment as “house, garden and yards.” The garden lies to the south; the”yards” may contain farm buildings grouped around a possible horse pond; an orchard lay to the west of the house. In 1847 an Act of Parliament was obtained to overturn the trusteeship established by Fry’s will, allowing Morant’s Court House and estate (298 ha.) to be sold in 1848 to Tonge, for £30,000. The sale map shows a more extensive range of buildings to the east of the house than in the tithe map.

By the 1st edition of the 25” Ordnance Survey (1862-75) Morants Court Farm has been laid out, c. 300m to the north of the house at the far end of the main approach route and the number of buildings to the east of the house is much reduced. This physical separation of farming-related activities appears to coincide with development of the pleasure grounds. The OS map shows an area of mixed woodland traversed by the entrance drive to the north east of the house, with a grassed area to the south and an orchard to the west. The Tonge family association with Morants Court continued until 1912, although latterly William’s heirs did not farm the estate themselves; tenants were resident at Morants Court in the 1881 and 1891 censuses and according to the Property Survey of 1910. This last source (A History of the Parish of Chevening, not traced) listed grounds of c.8 ha comprising mansion, garden, stable and entrance lodge, with surrounding parkland. A map included in the tenancy agreement of 1904 shows that the layout of the grounds around the house was essentially unchanged from that in the 1st edition of the 25 “ Ordnance Survey.

In 1912 the estate was sold to Edward (later Sir Edward) Meyerstein a stockbroker and philanthropist, who resided at Morants Court until his death in 1942. He developed the garden from the early 1920’s creating a water garden with shrubbery and formal gardens with a pond and rose garden (pers. Comm., letter from owner to KCC dated 1984, 3rd edn OS 25”(revised) 1938, map of estate prepared for auction in 1954). The 3rd revised edition of the 25” Ordnance Survey (1938) shows a large fish pond in the wooded area to the east of the house, not shown in the 3rd edition, (1907-23). A kitchen garden with several glasshouses has been laid out to the south west of the house. The grounds were taken over by the Home Guard during the Second World War, with consequent neglect of ornamental elements. The house was sold after the war to the Lloyd-Roberts family. Circa 1950 the property was divided into 4 separate units, the total associated land extending to c. 8 ha. The Gore-Cloughs, who owned the east wing built as a guest annex by Sir Edward in the 1930’s, extended the south eastern boundary of the gardens in the 1950’s, annexing part of an adjoining field, to create a tennis court. The large natural pond in the lower part of the garden was used as a bathing pool, its sides reinforced with concrete embankments. The house and gardens remain in multiple occupancy (four owners). The present owners of the major part of the gardens/pleasure grounds, extending to 3.6 ha., acquired the property of “Morants” (the east wing) in 1979, at which time the grounds were in a neglected state. The early C20 garden laid out by Sir Edward Meyerstein has not been restored. The former kitchen garden and orchard area was sold after the War for use as animal boarding kennels and is still used for that purpose."(1)

<1> Kent Gardens Trust, 2011, Morants Court, Sevenoaks: The Kent Compendium of Historic Parks and Gardens for Sevenoaks District (Unpublished document). SKE30609.