Somerset Gardens to Visit
We are fortunate to have a rich variety of gardens to visit in Somerset, some of which are listed below. Photographs of Somerset gardens are featured throughout this website – the Gardens featured are marked * on the list below.
Please note: the Somerset Gardens Trust is not responsible for any changes to the garden website addresses listed below, to opening times or other details pertaining to individual gardens. Please check for up-to-date information before you visit a garden.
The book ‘Secret Gardens of Somerset – a private tour’ by Abigail Willis with photographs by Clive Boursnell is an excellent guide to some of the gardens listed here. Published by Francis Lincoln, ISBN 978 0 7112 5222 6 www.abigailwillis.co.uk
Gardens Which Open Regularly
National Trust gardens: The National Trust looks after a wide variety of gardens in Somerset, including the gardens at romantic Dunster Castle, Prior Park’s landscape garden, Arts and Crafts style at Lytes Cary Manor, the ‘gardener’s garden’ of Tintinhull, the working kitchen garden, orchards and garden rooms of Barrington Court, Elizabethan Montacute and extensive flower-filled terraces at Victorian Tyntesfield: www.nationaltrust.org.uk
The American Museum and Gardens, Claverton, Bath Remains of old Italianate style manorial pleasure gardens and parkland and free-form style planting in The New American Garden: www.americanmuseum.org
Barley Wood Walled Garden, Wrington A restored Victorian kitchen garden now fully stocked with vegetables, wall-trained fruit and apple orchards: www.walledgarden.co.uk
The Bishop’s Palace and Gardens, Wells* 14 acres of gardens set within ancient ramparts and protected by the moat: www.bishopspalace.org.uk
East Lambrook Manor Gardens* Famous cottage garden created by Margery Fish, 20th century plantswoman and garden writer, which opens early in the year for the Snowdrop Festival: www.eastlambrook.com
Forde Abbey and Gardens, Chard On the Dorset/Somerset border, Cistercian monastery, lakes, a fountain, herbaceous borders and a walled garden: www.fordeabbey.co.uk
Greencombe Gardens, Porlock* Organic woodland garden with rare plants overlooking the Bristol Channel: www.greencombe.org
Hauser & Wirth, Bruton Piet Oudolf designed perennial meadow garden: www.hauserwirth.com
Hestercombe, Taunton* Spans three centuries of design – a Georgian landscape garden with cascades, ponds and garden buildings, a Victorian shrubbery and Edwardian formal garden designed by Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll: www.hestercombe.com
Iford Manor, Bradford-on-Avon* Grade 1 registered garden on the Wiltshire/Somerset border. Harold Peto’s own romantic garden restored by the Cartwright-Hignett family: www.ifordmanor.co.uk
Kilver Court, Shepton Mallet* A spectacular 1950s rockery with the backdrop of a 19th C viaduct, together with a 100m herbaceous border and a rose parterre: www.kilvercourt.co.uk
Milton Lodge Gardens, Wells* Arts and Crafts garden in a series of terraces on the southern slopes of the Mendip hills: www.miltonlodgegardens.co.uk
The Newt, Castle Cary Exciting new garden created in an historic setting: www.thenewtinsomerset.com
University of Bristol Botanic Garden Plant collections, including Mediterranean, tropical, South African, and local flora:
www.botanic-garden.bristol.ac.uk
The Walled Garden, Cannington A mini botanic garden with planting schemes including sub-tropical borders, and a Botanical Glasshouse: www.btc.ac.uk
Yeo Valley Organic Garden, Blagdon More than six acres of ornamental and edible plants in a seasonal patchwork: www.yeovalley.co.uk
Other Websites of Interest
www.ngs.org.uk (the famous ‘yellow book’) and www.redcross.org.uk list private gardens open for charity through the year
www.halswellpark.wordpress.com/visits Halswell House, Goathurst*. Grade II listed 18th century parkland with follies, bridges and cascades, currently undergoing large scale restoration. Individuals can book on the tour dates advertised on the website
www.whiterocksimonsbath.org Historic landscape project on Exmoor
www.parksandgardens.org Online resource with information on UK historic parks and gardens
www.thegardenstrust.org the only UK national charity dedicated to protecting and conserving our heritage of designed landscapes, of which the SGT is a member. Other local Gardens Trusts include the Avon Gardens Trust, Devon Gardens Trust and Dorset Gardens Trust.
www.swheritage.org.uk Somerset Heritage Centre
www.somersethps.com Somerset Hardy Plant Society
www.plantheritagesomerset.org.uk Somerset Group of Plant Heritage
