Sunday 15 March 2015

The First NGS Garden visit...

..this year, on a bitterly cold day, was over the border to Herefordshire, Old Colwall House.
Similar to Our Garden@19 this is their first year opening for the NGS.

The garden is on a early C18 site owned by the church until Henry V111. It contains walls and terraces on different levels.





The walls date largely from the early 1700's. There are statues either side of the steps leading up from the lawn...


This is 'The Drunk', "I love drink from the bottom of my heart".



This one is 'The Miser', "Everyone obeys money".


The walled vegetable garden, the greenhouses in the background have a peach and an apricot trained on the walls.



The fourth 'wall' of the vegetable garden is the Yew Walk...



...planted in the early 1700's. In 1856 there was a record of the hedge being 180 ft long, two and a half foot wide, and fourteen foot high. It is much bigger than that today...



...it forms a tunnel that you can easily walk under...




...it is trimmed once a year using a cherry picker and takes almost 2 weeks to complete.


The summer house, in the distance, was built around 1937...


...in the colonial style, it is currently under repair due to a leaking roof.


A stream runs through the garden creating a natural park setting.



Willow trees provide some winter/spring colour.

With signs of spring every where.






I don't think this tractor has mown much grass lately!



An interesting water spout.



And a Griffen, made by Polish artist Walenty Pytel, in 1974, resident in Herefordshire.


Ending the visit with tea and cakes admiring the view across to the Malvern Hills.


Please click on any photo to create a slide show.

10 comments:

  1. That is quite some garden. Once again I have greenhouse envy.

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    1. Yes it will be interesting to see how it develops. They have quite a restoration job on their hands.

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  2. A wonderful virtual tour (all I can have at present!) - thanks for posting it!

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  3. I have yew tree envy. And walled garden envy. It does look cold though. Hope you gleaned lots of ideas.

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    1. They are open again in the summer, we hope to revisit then, it should be warmer!

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  4. Oh that looks a fine garden to visit Brian and what a fabulous backdrop with the Malvern Hills. The yews look so dramatic and I imagine that tunnel must be most appealing to younger visitors :)

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  5. What a garden! The enormous hedge reminds me of the one at Powis Castle.

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    Replies
    1. I hadn't thought of that Chloris, you are right it is like a mini Powis Castle.

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