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Visit to Wiltshire gardens
Wednesday 14 June 2023
£30.00 – £40.00We will be visiting two wonderful gardens in Wiltshire, not far from Chippenham, both of which have collections of historic roses and are enchanting.
- Cadenham Manor This glorious four-acre garden is made up of a series of rooms around a listed manor house and dovecot. Divided by yew hedges and moats, the garden rooms are furnished with specimen trees, mixed borders and stunning displays of old roses plus fountains and statues to focus the eye. There are at least 70 varieties of both shrub and climbing roses, the great majority of which are historic ones and a few as yet unnamed. The garden has a magical atmosphere with its old stone walls and buildings combined with the moat and some modern day design updates by the notable garden designer James Alexander-Sinclair.
- Great Chalfield The gardens, orchards and water features were designed on Arts and Crafts principles by Alfred Parsons and Captain Partridge to complement the restoration of the superb manor in the early 20th century. The garden is divided into a number of different areas, many of them containing roses. Some date back over 100 years and are still going strong, including a magnificent climbing Mme Caroline Testout. While most of the roses are historic, some are more recent, having been introduced in the 20th century. The roses vary from the very well-known and often seen like Rambling Rector and Wedding Day through ones much less so like Bennet’s Seedling, Lady Waterlow and Blushing Lucy. And as at Cadenham there are some unidentified ones that we can stand round and ponder.
Price £30 for HRG members, £40 for non-members (must attend with a member).
If you would like to book or have any queries, please email historicrosesgroup@gmail.com
We will meet at Cadenham Manor (SN15 4NH, directions on website) at 10.30am for coffee and an introductory talk by Victoria Nye, the owner, followed by a tour of the garden from 11am.
After lunch (perhaps together in a local pub, if liked) we will reassemble at Great Chalfield Manor, Atworth (SN12 8NH) at 3pm. As there is also an NGS open day on this day, perhaps it would be best if we were to assemble in the car park before going in. The very interesting house can also be visited for an additional £3.