Brief Visit to Herefordshire - Part 4: Burford House Gardens

Thursday was another lovely day (initially!) but a bit hot for me! I suggested we go back to Burford House to visit the gardens as there appeared to be woodland there and shade!  Its  less than 25 minutes from the caravan so not too far.

Burford House is a Georgian house set in 7 acres of gardens and is also home to the garden centre visited previously.

The gardens were once the home of the National Clematis Collection until neglect led to the decline of the garden.  The gardens are now being restored by volunteers under a head gardener.  A four acre garden was initially laid out by the late John Treasure in the 1950s and contains 290 varieties of clematis. 

Near the entrance there was a large border planted especially to attract pollinating insects.

We found the whole garden a complete delight in fact B thought it was one of the best gardens he had ever visited and the volunteers and head gardener should be congratulated on all their hard work.

This day flying moth was a bit worn but I believe it is either a Silver-ground Carpet or a very worn Common Carpet.

This is an area of the garden where the Ledwych Brook meets the River Teme and it is the place where the three counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire meet.  In this area you are constantly going from one county to another.  Apparently this area has stone remains of a Norman Castle - which I failed to spot. Oh well, there is always next time.

The terrace at the rear of the house was just delightful.

And then you step down into two charming sunken gardens. The whole place was just magical.

Continuing our exploration - there were nooks and crannies everywhere and surprise features.

By this stage the gardens that had been quite busy were emptying of people as we felt an odd drop of rain which seconds later was teeming down so we took shelter in this summer house.

It looked like the rain was set in for quite a while so when it eased off we made a dash to the car. Such a shame as we still had at least a third of the garden to explore. But we shall return without doubt.

By the time we got back it was sunny!!

If you are ever in the area I would really recommend a visit.

Timothy back at the caravan and feeling grumpy as I hadn't taken him anywhere this visit.  I need a mini backpack or pump bag to carry him in so he doesn't get lost! As I learnt to my cost on Anglesey it is not a good idea to shove him in a trouser pocket. Luckily he was found on that occasion!

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera (if anyone ever wishes to use any of my photos I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).