On the Saturday afternoon D and I decided to visit Stockton Bury Gardens as B was happy to stay at the site and garden. The gardens are only 20 minutes away and fairly small if my ankle was playing up! We've been several times before but it is a year since the last visit.
The C18th field barn by the entrance to the gardens is Grade II listed and now houses the Tithe Barn cafe.
Stockton Bury is a four acre garden created over the last 35 years by the owner Raymond Treasure with help from 1984 by the gardener Gordon Fen who had been Head Gardener at Hereford Cathedral. In 2015 Tamsin Westhope, a gardening magazine editor, arrived to help with the garden.
The gardens opened to the public in 1995 and are charming with lots of garden "rooms", many varieties of plant and hidden features.
The three bells at the end of barn are rung every hour. There has always been a tradition of bell ringing at Stockton Bury and in the past they were rung at 6am to summon farm workers. The large bell was recently cast by John Taylor Bell Foundry in Loughborough especially for the gardens.
The Elizabethan Garden
Common Spotted Orchid - there were many of these scattered throughout the gardens.
The Pool Garden
The Kitchen Garden has vegetable beds, fruit trees and a greenhouse on one side and herbaceous borders on the other side.
Fuschia in the greenhouse.
The Kitchen Garden leads into The Dingle which was created from an old quarry.
A lovely little meadow area full of Ox-Eye Daisies
Oontitump! - oontitump is an old English word for molehills which I read about in a book by John Moore from memory!
Timothy by the pool in the Dingle
The door leads into The Grotto
Bog Garden and Stream
Leaving the Dingle we walked into the Secret Garden
The Pillar Garden
The Sunken Garden
The Spring Garden next to the house has bee skeps and a small summer house painted with panels of flowers (sorry couldn't get a photo of that as people were sitting in it!)
There are a couple of small museums - one contains garden tools and the other has some coins and other items found in a Roman Hoard near Stocktonbury
The Pigeon House Garden houses a medieval dovecote which has 51 opening holes and a revolving ladder and is Grade II listed.
Before leaving we had tea and cake! We opted for the Lemon Polenta cake which we have had before and is delicious!
Hopefully we will return to Herefordshire soon although July seems full of blood test appointments, dental appointments, a boiler service and car service and MOT!
All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks)
10 comments:
All those lovely gardens within gardens. A surprise round each corner. I like the tithe barn and the other buildings, they fit well in their surroundings. The bells are super and the dovecote. Glad you were able to visit and enjoy tea and cake, it looks as if Timothy has claimed the teapot for himself. I hope all the appointments go well. Take care and enjoy the rest of the weekend:)
What a lovely place to visit. I did enjoy your stroll around the gardens and grounds, at their best this time of year I'm sure.
Rosie - Thanks so much. I do like Stockton Bury - it is a lovely garden with so many hidden features. I was determined to make the effort to go somewhere that holiday. lol re Timothy :) Thanks re the appointments. Take care too.
Bovey Belle -Thanks so much. We visited earlier than last year and as you say the gardens were looking at their best. The gardens are only a few minutes away from Leominster.
very pretty flowers
Timothy looks happy to be out and about
I always love to see bee skeps like that. Traditional, functional, and aesthetically pleasing.
Rustic Pumpkin - Thanks so much. Timothy was glad to be out and about for a change! I love the bee skeps too - there are similar ones at Packwood House.
Looks a really nice garden! Good price too. Did Timothy have some cake?
The Quacks of Life - Thanks Pete. Timothy did have some cake :) Gardens quite small but charming - they are a couple of minutes from Leominster at Kimbolton if you want to visit when you return to Herefordshire. Church at Kimbolton too -usually open :)
Loved this garden visit and I'm so glad you managed to walk around. It must have felt so good to get out! I do miss gardens open to the public - yes they do exist in France but not so many as in the UK and not as many in the south I don't think. It's too dry here in the summer so you don't get that lovely colourful glory of the British border.
I'm a bit glad in a way that I have not missed loads of posts from you whilst I was away as I wouldn't have had time to catch up! :-) All the best for the medical appointments, hope it all continues to improve.
Mxx
The garden looka delightful and it looks like the weather was perfect for your visit.
Timothy looks like he is having fun.
CherryPie - Thanks so much. The weather was lovely and not too hot! Timothy enjoyed being out and about :)
Post a Comment