Gardens on or near Exmoor

Bicton Parks Botanical Gardens East Budleigh Devon 01385 568465 http://www.bictonpark.co.uk

Forde Abbey and Gardens Forde Abbey Chard Nr Devon 01460 221290

Gnome Reserve & The Wild Flower Garden, The West Putford, Bradworthy Devon 01409 241435

Knightshayes Court & Killeryon House Court Broadclyst Exeter Devon 01392 881345

Rosemoor Gardens Great Torrington Devon 01805 6247171
The Royal Horticultural Society Gardens at Rosemoor

www.rhs.org.uk

Tapeley Park Gardens .The recently renovated borders in the Italian Terraces, are brimming with new plants. They are a swathe of colour & perfumes which complement the many rare & tender plants. This combined with the new gardens, restored vegetable garden & lake make for a varied & stimulating visit The new children's play area, tucked away in the Wild Garden, gives great excitement on discovery. Rare breed pigs, pets & peacocks can also be found & croquet & bowls played on the dairy lawn.

Between Bideford and Barnstaple Barnstaple Devon 01271 860528

Rosemoor

Rosemoor is the RHS national rose garden at Torrington. Its well known for its roses boasting some 2,000 bushes with some 200 varieties. It has extensive water gardens and a very impressive fruit and vegetable garden, along with examples of themed colour and cottage gardens. It is easy to spend a day here wandering through its beautiful 40 acres. Rosemoor has a restaurant and tea shop as well as a plant shop which sells high quality cuttings and specimens from the gardens.

National Trust properties Killerton House and Knightshayes Court have interesting gardens

North Devon Fuchsia Society www.btinternet.com/~northdevonfuchsiasociety

National Gardens Scheme

CASTLE HILL GARDEN - Wonderful 18th Century Parkland with Summer Millennium Garden and woodland gardens. www.castlehilldevon.co.uk

TARKA GARDEN TOURS - Unique opportunity to visit private gardens of N Devon, fully escorted, accommodation incl. www.tarkagardentours.co.uk

Castle Hill Filleigh Barnstaple

Situated less than 5 miles from the Hotel is Castle Hill, a magnificent Palladian house surrounded by an exceptional 50 acre garden. The Gardens include lavender edged herbaceous borders, a water sculpture and woodland walks with Daffodils, Bluebells, Camellias, Magnolias Azaleas, Eucryphias. To the east side of the house is the Millenium Garden designed by Xa Tollemache, a Chelsea Gold Medalist. The large herbaceous borders are edged with box and lavender and an illuminated "topiary" water sculpture was designed and built by Giles Rayner in 2002. From there the path takes you to the formal terraced lawns in front of the house where the eye is then drawn across a small country road by a tree-lined avenue towards the Triumphal Arch built as an eye-catcher.

Rosemoor RHS Garden Torrington

This enchanting 65 acre garden set in the beautiful Torridge Valley is open all year round, so whatever the season, Rosemoor is a unique place that people return to time and again for ideas, inspiration or simply to enjoy a relaxing day out.
Rich in variety, the Formal Garden demonstrates a wide range of plants and planting styles with plenty of ideas to inspire visitors for their own gardens. Other attractions include the Queen Mother's Rose Garden and the Shrub Rose Garden, Lady Anne's Original Garden, the Fruit and Vegetable Garden, the Arboretum, stunning Lake and Cottage Garden, as well as Woodland Walks. Careful planning ensures year-round interest and provides something for everyone to enjoy, whatever the season.

Arlington Court Barnstaple

Hidden in a wooded valley on the edge of Exmoor, the Arlington estate houses numerous extraordinary collections. The house is crowded with the treasures of the Chichester family, including a unique collection of model ships and an amazing assortment of shells. Rare and impressive 18th-century Beauvais Tapestries are displayed alongside the family's personal possessions. The 30 acres of grounds include the formal Victorian garden and a walled kitchen garden, which produces fruit, vegetables and flowers for the house and tea-room. The 2,700-acre estate is noted for its lichens and wildlife, and includes a heronry. A large colony of lesser horseshoe bats can be viewed live, roosting in the roof of the house, via the 'bat-cam' (May–Aug).

Knighthayes Court Tiverton

The house is a striking mix of medieval and Victorian Gothic. Beautiful landscaped gardens with formal terraces, topiary, lily pond, rare shrubs and trees, summer flowering borders, and attractive woodland walks lead through the grounds.

There is a Tea room/restaurant for you to relax in after a stroll around the gardens. Garden open Easter to Oct. House open April-Sept.

Chapel Wood Braunton

One of North Devon's best kept secrets, Chapel Wood, near Braunton, has a ruined chapel listed in the Doomsday Book and an ancient iron hill fort. This tiny, secretive woodland is a small reserve of mixed woodland and a fascinating place to visit.
The ruin of the chapel which gives the wood its name has a bench from which people can enjoy the peace and tranquility of the RSPB nature reserve. There are nature trails to follow around this charming and remote woodland. Without the distraction of traffic, alarms and other urban noise you can focus on the array of bird calls that fill the air as you wander round. If you choose a guided walk there will be an RSPB expert who can tell you what birds you are hearing.

Marwood Hill Gardens Barnstaple

A 20 acre garden with extensive collection of trees, shrubs, herbaceous and alpine plants first created in the early 50s by Dr James Smart VMH. Collected over a 50 year period, many of them are very rare. Three lakes, alive with ducks and multi-coloured carp, are linked by the largest Bog Garden in the west. Within the gardens there are many collections of plants. The large collection of Camellia numbers well over eight hundred different cultivars. These are grown in a large greenhouse as well as in various parts of the garden. Magnolias are a recent addition and there are over eighty, which are a striking feature in March and April. Betula, Eucryphia, Eucalyptus, Rhododendron, Hosta and Iris are strongly represented in the garden.

Heddon Hall Gardens, Parracombe. Located on the western edge of Exmoor National Park, Heddon Hall Gardens are now open on a regular basis and will appeal to every type of North Devon visitor. Jane Keatley has made the gardens very much a gardener's garden with rare species, ferns, shrubs and trees all thriving in their natural valley setting. The gardens are on the footpath network so could be 'walking stop' as much as a specific garden tour.

Docton Mill Gardens, Lymebridge Nr Hartland Situated in a stunning valley 1000m from the coast. The garden started in the 1930's but fell into disrepair until renovation started in the 1980's with extensive planting and the creation of a new Bog garden and borders and the planting of vast numbers of new trees. The start of the new Millenium saw the development of a new Magnolia garden with large herbacious borders, Woodland Garden and Greenhouse area.

Hartland Abbey & Gardens, Hartland The historic home of the Stucley family with its beautiful gardens and parkland setting leading to the sea. Gertrude Jekyll's winding paths lead through woodland gardens of rhodedendrons, azaleas, camellias and hydrangeas to the Bog Garden, the recently restored Victorian Fernery and 18thC Walled Gardens. The woodland walk, carpeted with bluebells in spring, leads to a spectacular Atlantic cove with views to Lundy Island.

Broomhill Sculpture Garden
Broomhill lies in one of the most glorious valleys in North Devon surrounded by hundreds of acres of woodland and bound by its own stream.
Explore the 10 acres of nature-filled park where you can discover more than 300 sculptures by 60 sculptors, presenting a wonderful balance between art and nature. The winding paths will take you on a fascinating journey where you will encounter a variety of sculptures in the woodland gardens and around the trout lake. The Woodland gardens provide all year round interest and are particularly beautiful in the spring with a succession of spring flowers including snowdrops, daffodils, primroses, bluebells and azaleas. Two magnificent magnolia grandiflora are a feature of the terrace producing huge scented flowers. More recent planting provides summer and autumn colour, enhancing the wildlife habitat. The garden is home to numerous birds and insects.
The award winning Broomhill Kitchen is based around the 'Slow food' ethos, where respect for authentic produce and local ingredients is paramount to our offering - pure celebration on a plate. Consisting of mainly Mediterranean cuisine using fresh, organic, fair trade produce from neighbouring farms and the coast, the menu affords splendid choice and excellent value.
Location
From Barnstaple take the B3230 to llfracombe. Two miles from the North Devon District Hospital on the left hand side, Broomhill is clearly signposted.
   
   
Enquiries    Broomhill Art Hotel & Sculpture Garden, Muddiford, Barnstaple, North Devon, EX31 4EX
Telephone    01271 850262
Email    This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website    www.broomhillart.co.uk

Castle Hill Garden
Castle Hill Gardens and Park surround the magnificent Palladian House, home of the Fortescue family since 1454. It is set in an 18th century landscape with grass terraces and statues.
To the East side of the house is the Millennium garden designed by Xa Tollemache, a Chelsea Gold Medallist. The large herbaceous borders are edged with box and lavender and an illuminated 'topiary' water sculpture was designed and built by Giles Rayner in 2002. From there the path takes you to the formal terraced lawns in front of the house where the eye is then drawn across a small country road by a tree-lined avenue towards the Triumphal Arch built as an eye-catcher. Following the path to the west of the house, the woodland gardens are reached where there are camellias, magnolias, rhododendrons, azaleas, hydrangeas and eucryphias planted in abundance, together with other beautiful shrubs and rare trees growing both by the river, along a network of woodland paths and in the Easter Close. Many of the paths, some gentle, some steep are punctuated with follies, and temples built by each generation of the Fortescue family. The final climb takes you to the Castle, perched splendidly on the high hill behind the house with panoramic views to Exmoor, Dartmoor and Lundy Island.
Guided tours by arrangement. At the Ticket Office light refreshments are available at all times, as well as cream teas on Sunday and Bank Holidays.
Location
Leave the A361 North Devon Link Road at roundabout west of South Molton on to the B3226. Follow signs to Filleigh. Shortly after passing through Stags Head, yellow lodge on right, go through drive gates following signs to Car Park.

Enquiries      Castle Hill, Filleigh, Barnstaple,
North Devon, EX32 ORQ Telephone    01598 760336 (ext 1) Fax 01598 760457
Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website       www.castlehilldevon.co.uk

Clovelly Court Garden
This garden is a classic example of a lovingly restored Victorian walled kitchen garden, including magnificent lean-to glasshouses with their original manual levers.
Peaches, apricots, nectarines, vines (including muscat grapes), citrus fruit, figs, cucumbers, peppers, chillies, aubergines and tomatoes can be bought, in season, together with cut flowers and pot plants from the nursery.
Espalier fan and cordon fruit trees line the
walls enclosing the garden, which also shelter vegetables grown to organic principles and in rotation, ensuring sweet tasting and wholesome produce for sale.
The unique maritime microclimate of the garden is produced by the effects of the warm Gulf stream flowing past Clovelly, which with its enviable sheltered position in the Bristol Channel allows the growth of tender and exotic plants.
On your stroll through the garden on a fine day, you may also enjoy a great view across Bideford Bay.
Location
Adjacent to All Saints Church, Clovelly. At Clovelly Cross on the A39, take the B3227 to Clovelly and park outside the entrance gates to Clovelly Court, then follow the signs. A fare paying Land Rover service operates from Easter until end October to take you up from Clovelly harbour to the Visitor Centre car park and at special request, to Clovelly Court Garden. For details of service, please call 01237 431781.

Enquiries
Telephone Website
Visitor Centre, Clovelly Court Garden, Clovelly, North Devon EX39 5SY
01237 431781
www.clovelly.co.uk

RHS Garden Rosemoor
If you are looking for inspiration and a relaxing day out, come to Rosemoor and stroll around our enchanting 65 acre garden, acclaimed by gardeners everywhere and acknowledged as one of the most exciting horticultural accomplishments of recent years. Rosemoor is rich in variety and includes both formal and informal gardens. The Formal Garden demonstrates a wide range of planting styles in a series of individual gardens, with a wealth of ideas to inspire visitors. There are two rose gardens with over 200 varieties, for modern and shrub roses respectively. Two colour themed gardens are planted to contrasting effect: the Spiral Garden with a soft, pastel planting, and the Hot Garden's searingly hot colour scheme. Ever popular are the Cottage Garden, Herb Garden and the Potager, where decorative vegetable planting is demonstrated. Two distinctive themes are the Foliage Garden, with leaf form and colour dominant, and the Winter Garden, richly colourful during the darkest days of the year. Three model gardens demonstrate different design solutions for the average domestic plot. Other attractions include a Stream Garden and Lake, a richly productive Fruit and Vegetable garden, and Lady Anne Berry's original garden around Rosemoor House. All this is set within parkland surrounded by newly developed woodland walks.
Whatever the season Rosemoor is a unique and enchanting garden, designed to delight and inspire, or to provide a place of quiet tranquillity. A wide range of events also take place, please contact the garden for further details. The Visitor Centre contains its own licensed Restaurant, Plant Centre and Gift Shop, with free parking. The Wisteria Tea Room at Rosemoor House is open April-September.
One mile south of Great Torrington on the A3124.

01805 624067
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.rhs.org.uk/rosemoor

Tapeley Park
With its four distinctly different themed areas set in a 60 acre site, Tapeley Gardens are home to a rich and fascinating variety of flowers, trees, shrubs and vegetables, as well as some Highland cattle, pigs, goats and rabbits.
The well-known Italian terrace borders, created by Lady Rosamond Christie in the late 19th century, have been renovated with the help of Mary Keen and Carol Klein. The result is a swathe of new colours and perfumes which perfectly compliment the many established rare and tender plants.
In the traditional walled Kitchen Garden, a mass of vegetables grow alongside a grand assortment of fruit trees. Nearby is the new Organic Permaculture garden, where companion planting methods have produced a mixture of vegetables, fruits and herbs, some grown through a mulch made from old carpets and wood chippings.
No visit is complete without a leisurely walk around the woodland paths and a tour of the lake, where the spectacularly tall Thuja-Plicata trees tower overhead.
New treats include a Labyrinth made from large chunks of granite, a much improved plant and vegetable sales area with an adjoining exotic new shop called 'The Olde Ways...' - in addition to the Gift shop and a children's play area. Best of all our Tea rooms are now run in house serving high quality, affordable meals utilising our own chemical free vegetables plus the traditional cream teas.

Location
Tapeley Park is between Bideford and Barnstaple near Instow. Follow brown tourist signs from the A39 onto the B3233. Local buses can be taken to near the bottom of the drive next to the Tarka Trail.


01271 860897
hectorl This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.tapeleypark.com


Winsford Walled Garden
'Winsford' is home to the best, most ornate, most technically advanced Victorian greenhouses found anywhere in the South West. And unusually, visitors are encouraged to step inside to fully appreciate these amazing living structures. The walled gardens were part of a large Victorian estate left to ruin after the war. But in 1999 the gardens were rediscovered by the present owners beneath 8ft brambles! Since then, they have done all the work unaided, even restoring the greenhouses themselves. 'Staggering' was how Chris Bailes, plant curator at RHS Rosemoor, described the colour and variety that abounds today. Instead of garden rooms, designer Mike Gilmore talks of 'garden pages' to illustrate the harmonious effect between the different and intimate areas. Here's how others describe the garden. "One of the most beautiful gardens we have ever visited, a tapestry of ever-changing colours, and a surprise around every corner." Holly & Colin Bows, Exeter
"Very glad we found out about you. Well worth the visit and we'll return when next we are in Devon. This garden is completely different to those elsewhere in Devon and Cornwall." Colin Saunders, London
"A fantastic find for the garden lover." Raymond & Kathleen Hall, Ontario, Canada
"Have just discovered this inspiring and magical garden, but will be back again
for another journey of discovery. A really lovely morning."
Elizabeth & Geoffrey Stowell, Plymouth
"Absolutely stunning and beautiful!! Best I've seen."
Sam S Paula Dellar, Seattle, USA 

Location
Halwill Junction is on the Okehampton - Bude road (A3079). Follow the brown signs from the village mini roundabout to the garden (1 mile).


Telephone    01409 221477
Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website       www.winsfordwalledgarden.com


Docton Mill Gardens
Gold Medal Award Winning Gardens Voted Best Cream Tea in North Devon
Highlights of the Garden include:
• Spectacular display of narcissi in spring
• River walk with displays of naturalised narcissi, bluebells and wild garlic
• Superb bog garden as described in Rosemary Verey's book "Good Planting"
• Extensive herbaceous border of over 140m
• Wildlife pond and vegetable garden
• Gold medal winner, Devon County Show (feature garden class)
• Tearoom serving light lunches, including our speciality salads and seafood, all food locally sourced
• Dogs allowed on short leads
• Over 300 varieties of herbaceous perennial for sale
Docton Mill is situated in a stunning valley location 1000m from the coast and famous waterfall at Spekes Mill Mouth. The Garden started in the 1930's but fell into disrepair in the 1970's. 1980 saw the Mill renovated and Garden cleared with extensive planting and the creation of a new Bog Garden and borders, vast numbers of trees were planted. The start of the new Millennium saw developments including a new Magnolia Garden with large Herbaceous borders, Woodland Garden and Greenhouse area enabling more extensive plant propagation. Featured on national and local TV gardening programmes.
Location
From North Devon via A39 to Hartland - Stoke - left turn following flower symbols to Elmscott - gardens just before. From N Cornwall via the A39 turning left at the West Country Inn following flower signs to Elmscott and YHA - at YHA continue straight on down hill to gardens.


01237 441369
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.doctonmill.co.uk

Hartland Abbey
Spend an afternoon in this stunning valley with its charming house, enchanting gardens and beautiful woodland walk leading to a wild Atlantic cove and cottage, the film location of 'Barton Cottage' in BBC's Sense & Sensibility (2008). Hartland Abbey offers visitors much more than just an historic house... A former Augustinian monastery, the Abbey was given by Henry VIII to the Keeper of his Wine Cellar whose descendants live here today. Visitors enjoy the family atmosphere, spectacular
architecture, fine paintings, furniture, porcelain, fascinating museum and local art gallery. Children can enjoy the Prize Quiz.
In the 18thC, woodland gardens were planted leading to three secret walled gardens. Gertrude Jekyll, a guest in the early 20thC, created many new features, but during the Great War the gardens disappeared under thick undergrowth. In the late 1990s Jekyll's paths and Fernery were discovered followed by restoration of the woodland and walled gardens which once again enchant with rhododendrons, camellias, hydrangeas, roses, tender and summer perennials, vegetables and fruit. Huge echium pininana thrive. Restored glasshouses and gazebo overlooking the Atlantic. Bluebells are at their best in April whilst the cliff flowers bloom from May onwards. Wandering peacocks, black sheep and donkeys delight visitors. Delicious light lunches and cream teas (on house open days). Also visit Hartland with its arts and crafts and Hartland Quay, with it's welcoming Inn and spectacular cliff scenery. You will be made very welcome.
Location
Only 5 miles from Clovelly and 15 miles west of Bideford (off A39 between Hartland and Hartland Quay) 15 miles north of Bude. Follow brown signs off A39.


Enquiries Hartland Abbey, Nr. Bideford, EX39 6DT
Telephone 01237 441264/234 Fax 01237 441264
Website www.hartlandabbey.com


Heddon Hall Garden
Now in its fifth year of opening, this old-fashioned flower garden has developed a reputation as a feast of delights for both expert and amateur gardeners, and has attracted groups from as far away as Australia. All visitors receive the warmest of welcomes to this sheltered valley setting, with its wonderful collection of exotic species, shrubs, specimen trees and ferns. Though there are many parts to the garden, each is on an intimate scale, providing inspiration for people's own gardens, as well as being a beautiful place to walk and relax. We have many visitors who come back again and again. Maybe that's also because they know how delicious the cream teas are!
The walled garden, laid out by Penelope Hobhouse, has clipped box hedges and cordoned fruit trees as well as flowers, herbs and vegetables. The rose garden is home to some amazing pleeched limes trees, as well as an ancient vine and herbaceous borders. This leads onto a glorious informal rockery and bog garden, where the River Heddon runs into three stew ponds. Planting schemes are continually being reworked and new varieties sourced so there are fresh attractions each year. The keen horticulturalist will find rarities such as a peone delaveii, indigofra pendula and schima argenta that nestles by a waterfall, as well as hostas, clematis, cistus and a superb collection of hellebores. This year there is a particular focus on attractive vegetables in the walled garden, alongside the mature beds planned by Carol Klein fifteen years ago, when the garden began opening for the National Garden Scheme. (Photos: Carole Drake).

Location

The gardens are on national footpath and cycle networks, located just off the A39 heading towards Lynton, on the northern edge of the village of Parracombe. (OS grid ref SS672450).


01598 763541
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it www.heddonhallgardens.co.uk

 Contributed by: Emma Bishop