Littlebredy Walled Gardens

About Littlebredy Walled Gardens

Laid out from around the end of the 18th Century, the 5-acre site was the core of the Georgian and Victorian Productive Grounds of the Bridehead Estate at Littlebredy. In the days before supermarkets and refrigeration, the 17 gardeners were responsible for providing vegetables and fruit for the Estate owners and the village inhabitants to survive on. Once the railways arrived in Dorset, produce was sent by train to the other family houses in London.
The site became overgrown in the 20th century, because local small-scale food producers were unable to compete with cheaper food imports.
Today, the revived 1-acre Walled Garden has over 500ft of largely perennial borders arranged in ‘rooms’, laid out in a lovely tumble of naturalised planting down the south-facing slope, together with potager vegetable areas and a large lavender border. In season, the crowning glory is the profusion of scented roses scattered among the planting, with a concentration along the edge of the River Bride, a stream which ripples through the garden.
The large heritage greenhouses and boiler rooms are somewhat tumbledown, but a valiant effort from volunteers and helpers has started to make some progress in restoration.
Teas available in the garden’s renovated Mill Barn or, weather permitting, in the outside seating area.