The Newt in Somerset

About The Newt in Somerset

The gardens at The Newt have been shaped over the last 200 years by successive enthusiasts, including Margaret Hobhouse who elevated them to a Victorian ideal, introducing colour, a greenhouse and many trees of beech, oak, pine, walnut and cedar. Renowned garden designer Penelope Hobhouse gave Margaret’s vision a new lease of life in the 1970s, followed by Nori and Sandra Pope, whose experiments with colour delighted and inspired thousands of visitors in the mid-1980s.

The latest incarnation has been created by Italo-French architect Patrice Taravella, who believes a garden should be both beautiful and useful. Mixing ornamental and productive elements, the gardens are a feast for the eyes and stomach. At their core sits the Parabola, a walled garden concealing an apple tree maze; at their edges, diverse woodland providing a sheltered habitat for native wildlife.

The Newt in Somerset is a working country estate between the towns of Bruton and Castle Cary. Set amid farmland, woodland, orchards and lakes, is the original Georgian manor house, stable yard and farm buildings, as well as acres of formal gardens with a renowned horticultural history.

Light refreshments will be served in the garden, for the morning visit this will include tea or coffee and a cinnamon bun and for the afternoon a glass of cyder or apple juice with light savoury canapes.

All refreshments provided are made onsite and from produce produced within the kitchen garden and orchards. The Newt always serves fresh, seasonal fare, led by what is growing in the gardens – from crisp green leaves to freshly picked berries and vegetables, to our home produced cyder and apple juice.