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Westonbirt School Gardens

The former private garden of Robert Holford, founder of Westonbirt Arboretum, the gardens and parkland cover 28 acres. Formal Victorian gardens inc walled Italian garden now restored with early herbaceous borders and exotic border. Rustic walks, lake, statuary and grotto. Rare, exotic trees and shrubs.

Owner Info

Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens
Westonbirt School Gardens

About Westonbirt School Gardens

THE GARDENS AT WESTONBIRT

The Holford Gardens and Parkland at Westonbirt include ornate buildings in an impressive landscape. The estate was laid out by three generations of the Holford family – from the early 1800s to 1926 – but created primarily by Robert Stayner Holford between 1839 and 1892. Much of the original exceptional character remains, with much of the stonework in the Victorian Gardens newly restored/conserved, including the lake, the grotto, several stone garden seats and the finials on the North wall of the Italian gardens.

The high quality architectural features of the Gardens at Westonbirt range from elaborate pavilions and richly decorated archways in the Italian Gardens to terrace walks with balustrade and ornamental fountains. Many of these were designed under the guidance of Lewis Vulliamy (1791- 1871) and predate the building of the house.

Sir Roy Strong describes the Grade 1 Listed Italian Gardens as ‘one of the most amazing and exotic built garden structures to survive from the High Victorian era’. Cotswold Life have said it to be ‘the finest ensemble of Victorian architecture, landscape and gardens in the Cotswolds’.
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Location details

Westonbirt School Gardens,
Tetbury,
Gloucestershire,
GL8 8QG

Directions to Westonbirt School Gardens
Pls enter through main school gates on A433 - some SatNavs will send you via a side entrance where there will be no access - main school gates only please.

Westonbirt School Gardens openings

You can just turn up and pay on the day.

Refreshments Tea, coffee, soft drinks, water & biscuits avail throughout the day.
Admission Adult: £7.50
Child: Free
Opening times 10:30-16:30

Accessibility

  • Gravelled paths in some areas, grass in others and wheelchair users are limited to downstairs part of the house due to evacuation protocols.
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FAQs

Yes, cashless payment is accepted.

Sorry, there is no available parking for coaches at Westonbirt School Gardens at this time.

Sorry, no dogs are allowed in the garden at this time.

There are no plants for sale for the time being.

Yes, one or more routes at Westonbirt School Gardens are accessible to wheelchair users.

Westonbirt School Gardens is not explicitly a wildlife garden, but you may still find various indigenous flora and fauna.