Posted on by H&P Adventures

Visit to RHS Bridgewater

You will know that we are not, in any shape or form, gardeners! The most we have are a few pots at home but we did enjoy our guided tour of RHS Bridgewater walled Garden

The RHS Garden Bridgewater is the result of a multi-million pound transformation of the historic 154 acre Worsley New Hall estate site and is now home to 11 stunning garden spaces, including the largest Victorian walled garden in England. The first new RHS garden in over 100 years apparently.

Worsley New Hall around 1848
from Wikipedia

Worsley New Hall was competed in 1846 and remained a significant family home until the outbreak of World War 1, when it was loaned to the British Red Cross for use as a military hospital for officers. When peace was declared the Ellesmere family elected to stay in London and sold the house and land in 1923 to Bridgewater Estates Limited for the princely sum of £3.3 million, equivalent to £200 million today.

Garden Cottage – the last head gardener to live here was William Barber Upjohn who died here in 1920. He had 13 children

In 1948, two local brothers purchased Garden Cottage and the Walled Garden from Bridgewater Estates Limited. It was sold 10 yrs later to their cousin who rebuilt several greenhouses and began producing flowers, fruit and vegetables. Later known as Worsley Hall Nurseries, many local people used the thriving garden centre and café until it closed in 2013.

Peel L&P purchased Bridgewater Estates Limited in 1973. In 2017, in partnership with Salford City Council, they enabled the work on RHS Garden Bridgewater to begin. A significant legacy project that secured the future of the Duke of Bridgewater’s historic estate.

Renowned landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith created the masterplan for the garden which respects the heritage of the old site, and incorporates contemporary designs that reference different cultures, eras and gardening styles overlaying the footprint of the old garden.

The walled garden – photo courtesy of RHS Bridgewater

The Weston Walled Garden is divided by a central wall into two halves – the Paradise Garden to the right hand side above and the Kitchen Garden – with 3km of pathways to explore. A series of connecting gardens wrap around the perimeter, and are enclosed by a lower-level outer wall.

Paradise Garden

The Paradise Garden has its origins in the earliest civilisations and cleverly blends Mediterranean, Asiatic and American species.

The garden’s walls create a microclimate in which a wide range of plants from all over the world can flourish. There are 89 individual planting beds, containing 27,000 plants

At the heart of the Paradise Garden sits a 70-sq metre Lily Pond.
The pond is fed by two rills running east to west along the central spine of the garden with fountains at either end

Two new Victorian-style glasshouses have been built along the south-facing wall of Paradise Garden – the Fruit House and Mediterranean House – and are filled with both exotic and familiar plants including apricots, peaches, figs, bulbs and succulents.

Mediterranean House
African Daisy – they open out in sunshine and close in the dark
I wish I could post the perfume of these hyacinths
The fruit house
Plants grown in the greenhouses and gardens are used in the cafes on the site
Peach trees coming in to blossom

The Kitchen Garden

Using ordnance survey maps, the kitchen garden is laid out to reflect the underground waterways that carried coal from the coal face to the canal and the planting beds reflect the historic field network in the surrounding countryside during the 19th century.

Not much to see at the minute, however, the garden has more than 100 planting beds containing 29,000 plants. It embraces four distinct planting styles – forest garden, herbal garden and formal vegetable garden
These frames for climbers are based on the chimney from the boiler house which is now a Grade II listed building

Outer Gardens

Within the outer wall is a series of gardens dedicated to serving the local community.

Community Wellbeing – Individuals whose mental or physical health may benefit from garden-related activities can be referred by local healthcare professionals to work with the Therapeutic Gardener.
The grasses are grown round the outside of the beds to allow wheelchair users the opportunity to be able to touch them
Community Grow

Community Groups can apply for a bed in this garden to come together in a ‘hive-like’ setting to work communally in developing their food-growing skills. The communal seating area will provide a place to gather and shelter under the umbrella mulberry trees.

The beds are hive shaped to reflect the Manchester bee
The Peel Learning Centre provides a hands on learning space for over 7000 schoolchildren a year
The Windrush Garden – developed to show just what you can do with the average back garden in Salford! Now maybe I should pay more attention to this!
The site has been cleared of very invasive rhododendron plants. The branches of many have been incorporated as features throughout the garden or for climbing plants to tumble over.
The National Rhubarb collection is located here….
Apparently Victorians liked to be able to look through doorways through gardens

The Frameyard

Behind the walled garden, the working area of the Victorian Garden has also been developed and opened to the public and includes the potting sheds, bothy and testing area.

The bothy once housed 34 apprentice gardeners who were also responsible for keeping the boiler stoked. Both the house and the chimney are now listed buildings.

The tunnel leads down to the furnace of the Victorian boiler which heated water for the main house and garden.
The old potting sheds have been restored to house exhibitions about the house and gardens.
In front of the bothy is the testing area for plants seeking RHS red seals

The future

Courtesy of RHS Bridgewater information centre
Looking across Ellesmere lake to where the house once stood you can see the terraces stepping down to the lake.

The grotto on this island in the lake and was once accessed by an iron bridge.

The Chinese Streamside Garden is a work in progress covering approximately 7 acres. Its newly constructed stream meanders slowly from Ellesmere Lake to Moon Bridge Water at the information centre.

The Chinese Water Garden includes a large pool, cascade, rock features and carefully positioned, classically styled plantings.

Along the length of the watercourse are a series of smaller pools and weirs, while a sinuous path weaves over five stylised wooden bridges.

Distinctive character will evolve around specific horticultural themes including a Chinese meadow and a bamboo garden (or ‘Bambusarium’).

Middle Wood has been a landscape feature on maps since at least 1799. The wood has two distinct halves. A south facing slope and a woodland of mature trees. There is a lot of development and replanting planned, especially for the little folk.

There are several play and development areas for children

And homes for the fairies?????

I hope you have enjoyed this recollection of my visit. I’m grateful to the RHS Bridgewater website, Wikipedia and our guides Ann and Victoria for the information. I was fascinated by the history of the site and must certainly come back to see how the garden developes.

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