The 12 acre 450 year old gardens are open 5 days a week including a coffee room, shop, stationery and fine artists materials shop . Welcome to Easton Walled Gardens...
The captivating story of Easton Walled gardens and the Cholmeley Family begins 450 years ago. At the end of the reign of Elizabeth I, 1592, Sir Henry Cholmeley bought the rather grand manor of Easton. The ancient conveyance - written on parchment - mentions orchards, meadows and gardens. There are surviving walks and walls that are clearly created in the Tudor style so the written and archaeological evidence means we can confidently say the gardens are at least 400 years old. Once the site of an extravagant stately home, the landscape owes a lot to the Tudor and Jacobean period, with the gardens cascading down terraces from the site of the old house. It became home to units of the Royal Artillery and the 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (of Arnhem fame) for four years. During their stay, it suffered irreparable damage both to the fabric of the building and to the remaining contents, including many family records. Home to the Cholmeley family for nearly 400 years, in 1951 the Hall was demolished, never having been lived in as a family home again. The gardens revival began in 2001. With the help of family and friends and no budget at all, Ursula Cholmeley started hacking at undergrowth. Gradually the site became safe enough to invite visitors and by the mid-2000s, finally planning permission was granted to create a tourist attraction and our first regular visitors followed. Today, Easton Walled Gardens is one of the finest walled gardens in the UK. They cover 12 acres of a beautiful valley just off the A1. The gardens are an intrinsic part of the local community and thousands of visitors join us each year to enjoy the passing seasons, big open skies, swaying meadows and heady scent of sweet peas and roses. Over the last five years, the gardens have been transformed from a work in progress to a working garden. The orchard of locally grafted trees is now fruiting, the meadows hold orchids and 20,000 bulbs flourish in Spring. 225 rose bushes flourish throughout the summer and people come from miles around to admire over 50 varieties of sweet peas. The wildlife never disappoints. You might catch a glimpse of a little egret during autumn and winter months or a kingfisher from early summer to autumn. Grey wagtails and wrens flit between the reeds in the River Witham which meanders through the estate and if the river is quiet, look up, maybe the smaller things are under cover while the red kites or buzzards pass overhead. Life here is pretty special – you’ll feel it the moment you step onto Easton soil.
