Barrington Court’s spring garden

But there are spring flowers and bulbs everywhere you turn. Primroses, snowdrops, crocuses, scillas, aconites, and the giant fritillaria imperialis will all be coming into flower. The tulips in the White garden will be standing tall and there are jewels of colour clinging to the stonework, as the wallflowers start to bloom.

The walk from welcome desk to garden takes you past Goose Orchard, where gnarled trees rediscover their youth every spring in a glorious display of blossom. Barrington Court may be famous for its cider (its amber-coloured cider won Overall Drink at the National Trust’s Fine Farm Produce Awards last year) but it’s not just apples that welcome spring: quince, pear and medlars add to the magnificence.

For a really show-stopping exhibition of blossom, head out past the artisan workshops to the orchards to the north of the house, where more than 150 types of apple will fill the eye with colour and scent.

Don’t forget to visit the Kitchen garden too; the old stone walls catch the early spring sunshine and warm the espaliered fruit trees that line the garden into an early display. Pear, plum and cherry will all be bursting into life.