The Rose Garden at Basildon Park

Rose garden at Basildon Park on a blue sky day with house in the background

One of the Iliffe’s additions to the pleasure grounds was the Rose Garden. The gardens team at Basildon Park are still in the process of restoring it, but it provides a beautiful feast for the as you wander around it during the summer months.

History of the Rose Garden

In the 1960s Lady Iliffe created the Rose Garden with advice from Lanning Roper, a well-known American garden consultant. It contained a mix of old roses, peonies and spring bulbs when it was originally created. 

Sadly by 2011 perennial weeds had begun to take their toll on the mature rose garden. It was decided to clear the garden, rest and refresh the soil, and replant the garden with old roses replicating Lady Iliffe’s original design.

Visting the garden

Wander around the back of the mansion to explore the Rose garden, and the rest of the pleasure grounds. There are plenty of summer flowers bursting with colour and scent for you to enjoy.

Visitors in the Rose Garden at Basildon Park
Visitors looking at the blooming roses in the Rose Garden at Basildon Park
Visitors in the Rose Garden at Basildon Park

Roses to look out for

With many different types of roses at Basildon Park, there's so much to see at this time of year in the gardens. We've come up with a couple of our favourites that are definitely worth looking out for.

Rosamundi

The Rosamundi rose is a classic old rose that has beautiful light crimson semi-double blooms that are striped white. The Rosamundi is particulaly well known for it's rich frangrance, and can be spotted in the curved border of the Rose Garden.

Compte de Chambord

A rose also known as Madame Boll or Madame Knorr., this rose has large, full blooms of rich warm pink, as well as a strong fragrance. Spot the Compte de Chambord in the large curved border on the right hand side at the back of the Rose Garden.

Buy some roses

Head to the shop in the Stableyard to purchase some David Austin roses of your own. They will be stocking some of the rose varieties you can see in the pleasure grounds, so you can create a little bit of Lady Iliffe's rose garden for yourself at home.