Summer at Prior Park

The bridge and families at Prior Park

Prior Park in summer is bursting with life, with lots to explore, space to picnic, relax and slow down the pace of life.

In the lakes, the fish make themselves known. Keep an eye out for carp underneath the surface - and sometimes leaping out, especially among the emerging plants. There are also hundreds of tiny frogs that set off on their journey each June to find a new home.

The delicate flowers of spring give way to bold summer wildflowers. The spring snakeshead fritillaries in the summerhouse glade are replaced by orchids in the Pasture, wild raspberry through the shrubberies and many other floral delights bring colour to the garden. 

Cows will be in the Pasture on a rotating basis during the summer, spending time here, and in the nearby Bath Skyline fields. They can be easily avoided by keeping on the paths down the sides of the garden, but visitors are still able to walk through the Pasture as well. 

The cows are here for conservation grazing. This management ensures that the Pasture remains a good habitat for lots of lovely wildflowers. Our volunteer teams help them out a bit though, tackling some of the bigger patches of thistles when necessary.

The Prior Park dams project will see changes to the garden as we move through summer. The Tea Shed will move to it's new temporary home up in the Cabinet, and new play spaces will be created. The cows will finish their grazing of the Pasture a little earlier, as we prepare for contractors to arrive and begin restoration work on the dams.

At the end of the project we will be able to refill the lakes and restore the reflections

What is the dams project?  

Things are different at Prior Park in 2019, as the garden undergoes an exciting, yet crucial, restoration project on its 18th-century dams - find out more here.