The New Weir couldn’t protect the Burney family from the unfolding war in Europe. Cecily
soon left for France. It is there she served as a volunteer ambulance driver. Cecily managed to survive the war, but suffered great loss. Her fiancé, brother and cousin were all killed during the conflict.
For over a century, the New Weir had belonged to the Griffiths family. In 1923, it found a new
owner in Roger Charlton Parr. Parr came from a wealthy family, who had founded their own
bank since 1788. He had money to spend on the walled garden. With the assistance of his
head gardener, William Boulter, Parr started the restoration of the walled garden. Roger Parr replaced the original glasshouse with a Foster and Pearson. He also used this leading glasshouse manufacturer at his other estate in Warrington, Grappenhall Heys. An expensive Beeston Boiler was installed to heat the glasshouse.
The Glory days
Known for being a generous boss, Parr built modern homes for his gardeners. For William Boulter, he rebuilt the gardener’s cottage. At the top of the estate, Parr built Weir Cottage One and Weir Cottage Two. His other gardeners Fred Davies and Reginald Weaver lived there. For Weaver, this felt like a real luxury, as it was a novelty to have a home with electricity. Parr had new ideas. He planted many fruit trees along the pathways and two hundred hollies around the garden.
The glory days ended abruptly with Parr’s death in 1958. Out of respect to Parr’s final wishes,
The National Trust allowed Victor Morris, his chauffeur, to stay at the mansion during his lifetime. Morris had little time for the walled garden. He instead spent his time fishing, driving and throwing lavish parties. During Parr’s time, there had been six gardeners to maintain both gardens. Morris hired only two part time gardeners, who struggled with the walled garden’s upkeep. The garden suffered over fifty years of neglect.
Restoration
In 2009 The National Trust aimed to return the garden back into a functioning kitchen garden.
Head gardener Ned Price and his team of staff and volunteers have since worked hard to restore the garden back to its former glory. To discover more about the project, take a peek at our gardener’s scrapbook in the glasshouse or tea tent.