The walled garden at The Weir

The walled garden at The Weir is a short walk through the orchard, past the sheep field until you reach the red brick wall with the wooden door. Just outside of the wall you’ll see the early Georgian cold frames which have been fully restored, push open the big wooden door and step into The Weir’s very own secret garden.

Unlike your standard walled garden, this one has just three sides. There are two reasons for this; one the shape of the garden makes the most of the sunshine, there is no fourth wall to block out the rays whilst the sun moves across the sky, the second being the hard working gardeners would have been able to enjoy the spectacular views of the River Wye and this of course still applies to the lucky team at The Weir today.

The garden itself was designed by Humphry Repton, a reputable landscape designer during the era, whilst the estate was under the ownership of William Parry. The household at the time was said to be ‘firm but fair’, garden employees may have enjoyed the wonderful views of the Wye however; they would not be permitted to cross the riverside garden, shortcutting to the manor. They would be expected to walk the long way around to the back of the house, the exception being unless they were in their Sunday best.

After Parry’s death in 1813, the walled garden began to fall in a sorry state. Roger Charlton Parr brought the estate in 1923 and was responsible for the garden's glory days, as they came to be known. With the assistance of his head gardener William Boulter, Parr oversaw many improvements to the walled garden. He replaced the original glasshouse with a Foster & Pearson – the 'Rolls Royce' of glasshouses. An expensive Robin Hood Beeston boiler was installed to heat it throughout the year.

After Parr’s death his chauffeur and lifelong Campanian Victor Morris continued to live at The Weir as requested in Parr’s will alongside the estate being bequeathed to the National Trust upon Morris’s death. The walled garden was once again in a sorry state when the Trust took on the estate. Morris had little use of the walled garden whilst he lived at The Weir and being elderly could not manage the upkeep of the garden.

In 2009, Senior Gardener Ned Price alongside a team of enthusiastic garden volunteers set to the task of reviving the walled garden, bringing it back to its former beauty. Click below to read the journey of restoring the walled garden and discover how we used kind donations from supporters and used on site fundraising to save the unique walled garden here at The Weir.