The walled kitchen garden at Clumber Park

WKG & Glasshouse June Tammy Herd — The walled kitchen garden at Clumber Park | © Tammy Herd

Spanning four acres, the walled kitchen garden at Clumber Park is one of the grandest surviving 18th century walled gardens in England.

The history of the garden

Originally home to the Dukes of Newcastle, Clumber Park is steeped in history with clues to its grand past dotted throughout, including this spectacular enclosed garden. Dating from 1772, it supplied the sorts of exotic and unusual foods that the Dukes could impress their guests with. From asparagus to pineapples and strawberries at Christmas, this was an elite garden for an elite family. In its prime, the gardens would have provided employment for 30 people and had 6-acres under cultivation including a huge, heated Melon Yard and an orchard, which was re-established just outside the garden walls in 2021.

The layout and techniques used

The garden itself is divided internally with a bisecting peach wall to provide extra growing space for top fruit, and two garden rooms to secure the more valuable soft fruit crops. The 15-foot walls are home to over 200 wall trained fruit including cordons, espaliers, and fans.

The Clumber gardens team practice “no dig” gardening in two large plots near the top of the garden. Each year, they provide fresh crops using organic principles for use in the park's food and beverage outlets, and for sale on the well-stocked produce cart. All generating much needed funds from visitor donations.

The gardens now have a mixture of productive and ornamental plantings and is home to two national collections of Rheum (Rhubarb) and Malus (Apple).

Looking across the walled kitchen garden with trees and shrubs — View across the walled kitchen garden | © Johanna Mather

The garden is landscaped to encourage cold air and frost to roll from the flanks into the centre of the garden and then down a central slope through metal gates at the lowest point of the garden. This leads onto the impressive Cedar Avenue, which is underplanted with 140,000 spring flowering bulbs, creating a spectacular blanket of colour in the spring months.

The Glasshouse

At 451 feet, Clumber Park boasts the longest Glasshouse in National Trust care. It was installed by the 7th Duke of Newcastle and completed in 1910. By the 1970s it was derelict but the Trust has spent decades restoring it, most recently in 2023. Today, it boasts seasonal displays in its huge conservatory, an exotically planted Palm House and bays of grapes, figs, and peaches. Some of the utility rooms now serve as a museum displaying an extensive collection of gardening tools. The Apple Store and the Gardener's Mess is a feast for the eyes with ever-changing displays.

Highlights of the garden

Herb border

Combining herbs grown for the cafe alongside dianthus, the latter a homage to the 7th Duchess and the gardeners who grew her favourite carnations.

Rose garden

With over 40 pre-1920s varieties, it is aldo planted with bulbs, annuals and herbaceous perennials to create a display that lasts from spring to autumn.

Soft fruit garden

Home to over 50 varieties, including strawberries and raspberries.

Double herbaceous borders

At 400ft, they are the longest of their type in the National Trust's ownership.

What's happening in the garden in October?

The growing season ends later this month as light levels, temperatures and day length all reduce. This leads to slower growth in all plants so less time spent weeding and mowing, but more hedge trimming!

October is the month for planting bulbs of all kinds. In the flower garden, ornamental alliums, tulips, daffodils and crocus are being planted now. In the vegetable garden, onions and garlic are being put in the ground for earlier harvests next year.

Harvesting produce is still a big task and apple season is in full swing. This year the apple trees are laden with fruit. Squashes and pumpkins have been harvested for a colourful autumn display in the Glasshouse.

The herbaceous borders are giving a late show of colour as the dahlias, salvias and cannas have a final flourish.

What’s for sale on the produce cart?

French beans, runner beans, beetroot, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, peppers, chillis, sweetcorn, celeriac, leeks, onions, garlic, apples and pears.

Seasonal advice from Clumber's Head Gardener

Autumn is a pivotal time of year. It’s the confluence of the long, warm summer days we’ve enjoyed in the garden and the fast-approaching cold season with its festive celebrations and shorter days. Deciduous trees are changing colour giving us an array of buttery yellows, biscuity browns and flaming reds, and the produce we grow in the garden here at Clumber changes status from ‘growing’ to ‘harvested’. For some there’s a sense of ‘nearly over’, but however you like to experience autumn, plenty of gardening opportunity still exists.

Spring bulbs are an obvious place to start. Clearing out spent summer bedding leaves fantastic opportunity to inject some much-needed spring colour into your garden after the winter dearth. A pop of yellow or blue is the most exquisite at springtime in my opinion. You can get very early colour with Iris reticula and Crocus cultivars; both are very easy on the pocket. If you are more patient, then Daffodils, Tulips & Fritillarias offer a vast array of choice, and these will need planting towards the end of October.

Maincrop potatoes can be lifted about now and can be used for months if you can keep them away from light, frost, and rodents.

You’d now be typically tidying away dead perennials but do try and leave what you can as a little winter height and structure in your borders & beds, as well as a food source for wildlife. Echinops, Achillea, Eryngium can look spectacular covered in early morning frost.

Any frost tender vegetables will need harvesting before the first frost date. Around Nottinghamshire, this will typically be in November, but it’s easy to get caught out with an early one. The same is true for other frost tender plants you may have planted out for summer.

It’s also time to get your wellies at the ready!

Dene Wood

Cauliflower, beetroot, potatoes, raspberries grown in the walled kitchen garden — Produce grown in the walled kitchen garden | © Johanna Mather

Events

World Mental Health Day, Thursday 10 October, 11.00 - 15.30.
Enjoy a variety of activities to soothe your mind including:

Pop-up floristry in the Palm House
Knitting workshop in the east bay of the Glasshouse
Apple picking in the Nottinghamshire orchard
Pop-up book shop
Meet Therapy Dogs Nationwide

Timed activities include:

10.00 - run with Clumber Runners (meet at the gates to the walled kitchen garden)
11.00, 12.00 & 13.00 - Sound Bathing
12.00 - Men’s walk & talk
14.00, 14.30 & 15.00 - yoga

In addition, local community wellness and support groups will be on hand, and our Active Outdoors team will be available to discuss our regular walking, running, and cycling activities.

They'll also be a tea party in the rose garden and lawn games to enjoy, so wrap up warm, bring along a picnic and relax in the beautiful surroundings.

Apple Day celebrations, Friday 18 & Saturday 19 October
Join us in the walled kitchen garden for two days of celebrations, full of apple-themed activities, demos and displays.

Throughout both days from 10.30 - 15.30 there will be:

Apple scratting, juicing and tasting
A self-led Apple Trail around the garden
Bee hive talk & demo with Clumber's Bee Keeper
Heritage apples for sale

Plus, expert demonstrations at:
11.30 - Apple pruning
14.00 - Apple grafting

Enjoy tours of the garden each day at 11.00 & 14.00.

Walled Kitchen Garden Tour, first Tuesday of every month from March - October, 11.30 – 12.30.
As one of only a handful of its kind in existence, discover how the walled kitchen garden is maintained using traditional gardening techniques.
Meet at the entrance to the garden.

All our garden events are free to enjoy and no booking is required. Admission into the park applies.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Garden's team have answered the most common questions asked by visitors to the walled kitchen garden.

How many staff and volunteers work in the garden?
4 full time staff, 3 part time staff, 2 garden apprentices and 40-45 frequent volunteers

How many would have worked here in its heyday?
Around 30 gardeners

If you are the second largest collection of rhubarb in the world, who has first?
We understand a private collection in the Netherlands currently has the largest collection

How big are the walled gardens?
4 acres within the walls, but including the slip gardens, frame yards and historic orchards it's 6 acres.

How long are the Glasshouses?
451 feet/137.5 metres. It takes around one and a half minutes to walk at a steady pace from one end to the other. It is the largest range of glass owned by the National Trust.

What happens to the produce?
We sell our produce to visitors on the cart near the entrance gate. A weekly delivery is also made to the main café in the Turning Yard.

What happens to all the rhubarb?
From March to July we have rhubarb sticks for sale on our produce cart and it is used for seasonal recipes in the cafe. We don't pick the stalks after this time as the rhubarb needs to gather and store energy for growth. Throughout autumn and winter the rhubarb naturally dies back and will re-emerge in February at the beginning of the growing season.

What happens to all the apples?
We have around 250 apple trees at Clumber. We pick the apples in September and October. Some are sold on the produce cart, some go to the café, some are used at our annual apple celebration event. Some heritage varieties are good for storing and can be brought out to sell later during the winter.

Where are the toilets?
On the east side or the left side of the garden if looking from the main gates up to the Glasshouse.

How do I get to the nearest café (Central Bark)
Follow the path that goes east at the main gates, keeping the walled garden on your right, until you reach the woodland. Turn right (north) and walk through the trees until you get to the tarmac path and then turn right. Central Bark will be on the right.

What time is the garden open?
The garden is open every day from 10.00 - 16.00.