The garden at Berrington Hall

In the garden, early apples on a tree and deck chairs with greenery in the background — Visitors can relax on deck chairs and hammocks in the walled garden at Berrington | © Paula Marrett

Berrington has an internationally significant garden and we’ve been busy working to conserve and restore it. It’s the final landscape garden project completed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown featuring a walled garden, flower borders, a pleasure ground and the ‘Curve’, the intriguing architectural feature that remains of the curved garden.

Autumn in the garden

We look after lots of local heritage varieties of apples and pears in the orchard at Berrington. Herefordshire has, for several centuries, been famous for its apples, both in producing new varieties and large quantities for commercial sales. This makes the orchard at Berrington particularly special as we look after several Herefordshire and Worcestershire based varieties and some that can be traced back to the Georgian period. Visitors are welcome to pick their own apples from the orchard during October, and we kindly request donations for this experience.

Walled garden

The main walled garden and very rare curved walled garden are hugely significant at Berrington.

Together, they form a unique set-piece by 'Capability' Brown, considered England's greatest gardener and a prolific 18th-century landscape architect.

The walled garden also contains an orchard, flower borders and large vegetable beds for supplying the tea-room.

The walled garden is surrounded by the original Edwardian garden to the south, the woodland garden to the north-west and the original laundry-drying area to the west. 

Relax and enjoy the view

There are plenty of benches around the mansion that look out onto the Herefordshire countryside, as well as picnic benches in the walled garden, so pack a lunch and choose your spot.   

The walled garden was originally the kitchen garden for the household, but like many others fell out of regular use during the Second World War.

Blooming flowers in the walled garden at Berrington Hall — The walled garden in September at Berrington Hall | © Paula Marrett

The Curve

Commissioned in 1775, Berrington was Brown’s final landscaping masterpiece. The curved walled garden feature is the only one of its kind to survive the centuries almost entirely intact.

Since the National Trust began caring for it in May 2019, and with help from supporters and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Culture Recovery Fund, it's been possible to complete the urgent restoration work needed to save it.

Thanks to the support of Arts Council England, internationally renowned artist Ivan Morrison of the Peak Morison Studio will be returning to Berrington Hall to research and develop new ideas and possibilities for the 'Curve.' Look out for an exciting arts and community programme of activity over the next few years.

Find out more about the developments happening within the 'Curve'.

The Pleasure Grounds 

The Pleasure Grounds that surround the mansion were all part of 'Capability' Brown's designs. The Pleasure Grounds were designed for social strolls, tea parties and a place to relax in, something that is encouraged today.

In the warmer months you can play a game of croquet or cricket on the front lawn, or take in the surrounding Herefordshire countryside as you enjoy a picnic. In the colder months, take a stroll around the pleasure grounds with a takeaway hot chocolate from the tearoom.

Garden project

As part of the Garden Project, there is work to restore the Pleasure Grounds to their original design and revive and reimagine these spaces for visitors.

An apple tree bears early fruit, in the garden at Berrington Hall — Early apples growing in the walled garden at Berrington Hall | © Paula Marrett

The orchard 

Herefordshire is famous for its orchards, so where the historic orchards would have been 19th-century varieties of apples that have fallen out of modern cultivation have been replanted.

By reinstating heritage varieties that offer renewed historical interest, it also offers a source of future plant breeding.

Ancient varieties

With only one or two exceptions, all the varieties looked after at Berrington were introduced before 1900, some of them being several hundred years old.

There are around 100 trees within the orchard, with approximately 50 varieties, including Ten Commandments and Doctor Hare's.

The Edwardian Garden 

All that is left of the Edwardian Garden is the fountain and avenue of golden yews, which are now clipped into spheres.

The 3rd Lord Cawley planted many of the flowering trees and shrubs in this area and along the drive. 

Among the old woodland to the north east of the house is a large collection of azaleas and rhododendrons, some hybridised by the 3rd Lord, which are seen at their best in May.  