Gardens of England and Wales -Bowood House Woodland Trail

Bowood sits South-West of the town of Calne in Wiltshire, only a 30 minute drive away from Castle Combe which is at the southern tip of The Cotswolds. It’s a great place to add to your itinerary if you are around the area.
Before I begin, please note, this post is not about the house and gardens. I will be visiting those later this year but specifically about their annual Woodland Trail. This area of their expansive gardens has its own separate entrance off the A342, you can get the postcode from their website. It only opens during the flowering season so this year 12th April – 2nd June.
Parking is available, free of charge, adjacent to the Admissions Kiosk.

The Woodland Gardens cover 30 acres and focus on all the beautiful Spring flowers and shrubs that epitomise this season in the UK. We have missed the bluebell season which sees these traditional blue flowers poke through the grassy areas in abundance. The rhododendrons and azaleas are in full bloom showing their wondrous colours alongside the woodland pathways. The sweet, citrusy floral smell of magnolia trees permeate the air.
These gardens are considered to be one of the most exciting of their type in the country.

The actual estate is the home of the Lansdowne family, having been in residence since 1754. Bought by the 1st Earl of Shelburne, his descendants have lived here ever since. The second Earl received the title of Marquess of Lansdowne from King George III and his latest successor is Charles Petty-Fitzmaurice, 9th Marquess of Lansdowne.

There are over two miles of pathways to meander and dogs are welcome but don’t forget to bring your poopy scooper!
We visited on the Saturday of a Bank Holiday weekend towards the end of the flowering season. With my RHS membership available to show the kiosk lady we only paid an entrance fee for hubby. We were given a lovely map of the pathways and advised that whilst some flowers may be going over, others were still in bloom. You can, therefore, choose to either take your own route or alternatively, as we did, follow the “Path of the Week” which promises an array of colour, scent and vistas.

As the map explains all the Walks and Rides are named after members of the family. The exceptions being Pauline’s Ride, named after the Hon. Mrs. Spencer-Clay, David’s Ride named after a retired Head Groundsman and Sir Henry’s Walk named
after a family friend. Heading off down Abbott’s Ride it isn’t long before we start snapping off some photos.

The weekly trail today, seems at first, to follow the outskirts of the woodland and so we continue onto Simon’s Ride before turning left along Lady Lansdowne for views across the pond. Circumnavigating the pond we soon reach the 250th Anniversary Magnolia Grove.
Various viewpoints are highlighted on the map and benches abound, which personally I love.

It gives you time to sit, admire the views or just listen to nature in all its abundance like the bees that are drawn to the wonderful magnolia trees.

The pathway named Lord Shelburne’s Walk leads onto Sir Henry’s Walk and this takes us around to the Mausoleum. This beautiful classical building was built in 1761 by the widow of the 1st Earl of Shelburne and was one of Robert Adam’s finest buildings. It is definitely worth going inside to marvel at the stonework and statues and experience the peace and tranquillity.

Continuing on the clearly marked weekly walk we head along Lady Shelburne’s Walk. In addition to benches throughout the gardens there are also grassy areas where, had we brought a picnic, we would have laid down our rug and taken a break in the sunshine.

Perusing the information about the gardens it is worth noting that recently over 30 original hardy hybrids which were thought to be extinct have been found here. The original plants date back to when the garden was first planted by the 3rd Marquis of Lansdowne in 1854. The present Marquis’s great grandfather substantially expanded the gardens on his return from India where he had been Viceroy.

Our walk takes us left and then almost immediately right into the Jubilee Gardens. This new addition to the Rhododendron Walks has required twelve years of dedicated, futuristic vision by the current Marquis who started planting in the wood that is known as ‘The Jubilee Garden’ in 2006.
There is a circular route around this part of the garden and I spot what I think is a wild orchid. I’m fairly new to gardens so I could be wrong but click off a photo just in case.

As we leave this section behind we head right and this takes us back to where we started.
The picnic tables clustered around “The Nosh Box” are now all full including one fairly large family who have laid out an enormous gastronomic delight of a lunch.
There are toilet facilities in this area and you can purchase coffee, tea and home-made cake. We decide to wave goodbye to the gardens though until next year. We would definitely return, maybe when the bluebells are out next time. We have opted to have a late lunch at a delightful farm cafe at the Allington Farm Shop which we’ve been to before and is on our way home.

NB:
This is the first of a series of posts I will be writing about Gardens in England. Since my visit last year to Keukenof in Holland (see my post -Keukenhof -Beauty, Imagination and Inspiration) it has sparked an interest in me to visit other beautiful spaces. As hubby loves to photograph flowers, bees, birds and just nature as a whole it gives us time to take time out and just appreciate the calm that such spaces can give you.