Gardens of North Devon QQQQ

Your programme

This special interest gardens holiday includes a welcome drink on arrival, three full-day excursions with five visits, plus three evening talks from your expert host.

Marwood Hill Garden: Transfer by coach to Marwood Hill Garden in Barnstaple. Located in a steep valley, Marwood Hill is packed with displays which will delight both green-fingered and casual visitors alike. From the splendour of the camellias and rhododendrons, to the bog gardens with their carpet of primulas and iris, there’s lots to catch your eye. The garden is also home to three national collections, including the Astilbes collection which numbers 140 different types. Watch for wildlife too, including kingfishers in the lake area.

Hartland Abbey: Head to Hartland Abbey. Built in the 12th Century, Hartland Abbey survived as a monastery longer than any other in the country. In 1539 Henry VIII gifted the Abbey to the Keeper of his Wine Cellar and today the house still remains in the family. The extensive grounds and stunning valley leading down to the rugged Atlantic cove and cottage at Blackpool Mill, have been the location for many notable films including the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and John Le Carre’s The Night Manager starring Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Colman. The Abbey is considered the most historically important ancestral home in North Devon and contains architecture and decoration from the Medieval, Queen Anne, Georgian, Regency and Victorian periods and paintings, furniture, Chinese artefacts and porcelain collected over many generations. 

Arlington Court: Visit the gardens and house of Arlington Court. Now owned by the National Trust, this elegant Regency mansion was the home of the Chichester family. The landscaped gardens comprise some 30 acres of pleasures gardens designed in the ‘picturesque’ style, together with a Victorian Garden with water feature and a walled kitchen garden. Entry to the house which is home to various collection, is also included together with the carriage museum. 

Castle Hill Gardens: Visit picturesque Castle Hill Gardens this afternoon. Situated on the Southern edge of Exmoor and in the rolling hills of North Devon, these beautiful gardens showcase 50 acres of historic Parkland set against the breath-taking 18th-century Palladian Mansion House which provides a fantastic photograph opportunity. 

RHS Rosemoor Gardens: Look forward to spending a day at the 65-acre RHS Rosemoor Gardens, nestled in the Torridge Valley near Great Torrington, known as the 'cavalier town' due to the part it played in the Civil War. Rosemoor is an enchanting place to visit in every season. The gardens feature innovative seasonal planting displays as well as the largest rose garden in the South West. The show of blooms will vary depending on the time of year that you visit, with cherry trees blossoming in the spring and the iconic Hot Garden dazzling with vibrant colours in summer. Those on the July departure can look forward to seeing the Rose Festival in full bloom.