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estate gamekeeper. A Lady Mabel College student also stayed with his family during her time studying at Wentworth Woodhouse. “I never got in Wentworth
Woodhouse as a child, but I seem to have come full circle now I’m a volunteer. You couldn’t make it up,” Martin says. Parts of the original kitchen and ornamental gardens are now within the boundary of the nearby garden centre. However, visitors to the eclectic gardens at Wentworth Woodhouse can see many of Repton’s original features and historic monuments, such as the 15ft tall Punchbowl urn from 1837, an Icehouse, or the 18th Century Ionic Temple that stands proudly on the 1,500ft long South Terrace with panoramic views over neighbouring villages.
career, you don’t notice until you finish. Raking, digging, scraping – all those jobs we do here are liberating.”
The volunteers work year-round so that visitors can experience the gardens in all seasons. Early in the year it’s a blank canvas before the snowdrops herald the excitement about to begin. This year, the gardens had around 5,000 visitors between January and March to see the spectacle of snowdrops. Daffodils and bluebells synonymous with springtime then make way for the spectacular appearance of rhododendrons with their long flowering season. When it gets going, the herbaceous border is brilliant, edged by a hill that cries out to be rolled down – the ultimate undulating fun.
One of Repton’s influences on the gardens was the number of trees he had planted, meaning the garden can be shaded in parts. But in autumn, how wonderful it is to see the last ebbs of greenery fade away, heralding the arrival of rich oranges and browns.
“The gardens are at their best in later summer when everything is in full bloom. But there is so much to see all year round, including lots
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of wildlife. We get stoats, bats and birds. There are a couple of owls too that you can never pinpoint until you hear a hoot,” Scott says. If you didn’t know the gardens
at Wentworth Woodhouse existed, you wouldn’t be on your own. It wasn’t that long ago that ‘Keep Off!’ signs and a huge barrier of conifers obscured the view of the Stable Block. Many of the garden team didn’t know what was behind the magnificent façade of the house, including Sue who has lived in Wentworth for 35 years.
“I knew there was a garden here, but I’d never even seen it let alone been in it. I’d volunteered for the house for quite a while and didn’t realise they had a gardening team. I’ve been a gardener all my life, ever since being a child, so I jumped at the chance to join,” she says. A lot of the volunteers have a local connection to the house, including Alan Williams who lives in Elsecar and remembers going to the swimming pool when it was open to the public. Martin Brook lived at nearby Nether Haugh House in the ‘70s and his childhood was spent swimming in the dams at Greasbrough and playing in the fields, always hiding from the
“It’s a lovely office to work in,” says Mike Harrison, a retired bank manager who volunteered for the Trust before they’d even asked for extra helping hands. “I never thought I’d have had an office job, never mind spend all my working life in one. I love being outdoors and was a keen sportsman in my time so joining the gardens team was great for me. You can visually see where you’ve made a difference straight away and the effect you’ve had on the gardens. People who haven’t been just don’t get it ‘till they see this place.”
In a twist of fate, Mike’s wife Marion had family who lived in Wentworth and were gardeners for the 7th Earl, Billy. Her uncle Doug
Mitchell, his brother and father all worked at Wentworth Woodhouse in the 1930s before the start of WWII. “I used to help Doug on his allotment, I guess I was like his apprentice. He’d tell me stories about having to doff his cap when the Earl came by. It was quite formal then, all ‘yes m’lord and m’lady.’ I remember Doug telling me how he was working in the greenhouse when Billy came in and asked him to clip a rose for her ladyship,” Mike says.
Historic features sit side by side heterogenous new additions aimed at rekindling the imagination of families used to tech-heavy environments. While there might not be a swing or a climbing frame for kids, the whole garden is nature’s playground. There is a mud kitchen for unlimited messy play and a grizzly bear made of sticks hiding in the forest of bewilderment. Traditional summer games are played on the lawn such as croquet and hula hoops, and this year a new barefoot sensory garden has been created.
Another new addition to the gardens this summer will be the wooden summerhouses that can be hired out for exclusive use. The two cabins sit somewhat organically in parts of the gardens ravaged by open-cast mining creating an amphitheatre feel. But Scott says he feels they have been gifted a new purpose amongst the devastating loss of planting in those areas. The new cabins will help nurture the future of the House and gardens
“There is a mud kitchen for unlimited ”
messy play and a grizzly bear made of sticks hiding in the forest of bewilderment
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