RHS Garden Rosemoor

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RHS Garden Rosemoor
Rosemoor Garden teahouse 23126.jpg
Rosemoor House, with tearoom
Devon UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Devon
Type Garden
Location Great Torrington
Coordinates 50°56′20″N04°08′17″W / 50.93889°N 4.13806°W / 50.93889; -4.13806 Coordinates: 50°56′20″N04°08′17″W / 50.93889°N 4.13806°W / 50.93889; -4.13806
Area65 acres (26 ha)
Created1959
Operated by Royal Horticultural Society
Visitors234,102 (2018)

RHS Garden Rosemoor is a public display garden run by the Royal Horticultural Society in north Devon, England.

Contents

Rosemoor is about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Great Torrington on the A3124 road to Exeter. It is surrounded by over 100 acres (40 ha) of woodland with the River Torridge running along the western border. [1] Features include a rose garden with about 2,000 rose plants; an arboretum; herb, fruit and vegetable gardens; and an alpine house.

A variety of clematis introduced as part of the RHS Bicentenary Plant Collection is named after the garden. [2]

History

The Rolle Canal (completed in 1827) terminated at a complex of large lime kilns at Rosemoor (known then as "Rowe's Moor"). The lime kiln complex, designed by James Green, survives in a ruinous condition in a working compound at the gardens, inaccessible to the public. [3] George Braginton, the manager and later a major leaseholder of the canal, moved into the Rowe's Moor estate some time before 1851. [4]

On the death in 1931 of Robert Horace Walpole, the fifth Earl of Orford, the estate became the property of his daughter, Lady Anne Berry (then Palmer). [5] She created the original garden of 8 acres (3.2 ha) in 1959, and developed it over a 30-year period. The garden developed in a naturalistic style, with sweeping lawns and curving borders set out as the plantings expanded. There was no masterplan, but designer John Codrington who later became a life member of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), provided drawings, in particular for the early development of warmer sheltered areas near the house. [6]

The garden was first opened to the public in 1967, under the National Gardens Scheme. [7] A small nursery was started in 1979. Both the garden and nursery were noted for rare and unusual plants. By the 1980s, the garden was attracting significant numbers of visitors. [8]

A gazebo in the garden Rosemoor gazebo 23106.JPG
A gazebo in the garden

In 1988 Lady Palmer gave the garden to the RHS, together with an additional 32 acres (13 ha) of land. [9] In the mid 1990s 37.5 hectares (0.375 km2) of woodland surrounding the site, mainly coniferous forest, was added to the garden, securing the land bordering the garden from unwanted change, providing opportunities to blend the garden into its surrounding landscape and also providing it with a range of additional experiences for visitors. [10]

Christopher Bailes, curator of Rosemoor Garden, described the garden in 2008 thus:

"Tucked into the north-east corner of the estate, it remains very much a plantswoman's garden, dominated by surrounding woodlands, with a number of discrete areas where choice subjects take full advantage of the warmth and shelter offered by the south-westerly aspect and high ground to the north." [11]

Today Rosemoor Garden covers 65 acres (26 ha) and it includes a visitor centre, a plant centre, a shop, a restaurant and the Wisteria tearoom. There is also a reference library, located near the entrance to the garden, which provides a small collection of books on practical gardening, garden design, botanical art, garden history, wildlife gardening, plant hunting, as well as a selection of the major gardening magazines to browse through. [12]

In 2019 the garden received 255,861 visitors. [13]

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Rolle Canal

The Rolle Canal in north Devon, England, extends from its mouth into the River Torridge at Landcross 6 miles southwards to the industrial mills and corn-mills at Town Mills, Rosemoor, Great Torrington and beyond to Healand Docks and weir on the Torridge, where survive the ruins of Lord Rolle's limekilns, upstream of today's Rosemoor Garden. Town Mills were built by Lord Rolle and were powered by a stream which flowed past his seat of Stevenstone to the east of Great Torrington and also supplied water to the canal. Rosemoor and North and South Healand farms were part of Lord Rolle's Stevenstone estate on the east bank of the Torridge.

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Annery kiln

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Raymond John Evison OBE, VMH, is a nurseryman, lecturer, author and photographer. Born in 1944 he started his horticultural career at the age of 15 in Shropshire and moved to the island of Guernsey to set up The Guernsey Clematis Nursery in 1984.

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References

  1. ↑ Webster 2013, pp. 45.
  2. ↑ "Clematis [Rosemoor]". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "Lime Kilns". The Rolle Canal Company. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Scrutton, Susan (2006). Lord Rolle's Canal. Great Torrington: Susan Scrutton. p. 84.
  5. ↑ "History of RHS Garden Rosemoor". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  6. ↑ Wilkie, Martin – Bob and Lady Anne Berry, and Hackfalls Arboretum: a shared vision and a grand adventure. In: The Gardener's Journal, Christchurch NZ, ISSN   1178-5020, issue 1, February 2008, p.17
  7. ↑ Brent Elliott: The Royal Horticultural Society, A History 1804-2004. Published by Phillimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN   1-86077-272-2.
  8. ↑ Bailes 2008, p.36: "Less than 10,000 a year prior to the Society's arrival"
  9. ↑ Webster 2013, pp. 46.
  10. ↑ Bailes 2008, p. 36
  11. ↑ Bailes 2008, p. 38
  12. ↑ "Visit the Reading Room at RHS Garden Rosemoor, Devon / RHS Gardening". www.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  13. ↑ "ALVA - Association of Leading Visitor Attractions". www.alva.org.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2020.

Sources

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