Trentham Gardens is a beautiful garden that has been transformed into the most stunning place to visit.
The new design features innovative and contemporary planting which is setting the trend for the next generation of gardens. It’s not just an amazing product but also an incredible experience you can have every day of your life.
Trentham Gardens is the perfect place to spend time with family and friends. With over 100 acres of beautiful grounds, there’s always something new to discover. From our stunning parterre gardens, which are now in their second year of planting, to our woodland walks and lakeside trails – we have it all! And if you can tear yourself away from the beauty outside, then make sure you check out what’s going on inside too. We have an exciting program of events throughout the year including live music concerts, theatre shows, and comedy nights.
What is Trentham Gardens
Trentham Gardens is a place where you can go to enjoy the natural beauty of their surroundings. Trentham also contains the Garden Walk, Monkey Forest, and Tree Top Adventures. It is a mixture of nature and art in one outdoor setting. From the land to the design for this museum, it is all aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
Trentham Gardens are especially noted for their ‘Summer House’, a Palladian structure that is the only surviving building of the Trentham estate, while other structures include a 17th-century octagonal dovecote, an 18th-century obelisk and early 20th century rose garden. It is also the location of the Trentham Monkey Forest, which has around 140 Barbary Macaques (Macaca Sylvanus).
There are four main areas called The Garden Walk, Arbor Walk, Meadow Farmyard, and Oakwood. These grounds were originally gardens for an old country house built in 1642 by Richard Boyle who was Earl of Burlington and first Earl of Cork. The house and gardens were created to be a place to grow plants and flowers for the Earl’s family.
History of Trentham Gardens
Trentham was a family home to major British aristocrats for half a century. In 1838, it passed into the ownership of Charles Brise who had the unique idea of turning it into a public park for the people. The design of the house was influenced by French architecture and Brise wanted this to be reflected in the gardens, so he commissioned Humphrey Repton to do so. Repton introduced classical garden features which included yew hedges, topiaries, sweeping lawns, arboreal avenues, and shrubberies. He also designed the lake which was created to be reminiscent of an English landscape.
The house fell into disrepair when it was subsequently occupied by tenants and there were fears that Trentham would be demolished; however, in 1885, the Duke of Sutherland purchased the ground and undertook major renovations to restore Brise’s original vision. He also created one of the first golf courses in England and added a Victorian-style pleasure garden to the park; Trentham Gardens as we know it today was born.
During the early 1900s, William Turner – an artist who worked for William Morris – was commissioned by George V to paint a panel for a royal screen. It has since been moved to the main house and is now known as ‘The Maids of Honour’; it depicts Brise’s sisters in their wedding outfits, symbolic of Trentham’s place in history. Unfortunately, a fire gutted the Trentham Manor House in 1932 and the house was demolished soon after.
The gardens continued to flourish – even during World War II – and became a popular site for hosting concerts. One of the most famous was by The Rolling Stones in 1990, who played an unannounced set following their Glastonbury Festival performance. The gardens have been used as a backdrop for many famous films, including the 1996 version of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.
In 2003, there was a new partnership formed between the Trentham Estate Trust and English Heritage who were given responsibility for managing the site on a long-term basis. Since then, the gardens have undergone major restoration work to preserve them for future generations. Nowadays, they are open seven days a week and are enjoyed by visitors from all over the world.
Who design Trentham Gardens?
Sir Charles Barry was responsible for the design of Trentham Gardens in the 1840s. He was a famous architect and designer. He designed the Houses of Parliament, the world’s first Palace of Westminster, which houses the seat of the British government and forms a part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Benjamin Ingelow was a landscape architect who laid out the grounds of Trentham Hall after they had been acquired by Sir Edmund Buckley Litchfield, a baronet in 1856. He worked on the gardens with his son George until 1870 when ownership of the hall and 5,000-acre estate passed to Francis Wright Holden.
In the early years of the 20th century, George Mountford worked on the gardens before Barry’s great landscape was replaced by a more formal layout in 1907.
Matthew Digby Wyatt (1820–85) designed and laid out Trentham Court Garden to designs that he made himself. He created an oriental garden linked to the house by a lake. It was the first oriental garden to be created in England by a professional designer and it is still in existence today.
Wyatt’s work was carried out between 1851 and 1857, but then Trentham Court passed into new hands and Wyatt’s son Eustace took over the responsibility for the design of this garden.
In 1926 Charles Sargeant Jagger was commissioned by the new owner of Trentham Hall to create a sculpture for the ornamental lake with Robert Pearsall, landscape architect, and planner, who had been involved in designing many large projects in Britain and South Africa.
What is it like to live in Trentham Gardens?
The short answer is that it’s lovely. It’s a charming little village in the country. Melbourne is approximately 90 minutes away, while Woodend and Kyneton are only 15 minutes apart. It is a town that is worth seeing. We not only have some of the greatest restaurants, pubs, bakeries, and cafes in the region, but we also have some of the best restaurants, pubs, bakeries, and cafes in Europe!
It is amidst rolling hills on Victoria’s picturesque Pyrenees River where sunsets are so intense they feel like fireballs dropping into an indescribable abyss over blue mountains on cold winter evenings. The evening sky will sometimes be so brilliant that it will gently light up the red brick building at the end of Hargreaves Street, Trentham Gardens.
Min Min lights (a luminous glow caused by dust particles in thunderstorms) illuminate the town many nights a year. These rare and elusive natural phenomena have been known to appear as bright as day.
The sun rises over Trentham Gardens every morning — there is no better view than of the sun rising above this little town. The sunsets behind the hills, giving the town a false sense of cozy comfort in cold winter months.
The twinkling lights of Melbourne are visible from across the Pyrenees River at night. To the west of Trentham Gardens, you can see the lights of Kyneton and Woodend as well as those of other smaller country towns. To the east, our population center is around 700 people, however, we have a larger population that comes into town to work each day.
A clear night invariably offers an unendingly vast celestial ballet.
Fairies in Trentham Gardens
When you walk through Trentham Gardens, it is difficult to miss the myriad of fairies that are meticulously crafted out of galvanized wire. The artist, Robin Wight, spends over 40 hours each week on these spectacular 3ft sculptures.
The fairies are inspired by an unexplainable real-life experience that the artist had when he was younger. When he heard a fairy call out his name during a time where he felt “deeply hurt” by something, the artist decided to create them as a way to turn this bad experience into something good. He has now spent 20 years of his life crafting these beautiful pieces of art and making them accessible for everyone to enjoy.
If you’re curious about what the fairies are made of, you’ll be glad to know that they are painstakingly constructed from galvanized wire, with the precise wire work taking up to 40 hours to complete.
There are 37 fairies dotted throughout Trentham Gardens. The artist hopes that they will bring love and joy to everyone who visits; after all, he spent nearly 25 years of his life creating them.
The new huge dandelions were made by his daughter Amy Wight. There are four dandelions, which collectively are 9ft in diameter.
If you wish to donate, there is a garden at the back of town that has an honesty box with all proceeds going towards cancer research.
Rivers of Grass
Visitors who like the freedom and beauty of plant life will enjoy the Rivers of Grass in Trentham Gardens. The unrestricted movement of plant shape and texture that occurs in the Rivers of Grass throughout the year gives the visitor a sensation of proximity. Piet Oudolf, an internationally renowned designer, created a realistic weaving of grasses and punctuating herbaceous plants that have been carefully picked to thrive in large numbers. They’ve evolved to thrive in settings that are fundamentally tough to grow in. A beautiful example of man collaborating with nature rather than battling it, and the perfect setting for a picnic on one of the many picnic benches strewn among the lakeside paths
Floral Labyrinth
The Floral Labyrinth in Trentham Gardens is one of the most beautiful and enchanting gardens in Melbourne. It is a rectangular display made up of 30 beds of perennial plants that are dotted with an assortment of plants, including tulips, daffodils, orchids, and foxgloves. The labyrinth provides visitors with an opportunity to enjoy their time outdoors; it also provides them with an opportunity to connect with nature.
One of the most wonderful things about the Floral Labyrinth at Trentham Gardens is its design; it was designed by Piet Oudolf who is internationally renowned for his work on botanical gardens all around the world. The Trentham Labyrinth is an 8-minute interpretation of the ancient design, with seven circuits representing different aspects of life. It’s one of the first explorations in Melbourne, and it is a wonderful interpretive design for those who have an interest in plants and gardening.
The Floral Labyrinth at Trentham Gardens has been crafted using over 10 years of research. Piet Oudolf chose to use a range of perennials as well as shrubs that are known for their garden attributes. The plants are designed to work together to create color and shape, drawing the eye along the pathways as visitors make their way through the labyrinth.
The Floral Labyrinth at Trentham Gardens is one of the most well-known displays in Melbourne, not just because of its design, but also because it provides visitors with a wonderful opportunity to connect with nature. It also allows them to appreciate the beauty of plants, and if they stay longer than their allotted time, they will witness the change in color as well as the seasonal plant changes that occur throughout winter and spring.
Admission and Ticket Prices
Adult tickets are £12.50, senior (60+) tickets are £10.50, student (with Student ID or UniDays card) tickets are £10.50, child (under 5) tickets are free, child (5-15 years) tickets are £9, disabled adult + carer tickets are £10.50, disabled child + carer tickets are £10.50, and family tickets are £35.00 for two adults and two children.
Conclusion
Visiting Trentham Gardens is a wonderful opportunity for you to enjoy the beauty of nature. Whether you are looking for some peace or an escape from your daily life, this garden will provide it in spades with its floral labyrinths, meandering paths, lakeside walks, and expansive green space. At either end of this spectrum, there is something available for everyone who visits Trentham Gardens!
Trentham Gardens