We are delighted to announce a unique opportunity to join us for a tour of seven beautiful gardens in Oxfordshire over the course of three days. We will have guided tours of each garden led by either the head gardener or senior member of the gardening team. In addition we will be joined by Timothy Walker for a talk and buffet dinner. This tour is open to SGT members only. Please note that numbers are limited and you will need to make your own arrangements for travel and accommodation. We cannot wait to share these exciting gardens with you. Please see below for a detailed schedule of events.
tuesday, 24 JUNE 2025 10am
BROUGHTON GRANGE GARDENS
Wykham Lane, Broughton, Banbury OX15 5DS
Photo credit: Broughton Grange
Broughton Grange, a site whose history dates to the early 1600s, was originally owned by the Morrell family for some 200 years and then acquired by its present owners in 1992. The estate itself consists of over 400 acres of parkland, farmland and meadows. In 2001, the current owners commissioned leading landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith to transform a 6-acre south-facing field into a walled garden. The walled garden features three individually themed terraces. The Upper Terrace features more Mediterranean-type planting and hosts a small vegetable and fruit plot. The focal point of the Middle Terrace is its formal stone water tank while the surrounding planting creates the effect of a damp meadow with formal beech topiary, punctuating the herbaceous planting. The Lower Terrace is designed as a 21st century interpretation of a traditional parterre with a spring bulb display followed by summer bedding plants filling some of the compartments. The walled garden is considered to be one of Tom Stuart-Smith’s best designs. In addition to the walled garden, one can visit the long herbaceous borders, the woodland garden, orchard and fountain garden.
We will have a guided tour of the garden with the head gardener followed by a ploughman’s lunch before setting off to Rousham.
tuesday, 24 JUNE 2025 2pm
ROUSHAM HOUSE & GARDEN
Rousham, Bicester OX25 4QX
Photo credit: Frances Hamel
Rousham is a fine and early example of the William Kent’s English landscape design and is largely unaltered from its original design. The house was built in 1635 by Sir Robert Dormer and is still in the ownership of the same family. In addition to designing the landscape, William Kent (1685-1748) is also responsible for adding wings onto the existing house, the stable block and much of the interior design. The garden was commissioned in the early 18th century by General James Dormer, a soldier who fought with the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim. Kent developed and completed the original design by the royal gardener Charles Bridgeman. William Kent, as painter, stage designer and architect, had been heavily influenced by his time in Italy and used his experiences there to develop the gardens at Rousham as a ‘stage’ with paths, statues and buildings creating a sense of drama.
Guided tour of both house and garden with ample opportunity to explore the garden afterwards. Garden closes at 6pm. There is no café or visitor centre at Rousham. If you are not joining us for Broughton Grange, you could bring your own picnic and eat in the grounds at Rousham before our tours start at 2pm. Toilet facilities are adjacent to the carpark.
WEDNESDAY, 25 JUNE 2025 9.30AM
MERTON COLLEGE GARDENS
Merton Street, Oxford OX1 4JD
The main site covers some 6.5 acres and has been under cultivation for the last 700 years for the enjoyment of Scholars, Fellow’s and College staff. Notable parts of the garden include a corner of the 13th century city wall with a terraced lavender and iris lined walkway. There are extensive perennial and herbaceous borders and some exotics in our seasonal bedding schemes. Seasonal bulb displays help to extend the season. It benefits from south facing walls and areas of favourable microclimate allowing us to grow borderline hardy climbers and other temperate species. Greenhouse facilities allow the propagation of a wide range of plant material.
Head Gardener, Lucille Savin is featured in the book ‘Head Gardeners’ by Ambra Edwards and she leads the team in interesting and progressive horticultural projects. Areas of the garden range from exotic and succulent plant displays, native wildflower meadows and herbaceous borders, to formal lawns and croquet.
We will have a guided tour of the gardens by Lucille Savin, Head Gardener. Includes garden entry plus guided tour. Please note there will be no refreshments provided.
WEDNESDAY, 25 JUNE 2025 11AM
SOMERVILLE COLLEGE GARDENS
Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6HD
Somerville College was established in 1879, originally as an all-women’s college for more than the first hundred years. Now it is a progressive, inclusive, and international college with students from all sorts of backgrounds and nationalities. The gardens here are about only about 3.5 acres but they have lots of different planting areas around a large main lawn that provides lots of horticultural niches. A dry, gravel border, summer planted with succulents, a rockery, a small meadow, expansive herbaceous borders, an exotic border and some newly planted shady corners.
We will have a guided tour of the gardens by Alastair Mallick, Head Gardener. Includes garden entry and guided tour, followed by a sandwich lunch.
WEDNESDAY, 25 JUNE 2025 3PM
WORCESTER COLLEGE GARDENS
Walton Street, Oxford OX1 2HB
We will have a guided tour of the gardens by Simon Bagnell, Head Gardener. Includes garden entry plus guided tour followed by tea, coffee and cake.
WEDNESDAY, 25 JUNE 2025 6.30PM
Oxford Botanic Garden Victoria Lily House 21st century (inset 19th century)
Join us for an engaging talk on ‘Paradise Lost and Restored: 400 years of garden design in Oxfordshire’ by Timothy Walker, Director of Oxford Botanic Gardens and Harcourt Arboretum from 1988 to 2014. The history of English garden design can be told in different ways, but rarely can it be told "through the lens" of one garden. The Oxford Botanic Garden was founded at the beginning of the 17th century and its design bears all the hallmarks of 17th century design. Through the next 400 years successive Horti Praefecti (head gardeners) changed the features reflecting the art of gardening, and very occasionally the science of botany. This talk looks at how the art of gardening has changed, or perhaps has not, in four centuries in Oxfordshire and how the Oxford Botanic Garden now reflects garden design at the beginning of the 21st century.
Inc. talk and buffet dinner. The bar at the Old Fire Station will be open for attendees to purchase their own refreshments.
thurSDAY, 26 JUNE 2025 10am
OXFORD BOTANIC GARDENS
Rose Lane, Oxford OX1 4AZ
Welcome to the oldest botanic garden in the UK and home to over 5,000 different plant species! Oxford Botanic Gardens (OBG) is comprised of seven display glasshouses, the walled gardens, the Lower Garden and the Herbarium Room. In the Glasshouses, OBG creates a range of climatic conditions and through this cultivates plants from all over the world. The first greenhouse was built there over 300 years ago as a temperate conservatory to house tender and exotic plants, such as citruses. The Walled Garden dates to 1621 – the foundation of the Botanic Gardens and remains the oldest section of the gardens. The original, formal taxonomic beds are being reconfigured to reflect more modern and objective classification systems. The Walled Garden houses many of OBG’s collections as well as Geographic Beds, Medicinal Plants and the Literary Garden. The Lower Garden features the herbaceous borders, the orchard, the rock garden, the water garden amongst other areas. This section is known for its peace and tranquillity, bordered by the River Cherwell and the Christ Church Meadows.
We have arranged for an Oxford Blue Guide to give a guided tour around a selection of these key elements of the garden and gain some insight into its collection and aspirations for the future. Includes entrance fee to the Garden and guided tour.
thurSDAY, 26 JUNE 2025 2pm
WATERPERRY GARDENS
Nr Wheatley, Oxfordshire OX33 1JZ
Waterperry Garden started out life as a horticultural school started by the remarkable Beatrix Havergal (1901-1980). The gardens at Waterperry now consist of 20 acres including eight acres of landscaped ornamental gardens and five acres of orchards. Highlights of the garden are the 200-foot herbaceous borders, formal knot and rose gardens, wisteria arch, water lily canal, alpine garden and riverside water. In addition, they have a Museum of Rural Life housed in an 18th century granary as well as an extensive nursery and shop.
We will be taken on a guided tour of the garden by Roy Jacobs, Horticultural Manager. He will explain the history and development of the garden and its origins as a horticultural school. Includes garden entry and guided tour. Does not include refreshments.
SGT Members only: £215pp (£180 excluding Broughton Grange on Tuesday morning)
Maximum number: 25 people
For queries please email eventssgt@gmail.com