The Old Vicarage Gardens
As our guests we welcome you to enjoy our stunning gardens which are as beautiful as our home.
Re-designed in 2005 by Chelsea gold medal winner Paul Cooper famous for shocking Chelsea judges in the mid-90s with his avant-garde ideas. However at The Old Vicarage, Paul's design is shockingly traditional. Influenced by the existing gardens, the strong lines of the grey Victorian gothic stonework and the lovely views on all sides, he planted camellias, grasses, shrubs and trees to provide all year round colour and texture. The garden has a rill, grotto, waterfall, sunken garden, folly, terraces, herb garden and camellia walk. To the south the garden has views over the church spire towards Herefordshire. To the north there is a lovely view over the distant Radnorshire Hills.
The Old Vicarage is within 25 miles of over 60 gardens in the National Garden Scheme, 12 of which are open to the public on non-NGS open day.
Re-designed in 2005 by Chelsea gold medal winner Paul Cooper famous for shocking Chelsea judges in the mid-90s with his avant-garde ideas. However at The Old Vicarage, Paul's design is shockingly traditional. Influenced by the existing gardens, the strong lines of the grey Victorian gothic stonework and the lovely views on all sides, he planted camellias, grasses, shrubs and trees to provide all year round colour and texture. The garden has a rill, grotto, waterfall, sunken garden, folly, terraces, herb garden and camellia walk. To the south the garden has views over the church spire towards Herefordshire. To the north there is a lovely view over the distant Radnorshire Hills.
The Old Vicarage is within 25 miles of over 60 gardens in the National Garden Scheme, 12 of which are open to the public on non-NGS open day.
The Old Vicarage Garden History
When we bought The Old Vicarage in 1997, it had about two thirds of an acre of garden. Only later did we acquire Vicarage Cottage, adding another one third of an acre to the site. The original garden had been stocked with some interesting and rare shrubs but was, on our arrival, over grown with many tall trees around the boundary, blocking out light and obscuring the far-reaching views. We began major work on renovating the garden after we had completed work on the house and established our bed and breakfast business. To achieve this we brought in local garden designer Paul Cooper to help us achieve our vision.
The house is set on a natural highpoint (used by the Normans for one of their many border castles) with beautiful views from both the front and back gardens. We wanted to use these “borrowed” vistas as the background to the garden & for the garden to fit in with and complement the surrounding Marches rural landscape.
We also wished the garden to have colour and structure at all times of the year, so there is an emphasis on shrubs and trees with good autumnal and winter colour. Paul Cooper did a major part of the re-planting and hard landscaping in 2005, but resource considerations meant that we could not carry out all our plans at once. The garden you see today is still a work in progress.
The house is set on a natural highpoint (used by the Normans for one of their many border castles) with beautiful views from both the front and back gardens. We wanted to use these “borrowed” vistas as the background to the garden & for the garden to fit in with and complement the surrounding Marches rural landscape.
We also wished the garden to have colour and structure at all times of the year, so there is an emphasis on shrubs and trees with good autumnal and winter colour. Paul Cooper did a major part of the re-planting and hard landscaping in 2005, but resource considerations meant that we could not carry out all our plans at once. The garden you see today is still a work in progress.
The Old Vicarage, Norton, Presteigne, Radnorshire, Wales LD8 2EN | 01544 260038 | info@nortonoldvic.co.uk