Grappenhall Heys Walled Garden

Latest News

Garden Open as Usual

The garden is now open as usual. Here are some recently taken photos to remind you how lovely the snow looked.

The main gate. The view of the garden from the main gate.

A snow covered pond. The owl with his snow hat and scarf on!

2010 Garden Calendars

The 2010 garden calendars are still available from the garden and the Parish Council office as well as at events and coffee afternoons.

There are some lovely shots of the garden and this year the photos can be detached and used as post cards so they don't go to waste when you've finished with the calendar.

They are now just £4.00 each.

Coffee Afternoons - Update

Coffee afternoons will now be monthly in addition to the calendar of events and will be available on 1st Sunday of every month during the autumn/winter. We will resume weekly refreshments once again in the spring.

We hope that you will be able to come along and sample the refreshments on offer. We are very grateful to all our volunteers who give up their time to provide this service for visitors.

Tree Sculptures

Two tree stumps have now been beautifully carved, by Nigel McQuilton, into sculptures of two Buzzards and an Owl. The carving took place on Sunday 26 April, happily the weather was fine and visitors were able to see the sculptor at work as he created them.

We are delighted with the results and hope that you will be able to take some time to come and see them.

Merchandise

The Friends now have a great range of merchandise to promote the garden including pens, pencils, reusable Fair Trade cotton bags, delicious Cheshire pressed apple juice and gorgeous home made jams made using traditional methods and locally grown fruit.

We also have luxurious hand made soap from Norfolk. It is produced in small batches using the finest quality natural ingredients and aromatherapy grade essential oils are used to scent the soap. We are now stocking many different varieties including a Gardener's soap to soothe those hard working hands, why not treat yourself? Lip balms, travel sized soaps and new foam bath, shower gel and shaving soap are now in stock.

The merchandise will be available at events and coffee afternoons.

Recent photos

These lovely, seasonal photos were taken during the recent cold weather.

Garden Produce

A variety of produce is sold when in season and is displayed on our lovely new produce cart.

Friends of Grappenhall Heys Walled Garden

To see the latest newsletter from the Friends of Grappenhall Heys Walled Garden please click here.

For an up to date list of events click here.

To view the minutes of the AGM please click here.

To download a membership form from the website click here.

Introduction

Welcome to Grappenhall Heys Walled Garden

The Garden was built in the early 19th century for the neighbouring house of Grappenhall Heys, to produce food and flowers for the house and as a pleasure ground.

Over recent years the Garden has been extensively restored, and it is now starting the latest phase of its life under the ownership of Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council.

The vision is to provide a resource for Grappenhall and the surrounding area, a tranquil oasis within the community, as well as a living example of a Victorian Walled Garden.

Since the Parish Council has owned the garden it has:

employed a Visitor Warden;
employed a Gardener Manager;
completed a basic fit-out of some of the back sheds to provide a classroom, kitchen and toilets;
produced this website and an information leaflet; and
held various friends events including Apple Day, all of which were well attended.

Please come and visit this special place, and get involved in helping to develop it for future generations to enjoy.

History

Grappenhall Heys Walled Garden was created by the Warrington banker Thomas Parr around 1830 when he built a new house for his family.

The Garden enjoyed its heyday in the late 19th century. From historical maps, 1875 to 1899 appears to have been the zenith for the estate.

In the 20th century the house and its grounds, along with many country estates, began to decline. The house was demolished in 1975, but the Garden was retained as an amenity for the local community.

English Partnerships refurbished much of the Garden as part of their development of the area with new housing. Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council took ownership of the Garden in 2005.

Find out more about the history of the Garden.

The Garden

The Walled Garden consists of two main areas, the Kitchen Garden and the Pleasure Grounds.

The Garden is unusual because it combines Kitchen and Pleasure Gardens within one walled area, and also because the Pleasure Grounds contain three ponds.

The Kitchen Garden

The Kitchen Garden has a formal geometrical layout, typical of most productive gardens. It would have provided the fresh produce required by the Parr household.

It contains the greenhouses which would have provided fruit such as grapes and peaches for the Parr’s dinner table. The greenhouses are backed by buildings which were used as working and storage space for the gardens.

Fruit, vegetables and flowers are now grown in the kitchen garden with the help of volunteers.

The Pleasure Grounds

The Pleasure Grounds are laid out informally.

The Parr family could enter the pleasure grounds from a door near the house, without having to go through the working area of the Kitchen Garden. They could then take a circular walk which followed the walls, admiring the ornamental shrubs and trees before returning through an arch in the Yew hedge, flanked by two long flower borders in front of the greenhouses.

Find out more about the Garden today.

Future Plans

Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council took ownership of the Garden from English Partnerships in 2005. The transfer was backed by an endowment which provides funding for maintaining the Garden, so its future is secure.

The Parish Council has achieved many of the goals it set itself for the first two years. The Parish Council will continue to develop the garden, with the emphasis on maintaining a peaceful resource for the community and promoting its use and enjoyment by the people of the local area.

Find out more about future plans.

NEW OPENING TIMES

The garden is on Witherwin Avenue, near the roundabout on Lumb Brook Road.

We are now open EVERY DAY from 1.00p.m. to 4.00p.m. and there is a guided tour every Sunday at 2.00p.m. Entrance is free.

Parking is available in the public car park on Stansfield Drive and there are WC facilities on site.

Find out more about visiting us.

Current plants of interest

Garrya eliptica

To see more plants of interest click here.

Get Involved

We hope that the Friends will continue to have an active role in the the Garden, and we welcome everyone who is interested in helping the garden to develop. There are now four active volunteer groups up and running:

Events
Gardening
Visitor Wardens
Historical Research

Find out more about the Friends.

Your memories

Do you, or someone you know, remember the Garden when it was part of Grappenhall Heys Estate, or after the house was unoccupied?

We want to learn more about the Garden's past so we can make better plans for its future.

Please get in touch with us and share your memories.

Send us an e-mail or contact us.

Contact Us

The Garden is owned by Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council.

Find out how to contact us.