Rococo Gardens, Painswick

A glorious warm and sunny St Valentines day saw members of The Friends enjoy a guided historical tour around Painswick’s Rococo Gardens. The gardens were designed in the 1740’s by the Hyett family to delight guests at Painswick House. Our guide, Jill, gave us a brief history of the gardens whilst we looked at the spectacular views as shown. The gardens had been abandoned to woodland in the 1950s. The restoration, starting in 1984, has been led by Lord and Lady Dickinson who live on site.

The tour took us to all the ‘historic’ buildings on the site, including the Pigeon House where a few adventurous members climbed the steep steps to the top. Continuing round amongst swathes of snowdrops to the Plunge Pool and Excedra, members puzzled a route around the Maze from a high vantage point before making our way to the Red House, scene of many of the weddings which take place in the gardens, where our guide left us to enjoy additional exploring time or tea and cake in the café.

John Williams

www.foga.org.uk