Visiting the garden at Benthall Hall

Published:: 26 February 2025

Visitors enjoy Benthall Garden in May | © Trevor Ray Hart

There is so much to see in the gardens at Benthall Hall, from a cosy kitchen garden, to a stunning rose garden, to the fascinating range of spring and autumn crocuses.

The garden at Benthall is a tranquil haven with places to sit and absorb the beauty. A quiet amble leads you to discover a traditional garden with soft edges, where plants billow over hidden paths, beds brim with fragrant roses and carpets of crocuses appear twice a year. Visitors will also find: a walled garden, traces of Victorian plant hunting, an Elizabethan skittle lawn and unusual plant species.

From c.1860 to 1890 Benthall Hall was leased to the Maw family who were tile manufacturers. In 1883, Maw and his brother Arthur moved their successful tile production company, Maw & Co, to the Benthall Works in Jackfield. While Arthur ran the family business, George focused on design. His designs were heavily influenced by his botanical interests, and these can be seen clearly in the gardens at Benthall.

Crocuses at Benthall Hall in Spring | © Nick Swankie

Benthall's 19th-century garden was planted by George, a passionate bulb collector and breeder. Based on his collection of over 3,000 plant species, Maw published 'A Monograph of the Genus Crocus' in 1886. The book is illustrated by his own watercolours and brings together 10 years of research gathered from his plant collecting expeditions around the world. 2026 marks the 140th anniversary of Maw’s text.

In 2025, a project began to reinstate the original glasshouse in the walled garden. For many years, only the cold frames remained of the original structure. Used to grow plant species that would otherwise succumb to the cold and wet UK climate, Maw used the glasshouse to protect and cultivate plants that he collected on his travels.

The creation of the ‘Fairy Garden’ or ‘Pixy Garden’, now the Rose Garden, has been attributed to Robert Bateman with an extension of a rockery-style garden extension above. He was also involved in the 1893 alterations to Benthall church, which gained an apsidal western extension. His sundial on the wall is above his unusual lion’s mask beehive. He is also believed to have created the two-storey Elizabethan style ‘dovecote’ in the Pixy Garden, possibly using it as his studio and a reading room.

Church in a leafy churchyard — St Bartholomew's Church, Benthall | © James Dobson

In spring, the Yoshino cherry tree in front of the Hall bursts into blossom with clusters of pretty white flowers, some flushed with blush pink, they have a light almond scent and are favoured by bees. Planted in the late 1960s, as a young tree, by Sir Paul Benthall, it has matured into a wonderful sight, particularly in mid-late March.