The garden at Berrington Hall

Apples hanging from a tree in the orchard in the walled garden at Berrington Hall, Herefordshire. — Apples in the walled garden at Berrington Hall, pictured to the front are Coes Golden Drop apples. | © National Trust Images/Stephen Robson

Berrington has an internationally significant garden and we’ve been busy working to conserve and restore it. It’s the final landscape garden project completed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown featuring a walled garden, flower borders, a pleasure ground and the ‘Curve’, the intriguing architectural feature that remains of the curved garden.

Autumn in the garden

We look after lots of local heritage varieties of apples and pears in the orchard at Berrington. Herefordshire has, for several centuries, been famous for its apples, both in producing new varieties and large quantities for commercial sales. This makes the orchard at Berrington particularly special as we look after several Herefordshire and Worcestershire based varieties and some that can be traced back to the Georgian period. Visitors are welcome to pick their own apples from the orchard during October, and we kindly request donations for this experience.

More about the gardens at Berrington Hall

Walled garden

The main walled garden and very rare curved walled garden are hugely significant at Berrington. Together, they form a unique set-piece by 'Capability' Brown, considered England's greatest gardener and a prolific 18th-century landscape architect. It contains an orchard, flower borders and large vegetable beds for supplying the tea-room.

Bee on a round purple flower — Bee on an allium at Berrington Hall | © National Trust Images/Sarah Davis

The Pleasure Grounds 

The Pleasure Grounds that surround the mansion are all part of 'Capability' Brown's designs. The Pleasure Grounds were designed for social strolls, tea parties and a place to relax in, something that is encouraged today.

The orchard 

Herefordshire is famous for its orchards, so where the historic orchards would have been 19th-century varieties of apples that have fallen out of modern cultivation have been replanted.

By reinstating heritage varieties that offer renewed historical interest, it also offers a source of future plant breeding.

With only one or two exceptions, all the varieties looked after at Berrington were introduced before 1900, some of them being several hundred years old.

There are around 100 trees within the orchard, with approximately 50 varieties, including Ten Commandments and Doctor Hare's.

The Edwardian Garden 

All that is left of the Edwardian Garden is the fountain and avenue of golden yews, which are now clipped into spheres.

The 3rd Lord Cawley planted many of the flowering trees and shrubs in this area and along the drive. 

Among the old woodland to the north east of the house is a large collection of azaleas and rhododendrons, some hybridised by the 3rd Lord, which are seen at their best in May.

Picnic spots

There are plenty of benches around the mansion that look out onto the Herefordshire countryside, as well as picnic benches in the walled garden, so pack a lunch and choose your spot.

The Curve

The curved walled garden feature is the only one of its kind to survive the centuries almost entirely intact. Since the National Trust began caring for it in May 2019, and with help from supporters and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Culture Recovery Fund, it's been possible to complete the urgent restoration work needed to save it.

As part of this process, the livestock buildings were removed, unveiling the extent of the former produce garden space. The removal of the farm buildings and lean-tos from the Curve has left us with a blank canvas, meaning that we can revisit and explore future possibilities for the space.

Find out more about the Curve

The Garden Project

The pleasure grounds, walled garden, and curved walled garden all form part of Capability Brown's final landscape. The Garden Project began in 2016 with archaeological research improving our understanding of the gardens and their original designs, outlinging the rarity and significance of this garden treasure.

The Garden project aims to restore, revive and reimagine these spaces for our visitors, creating new outdoor experiences that coincide with the rich heritage of Berrington's garden and landscape.

Discover the garden project

ntrance of the walled garden with a rabbit sculpture at the front. A sign reads, 'The gardener is trying to keep me and my mates out of the walled garden, so please shut the gate. Thanks. — Welcoming entrance to the walled garden at Berrington Hall. | © James Dobson

What's on at Berrington Hall

Group of visitors in the grounds with Berrington Hall in the background, Herefordshire

Discover more at Berrington Hall

Find out when Berrington Hall is open, how to get here, the things to see and do and more.

Plan your visit

a drawing of a flower garden with lots of trees and colourful flowers. There are winding paths within the garden, and outlines of people walking.

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The Garden Project at Berrington Hall

Berrington Hall stands as a 'Capability' Brown masterpiece, his final landscape design. Research into Berrington Hall’s walled garden and pleasure grounds has revealed the rarity and significance of this garden. In 2024, thanks to generous funding from Blue Diamond Garden Centres and National Trust supporters, we begin work which will both conserve and reimagine this historical treasure.