The ‘Routes to Roots’ event is part of this year’s Heritage Open Day Festival, England’s largest festival of heritage culture, with visitors invited to the gardens at Stainborough, near Barnsley , from Friday to Sunday. Although not at the right time of year for the gardens’ crowning glory - its rhododendrons make up a National collection which are at their flowering best in late spring - there is still plenty to see, from the restored Victorian conservatory to the follies in the grounds, and Lady Lucy’s Walk. Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with a Digital subscription to Yorkshire Post, you can get access to all of our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.
Wentworth Castle was originally the home of Thomas Wentworth, a relative of the owners of nearby Wentworth Woodhouse, who established the mansion and gardens in the 18th century in competition with his neighbour. The site functions as a unique partnership between the National Trust , Northern College and Barnsley Museums, with Northern College running adult resident courses in the building and the National Trust caring for the grounds. The heritage festival explores the challenges experienced by the early plant hunters and how the plants they discovered in far flung corners of the world, ultimately contributed to the present-day planting at Wentworth Castle Gardens.
“We forget that many of the plants that grace the gardens of Wentworth Castle, and our o.