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 own gardens, were once strangers to these shores,” said Ruth Wynters, the National Trust’s partnership and participation manager at the site. Advertisement Advertisement "The idea that for many centuries people risked their lives and endured great hardship in often openly hostile countries to bring back “green treasure” is perhaps lost on us when we visit a garden centre or swap cuttings with family and friends.” Activities over next weekend will enable visitors to experience how seekers of new plants collected evidence of their discoveries by using what they carried with them.
In the Victorian Conservatory visitors can admire tender plants displayed according to the continent of their origin and learn about the work that is still needed to care for one of the National plant collections nurtured in the gardens. Following the route to the top of the garden, as it twists and turns on the upward climb, visitors will discover where many familiar plants originated from, before they were able to root in Barnsley soil. Advertisement Advertisement Visitors will gain free entry and on September 13 there are a limited number of places are available for a guided tour of the walled garden including the partly restored orangery, originally built to protect new ‘exotics’ – a rare opportunity to view the early stages of restoration of an area not usually open to the public.
To book go to the website..
