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8th April - 28th October - Every Wednesday 10.00am - 4.00pm
Sunday 22nd May
Sunday19tht June - Fathers Day
Sunday 24th July
Sunday 21st August
Sunday 18th September
Sunday 9th October - Apple Tasting
All Seasons
Bulbs in spring & roses in June
Adult £4; Child free.
Lunches: Not available - But can get lunch at the nearby Church Farm Tea Room or The Hare Arms Pub
Garden features in May issue of The English Garden 2008 & Country Life 2009
The Berney Arms, Barton Bendish
Palmers, Downham Market - 01366 388124
Hare Arms, Stow Bardolph Kings Arms, Shouldham The Berney Arms, Barton Bendish
Holy Trinity Church (Norman), Stow Bardolph (Note the fine collection of monuments in Hare Chapel) Church Farm Rare Breeds Centre 200 yards from the Gardens, open daily 10am -5pm Feb - Oct
The gardens at Stow have been a focal point for the quiet village for many years. The legacy of generations of keen gardeners in the Hare family continues to provide a beautiful, eclectic mix of plants, following the high fashions dictated in gardening over the centuries.
Some would say the majestic trees, amongst them planes trees, beeches and cedars of Lebanon, are the main features, casting their deep shadows across the croquet lawns. Others prefer the Victorian kitchen garden - now a refuge for old varieties of apples - or perhaps the warm scented walls of the cloisters wreathed in roses. More roses cover the walls of the stableyard and house. Rose lovers will thoroughly enjoy visiting this interesting and beautiful old garden.
The first hall was built by Nicholas Hare in 1589. The site is uncertain but there must have been gardens because the estate records quote a contract made in 1692 with Robert White to sufficiently maintain and keep all and every garden, courtyards, orchard and walks belonging to Stow Hall.
In 1712 the records show a list of plants required for the 'Wilderness' and for the Kitchen garden. The first Hall fell into a ruinous state and was pulled down at the end of the 1700's. The second was built in 1796 on the site of the present Hall. The gardens for the new house were designed by the leading nursery of the day, Lee and Kennedy of Hammersmith. When the third Victorian Hall was built there appears to have been little alteration to the garden, other than the building of another enormous conservatory to the south west of the Hall, which was pulled down after World War I. Since the Second World War there have had to be further alterations to the gardens. The third Hall was pulled down in 1995.