************* Garden Owners, Please copy this information and paste it into an email to: wb [at] armchair-travel [dot] com Please make any changes in BRIGHT RED in your email back to us. Regards, Armchair Travel Co Ltd http://www.armchair-travel.com ************* Garden Name: Newstead Abbey Historic House & Gardens Last Modified: 14/01/2010 Garden ID: 0176 pic: 0176_newstead.jpg Owner: Nottingham City Council Address: Newstead Abbey Park Nottingham Postcode: NG15 8NA County: Nottinghamshire tel: 01623 455900 fax: 01623 455904 website: www.newsteadabbey.org.uk email: Newstead.Abbey {at} nottinghamcity.gov.uk Features: English Heritage Grade: II* Opening Times: Grounds - All year; Every day except the last Friday in November and Christmas Day; 9am - 6pm or dusk if earlier. Best Times of Year to Visit: To see: National Collection: National Garden Scheme days: No Comments: Parties / Coaches: Yes Comments: Free refreshment for driver Viewing by Appointment: Yes Comments: Private tours can be arranged. House Open for Viewing: Yes Comments: 1st Apr - 30th Sept; Fri - Mon; 12noon - 5pm, last admission 4pm Admission Prices: Prices from 1st Apr Gardens only: Adult £3.50; £4.00 Child £2; £2.50 Over 60s £3; £3.50 Family £9.50 - £10.50 House & Gardens: Adult £7; £8.00 Child £3; £3.50 Over 60s £4.50; £6.00 Family £17.50 - £20.00 Group rate (over 10 people) gardens only £3; £3.50 Abbey & Park £4.50 - £6.00 Cyclists in park £0.50 - all year round. Season tickets: 2 Adults £35 / Family £50.00 Note: 2 Categories only from 1st Apr. Parking: Yes Lavatories: Yes Disabled Access: Yes Shop: Yes Plants for Sale: No Lunches: Yes Teas: Yes Refreshments: Yes Picnics: Yes Dogs allowed: Yes Only on Lead: Yes Events: Yes Other Facilities: Limited access for disabled. Designer: Lord Byron Description of Garden: Two statues represent a family of satyrs, the mother and child being particulary unusual subjects. They were brought here from Italy by the 5th Lord Byron to ornament a grove of trees to the east of the pond. The grove, thereafter known as Devil's Wood, was eventually cleared away by Mr Webb and has been recently replanted. The north terrace walk, 720 feet in length, runs parallel to a very grand herbaceous border created by the Webbs some time before 1876. Nearer to the house Byron had built a monument to his favourite dog Boatswain, who had died of rabies in 1808. To the south of Boatswain's monument is the Spanish garden named for the origin of the well-head at its centre, its thick box hedges form a geometrical pattern for bright flower beds. A number of skeletons were unearthed while this garden was being made, so the site was probably a monastic burial ground. The sub-tropical or bamboo gardens, recently restored, are also likely to be the work of the Webb sisters and contemporary with the Rockery. The rose garden, created in 1965, contains early roses and recent cultivars. It was formerly the kitchen garden that supplied the Webb household with vast quantities of fruit and vegetables as well as plants such as ferns and begonias for embellishing the house. Newstead owes much of its tranquil beauty to the river Leen. Since monastic times its waters have fed the lakes, ponds and water cascades that ornament the ground here. The stew pond, flanked by ancient yew walks and thought to have originated as a mediaeval fish pond in which the canons of the priory bred carp, is perhaps the oldest of these and the most romantic in appearance. History: Founded as a monastic house in the late twelfth century, Newstead's most famous owner, the poet Lord Byron, inherited the property but sold it in 1818. The large formal garden to the east of the house is thought to have been created by the fourth Lord Byron, probably no later than 1720, in a style that had been fashionable a generation earlier. The Spanish garden was designed by Miss Geraldine Webb in about 1896 and the Japanese garden was laid out for Ethel Webb in 1907 by a Japanese landscape architect. Local Inns: The Hutt - Ravenshead Larch Farm - Main A60, before The Hut Accomodation: The Dakota Hotel, J27 off M1 The Gateway - Nottingham Restaurants: Village/Town/Sightseeing: