Southwell Minster Gardens

Entry: £1.00 donation for funds to conserve and restore the historic chapter house.

Dogs on leads welcome.

We are back at this historic and charming venue for a brilliant plant fair with lots of lovely plants from nurseries that rarely get to Nottinghamshire.

The fair is host by the Archbishop's Palace in the Education Garden and the £1.00 entry fee is to raise funds for them.

The Education Garden is a fantastic place to explore and discover the history of the site through living plants. The features of the enclosed garden are inspired by medieval, Tudor, Georgian and Victorian gardens, reflecting the timeline of the Palace.

A wonderful landscape with wide open lawns, it is full of herbs, shrubs and flowering plants chosen not only for their historical relevance, but also for their shape and beauty. Special areas of the grounds have been set aside to encourage a wildlife. The woodland area provides links to the famous “Leaves of Southwell” – the thirteenth century carved stone leaves in Southwell Minster’s Chapter House.

The Garden brings to life time periods important to the history of The Archbishop’s Palace. The design has four distinct parts to it: a Medieval herb parterre; a Tudor knot garden; a border planted in the style of Edwardian plants-woman Gertrude Jekyll; and Wildlife areas including a winter border and woodland and wild meadow. The garden also encourages wildlife through the inclusion of bird boxes, insect hotels and log piles. Portions of the gardens have been designed as native wild flower areas for birds and insects.