Rosemoor

RHS garden

This notable modern garden derives its character from informal plantings of choice shrubs and trees which thrive in the Devon soil and climate. Since 1959, under the guiding hand of Lady Anne Palmer, Rosemoor developed into a plantsman’s garden in the grounds of a pleasant country house. In the 8 acres of the original garden there a series of discrete ‘rooms’, with lawns, shrub borders, a pond with water-loving plants in and around it, a collection of smaller ornamental trees, and a heather garden. Woodland garden plantings, bright in the springtime with rhododendrons and azaleas, clothe the steep slopes to the north and east. There are 4000 or so different plants in the garden. In 1988 Lady Anne presented her house, garden and a further 32 acres of pasture to the Royal Horticultural Society who have developed the site as a Regional Centre for the West Country. On the former pasture the RHS have constructed a visitor centre, a formal garden on the grid iron pattern, with rose gardens, herbaceous plantings, and theme gardens. The stream feeds a number of small pools and marginal areas, a bog garden and a lake. There are also fruit and vegetable gardens and demonstration gardens. In 1999 the gazebo from Palmer House, Torrington was reconstructed at Rosemoor by the Devon Historic Buildings Trust, helped by a contribution of £5,000 from the Devon Gardens Trust.  A new underpass links the old and new gardens.

Rosemoor House and the Gazebo are listed Grade II.

S Pugsley: Devon Gardens – An Historical Survey, 1994: 18,80
T Gray: The Garden History of Devon, 1995: 193
P.M.Synge: Gardens of Britain v1, 1977: 71-74
A. Lees-Milne & R. Verey: Englishwoman’s Garden,1980: 97-100
Gardeners’ Chronicle V.191 no.24,1982: 32-33