The Gardens were first created by Ernest Jardine as a recreational space for factory workers of Kilver Court in the 1800’s and were known as Jardine’s Park and Vegetable Gardens. In the 1960’s, they were restored and developed by the Showering family of Babycham fame, who commissioned George Whitelegg to recreate his Gold medal winning Chelsea Flower Show rockery garden within the setting. At the time, the garden was a bold and modern design statement. Since then, the Gardens have been a hidden secret for the past 25 years.

The Gardens feature a millpond and boating lake as well as rolling lawns, parterre and herbaceous borders. But probably the most staggering feature of this secret garden is the backdrop –a vast Grade II listed viaduct built for the Somerset and Dorset railway in the 1800’s and which now act as a link to the rolling Somerset countryside beyond. In addition, following the success of the vegetable garden at Sharpham Park, Jardine’s concept of model fruit and vegetable cultivation will be reinstated with the establishment of a sustainable bio-dynamic system both for education and to supply organic produce to the Shop and Café. Plants that you will see throughout your walks through the garden are for sale at the entrance, along with other British plants, shrubs and trees.