Castle Ashby Gardens

Castle Ashby Gardens Castle Ashby Gardens is a haven of tranquillity and beauty. There are 25 acres of extensive gardens in a combination of several styles.

05/09/2026

Ten doors are hidden along the arboretum path at Castle Ashby Gardens, and every one of them is visible from a path you can already walk. 🪄

Rosabella, Hazel, Rowan, Cerise, Banyan, Morel, Bracken, Citrine and Slate have been there since July. There is a tenth.

Children pick up a trail map on arrival, find what each one has left outside their door,and take the completed sheet back for a reward. It takes about an hour at a gentle pace and the route sticks to the main paths. 🌿

The doors are not out for much longer. Open Thursday to Monday.

🔗 https://www.castleashbygardens.co.uk/tickets/

September has a different pace to it. The light comes in lower across the lawns, the borders begin to turn, and there is...
03/09/2026

September has a different pace to it. The light comes in lower across the lawns, the borders begin to turn, and there is a particular pleasure in walking the gardens with something warm in your hands.

Throughout September, every full price adult garden ticket includes a free hot drink. You will be given a token when you check in at the perfola, and you can use it at either the tearoom or the pergola, whenever suits you.

Details of what is included are on the garden tickets page of our website.

Book your visit and take the long way round.

🚧 A little detour, but we’re still open! 🌿Whiston Road will be closed on Friday 4 September from 9:15am–3:15pm. Please f...
02/09/2026

🚧 A little detour, but we’re still open! 🌿

Whiston Road will be closed on Friday 4 September from 9:15am–3:15pm. Please follow the official diversion signs and allow a little extra time for your journey.

We’ll see you in the Gardens! 🍃

29/08/2026

Something has gone wrong at Castle Ashby Gardens this Halloween.

Every year, the Good Witch awakens the Golden Pumpkin and fills the garden with its magic. But this year, a jealous Wicked Witch has placed a curse upon it, and the magic is fading fast.

Only Pumkin Power can break the spell, and that's where you come in. Follow the Pumpkin Hunt through the gardens, find every hidden pumpkin and draw its face on your trail sheet. Collect enough Pumpkin Power together and help the Good Witch save Halloween.

Early bird tickets are on sale now. Book early to secure your date.

Roast beef, roast turkey, nut roast, all the trimmings, Yorkshire puddings, cauliflower cheese, roast potatoes, seasonal...
27/08/2026

Roast beef, roast turkey, nut roast, all the trimmings, Yorkshire puddings, cauliflower cheese, roast potatoes, seasonal veg and a jug of proper gravy.

Sunday roasts are coming to Castle Ashby Gardens.

Spend the morning in the gardens, then stay a little longer for lunch.

More details soon.

Long before the Tearooms opened their doors, gardeners were already three centuries into shaping this ground.Capability ...
20/08/2026

Long before the Tearooms opened their doors, gardeners were already three centuries into shaping this ground.

Capability Brown worked here between 1761 and 1763, reshaping planting and ponds across the estate a hundred years before the walled garden was ever built.

That walled garden came later, in 1868. The architect E.W. Godwin drew up the scheme, styled after the Italian medieval, but it was Matthew Digby Wyatt, an old friend of the 3rd Marquis and the architect behind the Water Tower and terraces, who ended up carrying it out. Two Victorian minds on one garden, and only one of them got to finish it.

What they built still stands. Three metres of coursed limestone, capped in pantiles, wrapping a garden roughly 150 meters square. Grade II listed, every stone of it.

And standing either side of the entrance corridor, just inside these walls, are two structures most visitors walk straight past without a second look. We'll show you on Saturday.

Until then, the wall makes a fine spot for something simpler. Pull up a chair in the Tearooms and sit with three hundred years of garden history at your back.

15/08/2026

Tess runs this garden, and she's decided that entirely on her own terms. She's the first to greet anyone who walks in, and her party trick, stepping up onto her log for a scratch, only comes out for people she trusts.

Claudia takes a little more convincing. She hangs back, watches, weighs you up before she commits to anything. Between them, the two of them have spent several years holding court in the Menagerie, and they're only getting settled into the role. Next time you're passing through, look out for the double act.

There's a particular kind of quiet that settles in when the grandparents have the kids for the day.At Castle Ashby, that...
13/08/2026

There's a particular kind of quiet that settles in when the grandparents have the kids for the day.

At Castle Ashby, that quiet has a shape. A table. Tea going lukewarm because the conversation got good. The rest of the gardens left wide open for small feet, no schedule beyond finding out what's round the next corner.

The savoury afternoon tea is built for whoever's staying put, the one with a scotch egg and a wedge of something sharp and blue rather than another slice of cake. It's quietly become the one most of the grandads reach for first.

And somewhere in the middle of all that, Mum gets an afternoon that isn't built around anyone else's needs.

Afternoon tea bookings are open now, link in bio.

08/08/2026

The trail doesn't stop at one door. Head past the "Fairies Enchant This Area" sign and further in, and you'll start noticing things you missed the first time round, a glimpse of ribbon here, tiny brass bells there. Rosabella's door isn't the only one out there, just the one we're showing you today.

Keep your eyes on the trunks as you walk. The rest is worth finding for yourself.

The Fairy and Wizard Trail runs during normal garden opening hours.

https://www.castleashbygardens.co.uk/tickets/

Enchantment in the air 🧚There is a sign near the start of the walk that tells you what you have probably already worked ...
06/08/2026

Enchantment in the air 🧚

There is a sign near the start of the walk that tells you what you have probably already worked out for yourself. Something is going on in these trees.

Keep your eyes on the trunks as you go and you will start to find them. Small wooden doors set into the bark, ribbons tied above, tiny brass bells that catch when the wind moves. Every one has a name. This one belongs to Hazel. Carry on a little way and you will meet Rosabella.

There are more hidden along the route, and half the fun is that they are not always where you expect. Some are easy to spot. Some take a second look.

Hazel's door is in the second photo. It takes a moment.

It makes a lovely slow wander through the gardens, and the Tearooms are waiting when you are done.

The Fairy and Wizard Trail runs all year during normal garden opening hours.

👉 Tickets at castleashbygardens.co.uk

Address

Castle Ashby Gardens
Castle Ashby
HTTPS://GOO.GL/MAPS/DI44ACBF6MBAVLYB7

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+441604422180

Website

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