Update; Monday November 25th: Our gardens are now reopened. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Please note that the entire property and grounds will be shut all day Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th November, opening on Monday once we have made sure that it is safe to do so.

While we appreciate that this may be frustrating for some of our regular visitors, our priority is your safety, and the safety of our team and volunteers.

High speed wind gusts of over 40mph are forecast for a sustained period from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon. These speeds are well above our usual closure thresholds, set using Met Office guidance.

Why we have to take this step: “Our trees have had a lot to cope with already”

Rosie Fyles, Head of Gardens, explains:

“It’s unusual to get such high winds forecasted over such a long period of time. We have had a very mild autumn until a few days ago and the extremes of temperature and heavy rain mean our trees on site have had a lot to cope with already. Some are still holding leaves too, which makes these winds more difficult to deal with.

“Our priority is public safety, and, in these circumstances, we have to make the decision to close for the whole weekend, which is frustrating. It’s hard to predict what we will find on Monday morning when the garden team does its ‘safe to open’ inspection but we are up to date on all our tree safety work and have given the trees the best chance to withstand this first storm of the winter.”

Further updates and reopening

We will confirm our reopening time on Monday morning, once we have made sure that it is safe to do so. Please keep an eye on our website and on our social media for further updates.