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HILL CLOSE GARDENS

Partner Garden
Free access for RHS members at selected times

Bread and Meat Close
Warwick
CV34 6HF

Warwick

2 acres

Tel
01926 493339

Visit website

Opening Hours

Please see website for opening dates and times.

Admission

Please see website for admission prices.

RHS members

Free access (member 1 only for joint memberships) applies when open.

Facilities

  • Assistance dogs only
  • Accessible facilities
  • Accessible garden
  • Baby changing facilities
  • DIY Refreshments
  • Free carer entry
  • Gift shop
  • Group rates
  • Picnic area
  • Plant sales
  • Toilets

Features

  • Autumn colour
  • Glasshouse (open to public)
  • Herbaceous border
  • National Plant Collections

About the garden

Owned by
Rosemary Mitchell

Any time is a good time to visit Hill Close Gardens as there is so much to see throughout the year in these 16 hedged town gardens situated between the town centre and Warwick Racecourse. It is an opportunity to experience what was a very common horticultural feature in Victorian times, when many towns had similar detached gardens on their boundaries. These were owned by the tradesmen who lived in the town centres, often above their businesses.  

Only four examples of this type of gardens remain. The others have been subsumed by urban sprawl. However, the efforts of an energetic and knowledgeable residents association, which in 1994 obtained Grade II listing on four of the summer houses and later Grade II* for the whole site, prevented the houses being built on the site. A great restoration took place in 2005, transforming a totally overgrown and neglected site to that which we see today.   

These gardens differed from allotments in that there was a rich diversity of fruit trees and soft fruit, flowers and exotic vegetables and lawns as well as summerhouses or wooden shelters. This diversity is maintained so that each plot or garden has its own individuality, with a wide range of flowers, perennials and annual. The vegetables vary, often with heritage varieties being grown alongside the most recent introductions. In addition to the 80 different varieties of historic apple and pear trees, more than 10 different varieties of rhubarb are grown. 

There are four borders of special interest: the Victorian Border where only plants grown in Victorian times are to be found; the Rare Plant Border supported by Plant Heritage and used for the conservation of rare plants at risk; the Bulb Border; and the Chrysanthemum Border with the National Collection.

A new interpretation room for visitors is being developed for 2020.

Plants of special interest

  • Agapanthus
  • Alliums
  • Alpines
  • Asters
  • Autumn bulbs
  • Begonias
  • Cacti & succulents
  • Chrysanthemums
  • Clematis
  • Cornus (for winter stems or spring bracts)
  • Cut flowers
  • Cyclamen
  • Daffodils
  • Dahlias
  • Ferns
  • Fruit blossom
  • Fruit bushes/trees
  • Fuchsias
  • Hellebores
  • Hemerocallis
  • Herbs
  • Hostas
  • Irises
  • Lavender
  • Magnolias
  • Primulas
  • Roses
  • Shade-loving plants
  • Snowdrops
  • Spring bulbs
  • Sweet peas
  • Topiary
  • Vegetables
  • Wildflowers
  • Wisteria

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.