Guided Rhododendron Garden Tour

---

This guided tour of the 70 acre rhododendron gardens of Bowood, winner of the HHA / Christie's Garden of the Year Award, offers a unique opportunity to see this woodland garden oasis of azaleas, magnolias and rhododendrons with its carpet of bluebells. The woodland rhododendron garden surrounds the family mausoleum, one of Robert Adam's finest classical buildings, which was commissioned in 1761 by the widow of the 1st Earl of Shelburne, who purchased Bowood in 1754. In 2006, the Rhododendron Walks were the location of an exciting and significant horticultural find - over 30 original hardy hybrids which were thought to be extinct. The original plants date back to when the garden was first planted by the 3rd Marquis of Lansdowne in 1854.