Gardens
Pentillie's gardens are not open every day, just on specific open weekends.
The next garden open day is: 11th July 2010, 11am until 4pm, £5 admission, children under 16 free. No dogs. Refreshments available in the Castle.
Dates for 2011 will be released shortly. Keep an eye open.
Outside the ususal open days, private tours of the castle and garden can be arranged for groups of 15 or more, subject to availability. Please contact us on 01579 350 044 to discuss your plans.
The final garden open day for 2010 will be on Sunday 11th July. This garden open day will be held in conjunction with St. Lukes Hospice and all proceeds from the refeshments will go to the charity. Gardens will be open from 11am until last admission at 4pm, £5 entry, children under 12 free. Sadly no dogs.
Dates for 2011 will be published shortly, but are likely to include some midweek guided walks around the gardens to see the snowdrops, daffodils and bluebells. Do email us if you are particularly keen to be informed of these events.
CLOSE
Despite the serious neglect of the kitchen gardens over the last 30 years, there is still beauty to be found when you have the eye for it.
Have a look at Rachel Warne's stunning shots, see right, that have earned her the wonderful accolade of International Garden Photographer of the Year for her Portfolio of shots of the decaying greenhouses in the Walled Kitchen Garden at Pentillie. These photographs will be on display at Kew Gardens until September 2010.
Sadly the kitchen gardens will need a lot of work to restore them to their former glory (see the shot in the gardens gallery), but we are positive that we will achieve this in the years to come. We have plans to work on the restoration project with Help for Heroes and other retired servicemen's charities.
Anyone who wishes to volunteer to help in the kitchen garden once we get the project off the ground would be very welcome. Please email Sarah to express your interest.
The American gardens take up about 20 acres of the pleasure gardens at Pentillie and are full of stunning rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias. They also boast enormous old oak and beech trees - if only trees could talk they could tell a tale or two!
The gardens were called 'American' due to the plants that were imported from the United States in the mid-1800's; shortly after this area of the garden was created by Lewis Kennedy in around 1815.