Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens

This stunning rare example of 18th Century English formal garden is set in parklands and extends to 10 acres. There is also a gift shop, plant store and refreshments. Guided tours organised.

Open: Easter to the end of September.

Castle Bromwich Hall, and the adjacent Church of St Mary & St Margaret, were built adjacent to the site of an ancient fortification, known as the Tumulus.

It was here that the Hall was built for Sir Edward Devereux, first MP for Tamworth, at the very end of the 16th century.

The Gardens were developed by several generations of the Bridgeman Family, who later became the Earls of Bradford. Together, the Hall and Gardens represent a rare example of a 17th century Jacobean country house complete with its original garden setting.

The gardens were designed in the formal garden tradition, and have much in common with the Dutch style popularised by William III during his reign at the end of the 17th century. It comprises self-contained garden areas, some ornamental, some working, each separated by walls, hedges or level-changes at terraces. They were reputed to have been at their prime from 1680 until about 1740.

The gardens also feature a maze, which was a 19th century addition to the gardens. The design has been discovered to be a distorted mirror image of the Hampton Court maze.

The gardens are considered to be special because they survived and continued to develop whilst the informal English Landscape Movement saw the removal of most other formal gardens during the 19th century. Having survived this, they have also survived the development and expansion of Birmingham, as it engulfed Castle Bromwich during the 20th century, at a time when the gardens were already in decline.

This decline was arrested by the formation of the Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens Trust in 1985. As the Gardens were still completely walled and their basic structure intact, albeit derelict, an excellent foundation for the restoration of the gardens existed. That has been the work of the Trust through to the present day and it remains a work in progress.

For the 2004 season the garden will be open on Saturdays, Sundays & Bank Holiday Mondays (Closed on Good Friday) from 2pm to 6pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 1-30pm to 4-30pm from 1st April until 30th October. During March and October, they will open Saturday & Sunday only from 1-30pm to 4-30pm

Adults £3.50; OAP £2.50; Child £ 1.50.

There is a Free Car Park, a Coffee Shop, a Gift Shop & Guided tours daily (subject to the availability of volunteers). Access to the Gardens is near the Church in the heart of Castle Bromwich village.