Visiting the Estate
Welcome to Abbots Ripton Hall and Gardens
We look forward to welcoming you
Our gardens are open to the public on selected days throughout the year. Please see the dates below:
Groups and private tours
Garden Tours
- Small Groups of 12 or more people – Our head gardener, Gavin or one of his dedicated team will provide a 3 hour garden tour. Tea & biscuits included. £20 per person.
- Private Tours of up to 6 people – Our head gardener, Gavin will provide a 3 hour private tour including lunch at the Elm Pub. Prices start from £500 per group (excluding drinks).
Gavin and his gardening team often have unusual and special plants on sale after the tour.
House and Garden tours
We are delighted to be associated with Historic Houses who are a cooperative, not-for-profit, association comprising of well over 1000 independently owned and operated houses, castles, and gardens of major historical importance.
Take a tour of the ground floor of the house led by a family member whenever possible, and a 3 hour tour of the garden led by Gavin, our head gardener. Tea and cake with Lord and Lady De Ramsey is also included. £30 per person.
National Garden Scheme
The National Garden Scheme gives visitors unique access to over 3,500 exceptional private gardens in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, and raises impressive amounts of money for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cake. We are thrilled to play our part.
"We hope that you enjoy your visit to Abbots Ripton Hall Gardens which are opened several times a year for the benefit of Charities and local good causes." Lord and Lady De Ramsey
Welcome to the Gardens at Abbots Ripton Hall, home of Lord and Lady De Ramsey.
Designed in the 1880’s by Alfred Parsons
The garden had been designed in the 1880’s by Alfred Parsons and contained the brook and many fine old trees - an ideal framework for Lord De Ramsey’s parents to start with. But much of the garden had fallen into dereliction during WW2 and had been mainly used to raise food for the war effort.
In 1956, Humphrey Waterfield was commissioned to design a new garden creating the Rose Circle out of rough grazing, the Grey Border with mainly Mediterranean plants and several vistas joining other areas all with their own character. Further planting was undertaken by Lanning Roper and Jim Russell, who had worked at Castle Howard. There are now nearly 2000 species including a collection of sixty red list oaks. Lady De Ramsey has extensively re-planted the Rose Circle over the last few years with modern roses that flower most of the summer. The oldest rose in the Gardens is called “Rosa Shailer’s White Moss”, planted during 1940’s in the herbaceous border by Lord De Ramsey’s mother. It was first recorded in 1788.
The architectural features or “eye-catchers” in the garden, such as the swimming pool, the Constable Pavilion or Pagoda at the end of the Lake and the Gothic Trellis in the herbaceous border, were designed by Peter Foster who was Surveyor to the Fabric of Westminster Abbey.
Many fine Elms in the gardens and on the Estate have survived Dutch Elm disease because they were injected annually with a fungicide for over 30 years. Humphrey Waterfield added some very rare trees in the small Arboretum over the Coronation Bridge, among them are the lovely Acer Cappadocicum Aureum and Fraxinus Angustifolia ‘Raywood’, whose leaves turn plum purple in the Autumn.
The soil type throughout the Gardens is a chalky boulder clay. It is extensively drained and has an abundant piped water supply for summer watering from the farm reservoir.
“We had a lovely day at the hall, the Lord and Lady De Ramsey were excellent hosts … the garden is magnificent, and has some wonderful trees, often rare and unusual, and some amazing structures. The Hall is a lovely day out, as was Huntingdon, and the Elm pub, near to the hall, which had a wonderful menu, with very pleasant staff.” P Jacobs/Historic Houses
