The history
So many stories behind these walls.
Long before our little coffee shop and the restoration you see today, this was a working kitchen garden. We're enjoying finding out more about the people and ideas that shaped it.
The early garden
Built for growing.
Endsleigh Walled Gardens began as kitchen gardens for the sixth Duke of Bedford in the early nineteenth century. Historic England records the garden walls as Grade II listed, and describes their Flemish bond brickwork.
The layout includes two large adjoining rectangular gardens, with some old doorways surviving in the walls. Even the walls have things to tell us about how this place was made.
A link to Humphry Repton
Historic England also records surviving papers containing Humphry Repton's suggestions for the kitchen garden's location and a list of fruit trees to plant. It is a lovely glimpse of the thought that went into these growing spaces.
Historical source: Historic England's listing for the garden walls ↗
More to uncover
The story is still growing.
We'll add more of the gardens' history here as we bring together old photographs, records and memories. If you have a connection to Endsleigh Walled Gardens, we would love to hear from you.
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